Abstract:
Membership to private social and recreational clubs is taking root in Kenya, especially
with the growing consumerism of an emerging middle class. Further, the number of
women who are taking up club membership – either for leisure, sports or social
interactions – is on the upward trend. Most membership clubs, especially golf clubs,
have been primarily male-dominated, private, and with locked-in members. This
research seeks to find out the effect of assimilating members who have hitherto not
been able to access the services of these closed-in groups. The research employed an
ethnographic approach in which the researchers interacted closely with other club
members for a one-year period. During this time, the researchers observed the
interactions among club members, held interviews with some of them, and examined
archival data held at the club. Content analysis was used to analyze the large amount of
data. Findings indicate that there are many benefits accruing to the club as a result of
admitting new “different” members. These benefits include, but are not limited to,
increased funding, more patronage, and expanded quality of league players. However,
with the coming of this new category of members, problems arose in areas such as club
norms, facilities, social change and the pain of sudden change for the established
members. The researchers provide several recommendations that can hasten and ease
the assimilation of members with diverse characteristics and preferences.
