Last April we sent our organiser community five simple ways to run a better session, and promised to go deeper on each one. This is the first of those deep-dives. If your sessions sometimes feel hard to fill, or you get first-timers who never come back, this one’s for you. The most decisive stretch of the night is the first ten minutes.
Picture two identical Wednesday sessions. Same court, same format, same twelve players, three of them new faces. At the first, the organiser has arrived early, clocks the new players as they walk in, introduces them to a regular, and makes sure each one is on a team with someone who’ll pass to them. At the second, the organiser shows up as people do, waves a quick hello, and starts the game. The new players at session one book again. The ones at session two quietly don’t. The gap is the first ten minutes.
TL;DR. Most first-timers decide in the first ten minutes whether they’ll come back. Getting that window right means arriving early, greeting new players by name, giving a 30-second format brief, and mixing teams so nobody gets stranded. Do those four and retention follows.
Why the first ten minutes matter more than the rest of the session
The first ten minutes of a social sports session determine whether a new player comes back. In that window they’re deciding two things at once: whether the format will work for someone at their level, and whether the other players will make them feel welcome. If either answer is no, they’ll leave politely and never book again. If both are yes, you’ve likely got a regular.
Three behaviours do most of the work: a clear greeting that uses the new player’s name, a thirty-second explanation of how the session runs, and team selection that doesn’t strand new players together. The effect is strongest at mixed-ability sessions, where a new player without a warm welcome has nowhere to hide once the first point is played. Sport England names confidence as one of the universal barriers to adult participation in sport, and the welcome window is where that gets dealt with.
What to do before the first player arrives
The prep window is five to fifteen minutes before anyone walks in. Get this right and the session almost runs itself.
- Arrive at least fifteen minutes before start time. Equipment out, nets or posts set, bibs stacked.
- Read the attendee list before you head over. Anyone you don’t recognise may be new. Know who might be new before they’re standing in front of you.
- Set up where you can see the entrance. New players hover at doorways looking for the right person. Don’t leave them scanning the room.
- Have a line ready. It doesn’t need to be polished, just ready. The first sentence out of your mouth sets the tone for everything that follows.
- Take a minute to be a human, not a logistician. Drink water, look around, breathe. The session picks up whatever energy you bring to it.
How to welcome new players in the first two minutes
The most important moment is the one where a new player walks in.
Use their name in the first exchange. Get it from the attendee list before they arrive, or ask in the first two seconds, use it back, say yours. Something like: “Alright mate, first time with us? I’m [your name], grab a bib and get settled.” Four seconds, done. It anchors them in the room.
You often won’t know whether they’re brand new to Sportas or just new to your session, and that’s fine. Treat anyone you don’t recognise as a first-timer. Better to over-welcome a regular than under-welcome a newcomer.
Acknowledge it without making a production of it. One line is plenty: “Good to have you. I’ll walk you through how we run things in a moment. Grab a bib from the pile and get settled.”
Point them at a task. New players standing idle at a session feel exposed. Give them something small to do straight away, even if it’s trivial. “Grab a bib”, “pick a side”, “pop your bag by the bench”. A task breaks paralysis.
Avoid the two classic misses: asking “so, have you played before?” (a loaded question for someone already nervous), and a long heroic welcome that pulls the whole room’s attention onto the new person. Short, warm, back to flow.
Settling new players in: minutes three to seven
The next five minutes are about quiet integration. Everything in this window is designed to lower the stakes without drawing attention.
- Run the 30-second format brief. When most of the room is there, stop the chatter. “Quick brief: four games of fifteen minutes, teams change after each one, shout if you want a sub, otherwise I’ll call time.” Everyone hears the same thing.
- Use new players’ names out loud as you set up. They’re part of the group from minute one, not spectators.
- Make one connection per new player. You don’t need a formal buddy system. A quick “this is one of the regulars, she was new herself a few months back” does the job.
- Scan for anyone not talking to anyone. New players either clump awkwardly or go quiet alone. Spot it, walk over, open a conversation.
Team selection and the final three minutes
Team selection is where most welcomes get quietly undone.
Don’t leave it to captains picking players. It produces the worst version of a new player’s experience and happens at every session where organisers don’t step in. Pick teams yourself or randomise openly. Either is fine, both are better than watching new faces get picked last.
Mix new players with regulars who pass. You want a first-timer’s first five minutes on court to include at least one genuine touch of the ball. If you put three new players on a team with the one competitive regular who never passes, you’ve lost them before the first break.
Close with a tone-setter. “Good luck everyone, remember it’s social, call fouls yourselves, have fun.” One line and you’re into play.
The self-check for your next session
Before your next session, ask yourself these five questions. Five yeses is the target.
- Am I on site at least fifteen minutes before start?
- Do I have an idea of who the new players might be before they walk in?
- Will I use every new player’s name in the opening exchange?
- Will I run a 30-second format brief so everyone hears the same thing?
- Will I pick teams in a way that doesn’t strand new players together?
Common questions
Use their name, say yours, welcome them, point them at one small task. Something like: “Alright mate, first time with us? I’m [your name], grab a bib and get settled, I’ll run through the format in a minute.” Warm, short, and it gives them somewhere to go.
Keep the welcome one-to-one, not a speech to the whole room. Don’t ask them to introduce themselves to the group. Make the acknowledgement private, quick and practical, then fold them into the session as if they’ve always been there. Nobody feels more singled out than a nervous beginner whose introduction becomes a public moment.
Greet them at the entrance if you can spot them, give a thirty-second version of the format brief, and walk them onto court at the next substitution rather than interrupting a live game. A late new player needs the same welcome as an on-time one, just faster and with less ceremony.
The welcome is the session running on time. Treat the opening ten minutes as part of the session, not the bit before it. A session booked for 7:00 should have the organiser on court by 6:45. If a proper welcome costs a two-minute late start, that’s fine. Skipping the welcome costs you the new player.
A light introduction to one friendly regular is enough. You don’t need a formal buddy system. A quick “this is one of our regulars, she’ll sort you out if you have any questions” does the job. Forced buddying can feel patronising; a warm one-line introduction removes the fear of arriving alone.
Treat them as individuals, not a group. Greet each one separately, learn all their names, and spread them across teams rather than lumping them together. A cluster of new players on one team tends to freeze up when the first point is played. Mixed in with regulars, they settle quicker.
Closing thought
People come back when a session feels welcoming, well-run, and worth making part of their week. The first ten minutes are where most of that decision gets made. At our best, Sportas organisers see new players become regulars and bring friends with them, and it usually starts right here.
Pick two of the behaviours above and do them really well at your next session. Not five. Two. You’ll notice the difference fast.
Next in the series: how to balance mixed abilities without killing the vibe. That post goes deep on the second habit from the April email.
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