Wellness Center: Winter Games 2023

How has this idea enhanced your club's operation, etc.?

The goal behind the Winter Games was to increase weekly utilization of the Wellness Center, increase camaraderie amongst members utilizing the Wellness Center, and increase knowledge of underutilized equipment. By incentivizing members with a cash grand prize based on participation alone, we saw members who haven’t participated in Wellness Center athletic-based and nutrition-based events participate in the Winter Games. Additionally, the approachability and low intimidation of this event has encouraged new members to get excited about trying out the Wellness Center for the first time since this activity has had such a buzz around our club. Lastly, by providing participants with specific weekly “events” and challenges, we were able to guide them towards underutilized areas and equipment. Since members get one shot at “competing” and are encouraged to practice and train before their qualifying time is recorded, we have seen increased communication with staff trainers and between members. Best of all, this communication has led to increased personal training sessions and better relationships well after the Winter Games have ended.

How was this idea implemented, and what have been the club members' reactions?

The Winter Games has “two ways to win,” rewarding members for both participation and athleticism. Each participant chooses a country to represent their times/scores on the scoreboard so they remain anonymous (while keeping in line with the Winter Games theme). Raffle tickets into the grand prize cash drawing are earned by participating in each event (2-3 per week). Each member pays $30 to participate which is pooled into the cash prize. To encourage our highly motivated, athletic members to participate, there is a separate competition to reward the top placing athletes in each event. Points are awarded to the top 3 in each event (some events are broken down into Men/Women/Over 65). Each week, members are given “events”/competitions to complete. They can practice as many times as they want but must be verified when they are ready to “compete”. Scores are recorded under their country names on the scoreboard. At the end of the four weeks of competition, points are tallied and top athletes are awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze; and the grand prize raffle is drawn at our closing ceremonies. Several other funny awards are offered such as “Most Likely to Talk Smack” and “Power Couple”. This is our most popular Wellness event of the year, and a perfect way to keep the new year’s resolutioners motivated in February.