Challenges with the Effectiveness of Practice Sessions

[LuciusThorne]

I have made attempts to organize regular practice sessions, including those after school, and I expect my members to attend at least once a week on either Saturday or Sunday afternoon via Zoom. However, I've encountered the issue of not all members showing up consistently. Some prefer working independently, and I respect their choice. Others attend events they enjoy but not those they are less interested in.

As this is my first year hosting these practice sessions, I'm finding that they are not functioning as effectively as I had hoped. I would greatly appreciate any advice or suggestions on how to enhance the productivity of these sessions or encourage greater participation from my members.

One idea I had was to incorporate mock competitions before each invitational to simulate the competitive environment. Additionally, I recognize the need to clearly communicate member expectations, which I haven't explicitly stated yet.

Your input and guidance would be invaluable. Thank you in advance.

[pumptato-cat]

I'm going to be blunt here as I have a similar issue with my teammates.
You can't force people to attend practice sessions--even if they show up, if they don't want to be there they will not do the work(or at least, not do it effectively).
I'm not sure how to accomplish this(as previously mentioned, I have this same issue with my team) but if you want them to put full effort into their events, they have to enjoy what they're doing. Most top teams I see seem to genuinely enjoy the events and being with their teammates. I've seen some teams do team-bonding events, such as team dinners, movies, bowling, etc. Some bring snacks to practice sessions. That would help as well.
Now, if you force them to work, you might get the situation I went through this year. My partner skipped out on all her events with me during an invitational and didn't show up. My team required one practice session every two weeks, but did that work? No. Most people just fooled around and didn't do anything useful, because they simply don't care about the club.
Good luck. It's hard.
NOTE: this is from my experience and probably overly pessimistic.
EDIT: just noticed your other comments--yeah, telling them what you expect would be a good choice. I'd also suggest making practices on weekdays instead, because most people consider the weekends a break and wouldn't appreciate having that interrupted.

[onshape]

Make sure people even know how to practice in the first place. That kept me from being able to practice this year (my first year doing Scioly.)

Like Pumptato said, the snacks are effective and they seem to be the biggest drawer to clubs at my school. Many people only came to the Biology review sessions, for instance, for the pizza.

[pumptato-cat]

Oooh yes, consider holding presentations or "coaching" some students if you have the experience. For example, I offer my phone number or email to anyone who needs help and am willing to stay after school to help out with builds. I make sure everyone knows that because I had to figure out everything on my own in 6th and 7th grade. It was a struggle--I would've been very happy to know someone that could guide me.

[knightmoves]

I'd also suggest making practices on weekdays instead, because most people consider the weekends a break and wouldn't appreciate having that interrupted.

I don't think there's a good time that works for everyone. My experience is that weeknights tend to fill up with other activities, whereas unless someone's away all weekend, they tend to have a bit more flexibility then. The important thing is that people are practicing with their event partners, not that they're all doing it at the same time as everyone else.

If you've got builds, you'll probably need time in your school gym to practice, which means you're going to have to work around your sports teams. Nobody's going to cancel the basketball team's practice to allow a couple of geeks to fly a plane in the gym. For test events, you need to practice taking a test with your partner. How do you address the questions? Do you work together, or divide the test and do part each? Which one of you "owns" which sub-topics? For lab events? You need to work with your chem teacher.

Everybody should be doing a load of study on their own. Scheduling people is complicated, so you want to make efficient use of the time that your people are in the same place, by ensuring that they're not wasting that time on solo activities.

[pumptato-cat]

Yeah, but they stated that they already do practices after school--if so, I do not see the point in weekend practices. Also, that's interesting... most people in my school are very busy on weekends. And personally, I'm always tired by the time the weekend comes around. I'd hate if my team made me show up to a weekend practice. Note that it's also more convenient for some underclassmen to stay after school rather than ask their parents to drop them off at school during a weekend.
I think most events other than Codebusters and builds can be practiced solo or online. You're right about the gym issue(my team's response to that was to tell me to fly outside)--however, I've had success by reserving a time in the school gym months in advance. It's not impossible to take a test online with your partner.