The post of club secretary
Hi GQ,
To be a good club secretary, you need to be meticulous and deal with club business promptly and thoroughly at all times. You also need to know the answer instantly when someone asks a question regarding some matter for which you are responsible. You need to ensure there is always a written record on file to show how you dealt with something when a question about it arises perhaps two or three years down the line.
I would not dissuade you from becoming club secretary, but I would caution you to consider carefully whether to take the job on. Find out who is on the management committee and decide whether you are going to be happy working with those personalities. Find out why the previous secretary resigned (or was sacked). Try to spend some time with the previous secretary and learn what you can about his/her experience with the job. Ideally, make a friend of the previous secretary, because he/she probably knows where all the corpses are burried.
There is upside and downside to being the club secretary. The upside is that you get to know, and be known by, everybody. That has its advantages. You will make friends with people whom otherwise it might have taken years to meet. On the downside, any mistakes you make are likely to be shouted from the rooftops. Certainly, from time to time you will cross swords with one or two as there are always some who don't follow club rules in some way and have to be confronted.
If it should go sour on you, don't be afraid to resign, even if this leaves the managment committee in schtuk. They're the managers; it is their job to sort out the mess. Don't keep the job if it has become the bain of your existence.
Good luck Kid,
BP.