I agree with Dazbo as to the reasons people seem to want to join a team.

The side I dance with is invitation only but to date we've not had a problem with recruiting, whether from people approaching us and us deciding to invite them or from us meeting/spotting people and asking if they'd like to give it a go.

I think for us having high standards and having lots of fun are probably the two most important factors, but we do always seem to end up with new members in similar age bracket to the existing team.

I also agree with Charlotte re: kit. I've been in sides before where the kit has made me cringe, and although I have a high embarrassment threshold and therefore danced anyhow (for a while) I know others who were put off mainly by what they'd have to wear. When we started our side, we actively chose to have kit (black trousers & white shirs plus ribbons & bells) where you can take off the ribbons and bells, and immediately blend into the crowd - makes it easy to travel around or pop into the supermarket mostly in kit without attracting attention :)