Club (organization)

A club is an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal. A service club, for example, exists for voluntary or charitable activities; there are clubs devoted to hobbies and sports, social activities clubs, political and religious clubs, and so forth.

Types of clubs

Buying Clubs

Buying club are organized to help members purchase goods that might otherwise be difficult or expensive to obtain. The food conspiracy and Seikatsu club are two examples of different "food buying clubs" that help members purchase organic or natural food that might otherwise be unavailable. Many cooperative grocery stores began as loosely organized buying clubs, and larger organizations such as United Natural Foods and the Weston A. Price Foundation encourage buying clubs as a way to expand market or mind share for their products.

Country or sports clubs

There are two types of athletic and sports clubs, those organized for sporting participants (which include athletic clubs and country clubs), and those primarily for spectator fans of a team.

Athletic and country clubs offer one or more recreational sports facilities to their members. Such clubs may also offer social activities and facilities, and some members may join primarily to take advantage of the social opportunities. Country clubs offer a variety of recreational sports facilities to its members and are usually located in suburban or rural areas.^[1] Most country clubs have golf. Swimming pools, tennis courts, polo grounds and exercise facilities are also common. Country clubs usually provide dining facilities to their members and guests, and frequently host catered events like weddings. Similar clubs in urban areas are often called athletic clubs. These clubs often feature indoor sports, such as indoor tennis, squash, basketball, boxing, and exercise facilities.

Members of sports clubs that support a team can be sports amateurs—groups who meet to practice a sport, as for example in most cycling clubs -- or professionals -- football clubs consist of well-paid team members and thousands of supporters. A sports club can thus comprise participants (not necessarily competitors) or spectator fans, or both.

Some organizations exist with a mismatch between name and function. The Jockey Club is not a club for jockeys; but rather exists to regulate the sport of horseracing; the Marylebone Cricket Club was until recently the regulatory body of cricket, and so on.

Sports club should not be confused with gyms and health clubs, which also can be for members only.

Fraternities and sororities

Fraternities and sororities are social clubs of secondary or higher education students. Membership in these organizations is generally by invitation only.

Hobby clubs

Hobbies are practiced for interest and enjoyment, rather than financial reward. Examples include science fiction clubs, ham radio, Model Railroading, collecting, creative and artistic pursuits, making, tinkering, sports and adult education. Engaging in a hobby can lead to acquiring substantial skill, knowledge, and experience. However, personal fulfilment is the aim.

Personal clubs

Personal Clubs are similar to Hobby Clubs. These clubs are run by a few close friends. These friends or family members do things they like to do together. They might even make a personal website for their club.

Professional societies

These organizations are partly social, partly professional in nature and provide professionals with opportunities for advanced education, presentations on current research, business contacts, public advocacy for the profession and other advantages. Examples of these groups include medical associations, scientific societies, autograph club and bar associations. Professional societies frequently have layers of organization, with regional, national and international levels. The local chapters generally meet more often and often include advanced students unable to attend national meetings.

School clubs

These are activities performed by students that fall outside the realm of classes. Such clubs may fall outside the normal curriculum of school or university education or, as in the case of subject matter clubs (e.g. student chapters of professional societies), may supplement the curriculum through informal meetings and professional mentoring.

Service clubs

A service club is a type of voluntary organization where members meet regularly for social outings and to perform charitable works either by direct hands-on efforts or by raising money for other organizations.

Social activities clubs

Social activities clubs are a modern combination of several other types of clubs and reflect today’s more eclectic and varied society. These clubs are centered around the activities available to the club members in the city or area in which the club is located. Because the purpose of these clubs is split between general social interaction and taking part in the events themselves, clubs tend to have more single members than married ones; some clubs restrict their membership to one of the other, and some are for gays and lesbians.

Membership can be limited or open to the general public, as can the events. Most clubs have a limited membership based upon specific criteria, and limit the events to members to increase the security of the members, thus creating an increased sense of cameradery and belonging. Social activities clubs can be for profit or not for profit, and some are a mix of the two (a for-profit club with a non-profit charitable arm, for instance). The Inter-Varsity Club (IVC) is the biggest British non-profit club.

Popular Music

Bands such as Two door cinema Club, Tokyo police Club, Chapel Club and Bombay bicycle Club are alternative/indie bands that have sprung up in the late 00s.

Social clubs

Some social clubs are organized around competitive games, such as chess and bridge. Other clubs are designed to encourage membership of certain social classes. In the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s social clubs were the precursor name of gangs like the infamous Hamburgs of Chicago. Latino immigrant adult and youth groups organized themselves as social clubs like: Black Eagles, Flaming Arrows, Paragons and Young Lords. Those made up of the elite are best known as gentlemen's clubs (not to be confused with strip clubs) and country clubs (though these also have an athletic function, see below). Less elitist, but still in some cases exclusive, are working men's clubs. Clubs restricted to either officers or enlisted men exist on military bases.

The modern gentlemen's club, sometimes proprietary, i.e. owned by an individual or private syndicate, but more frequently owned by the members who delegate to a committee the management of its affairs, first reached its highest development in London, where the district of St. James's has long been known as "Clubland". Current London clubs include Soho's Groucho Club, which opened in 1985 as "the antidote to the traditional club." In this spirit, the club was named for Groucho Marx because of his famous remark that he would not wish to join any club that would have him as a member.

References

^ http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dict.asp?Word=country+club The Free Dictionary