Being on the Exec

As someone who's held 5 different exec positions in the last 2 years, I feel pretty prepped to talk about what the experience is like. I've held a wide variety of positions between the WUSAC and Ultimate Frisbee execs - social sec, women's coordinator, webmaster, president, and welfare officer - and each one of them has come with its own highs and lows. I won't lie, being on the exec isn't always a walk in the park. Sometimes you plan a social and not many people attend, or the video you spent ages editing suddenly crashes, or you get stuck at a sports forum listening to other clubs complain for 2 hours, or you simply find yourself juggling uni work, exec responsibilities and the sport you loved playing in the first place with limited time for each. But, please don't let the difficulties stop you from running! I've found they are greatly outweighed by what you can gain from the experience. Being on exec is a great opportunity for anyone to get more involved with their club - it let's you make decisions that help the club improve and grow and you get to make it even more enjoyable to be a part of. Whether you do this by organising tournaments or events, planning the kinds of socials you want to do, or working behind the scenes to make the club bigger and stronger (competitively, financially, etc.); it can be truly rewarding to see the effort you put into the club reflected in the improvements you wanted being brought into reality. I've also found being on exec rewarding in that it allows you to give back a bit for all the support, friendships, and enjoyment that you've gotten from being a member of the club, and you can help make sure future members feel the same love for the club that you do. Finally, I'd say one of the main benefits I found with all of the exec positions I've held is the amount you learn from these responsibilities. Obviously this could include certain skills (I now know much more about social media marketing than before), but more so I found that I learned about myself- as cringe as that sounds. I learned how time management works for me, how I work with other people in a team, and what shortcomings I have and how to improve on them. Most importantly, I learned what motivates me personally to take on the extra responsibility of exec work and get it done when I'd rather just watch re-watch gossip girl - for me, it's all about the people in the club. I'd encourage everyone who feels passionate about the club and ready to help out to run for an exec position- see what the experience is like for you!
​- Lara (Webmaster)