Case Study - Gippsland Ranges Roller Derby
“
The new website is such a great reflection of our fun and inclusive club! There is so much information on the website for prospective members to find, and it’s simple to navigate.”
“We are delighted - our webpage finally reflects the professionalism, diversity and offerings of our club like we had always hoped. GippsTech have done an exceptional job making it a reality”
- Bodye Darvill, Club President
The Gippsland Ranges Roller Derby is a not-for-profit, mixed-gender roller derby club in Gippsland. The club, while small, covers one of the largest geographical areas of any club in Victoria, training across 3 shire locations - Latrobe City, Baw Baw and South Gippsland.
The team at GippsTech were brought in to design a new and exciting website for the club, on the back of a rebrand and expansion of their league. Given that the club is a not-for-profit, it was important to have a professional looking website to assist in generating community interest, participation, and support.
Gippsland Ranges Roller Derby needed their new website to incorporate e-commerce for the sale of club merchandise as well as the facility to promote programs and events. They also wanted to highlight their SkateFit initiative. “The previous website was quite basic and outdated, and it didn’t look as professional as we would have liked it to”, says Kathryn Evers, Club Secretary.
“The new website is such a great reflection of our fun and inclusive club! There is so much information on the website for prospective members to find, and it’s simple to navigate.”
The Gippsland Ranges have a goal of expanding and growing the club into the future, and are placed as a diverse and forward thinking league, having been the hosts of the first Australian Pride Cup in 2019. They offer a SkateFit program which encourages people of all ages and abilities to have fun and get fit on roller skates, without the competitive roller derby focus. This has proven a popular new initiative for the club, growing from 20 to 100 members in 12 months. SkateFit provides a non-competitive, social environment to master basic skating skills, and is an optional gateway into the world of Roller Derby.
Being a not-for-profit organisation, they rely on wider community participation and sponsorship to keep their club going. The immediate response from members and partners alike has been overwhelmingly positive. “I referred a potential sponsor to our new website, and they responded saying it was one of the more professional sporting club websites they had seen - a great first impression. In terms of promoting our club as a professional organisation that appeals to both the community and sponsors, this website is a stand out!”, says Caitlin Grigsby, Committee Member and Former President.
With the addition of the online store, club members can buy and customise their own Gippsland Ranges apparel. The team at GippsTech used Ecwid to integrate eCommerce into the new website. The store also allows users to sign in and track their orders, so that they can eagerly await the arrival of their new merchandise. Squarespace proved to be a great platform choice for the site, given that the club needed to minimise their ongoing monthly costs. The running costs sit at approximately $35 per month; and there is no need for plug-in updates or security management.
“The end product is a great reflection of GippsTech’s understanding of our club”
The team at GippsTech were proud to create this professional and exciting website for Gippsland Ranges Roller Derby, their members, fans, local communities, and sponsors.