Hello all
I have been watching the debate with great interest and feel that it might help if contributors have a better insight into the funding of our international teams and coaching in general. If I understand the GFA president correctly there is about $ 35000.00 per annum allocated to support pilots representing Australia at overseas events. The aim is to ease the considerable financial burden of our dozen or so international pilots. >From my involvement on the National Coaching Panel (NCP) I know that an additional amount of $ 8000.00 is paid as a fee to our squad coach plus $ 3000.00 for squad coach expenses. The grand total is about $ 46000.00 per year but I stand corrected on this figure. At the recent NCP meeting I have raised some concern that the amount allocated to one week of squad coaching stands in stark contrast to the funding available for coaching at state level. The expense account for 'State Head Coaches' is $200 per year necessitating that many of them dig into their own pocket to cover the most basic needs. I felt obliged to point out that the work conducted at regional level is by far more valuable than squad coaching in terms of arresting the slow death of gliding in Australia. I have also argued that we can only stop the decline in membership if we ensure that our new members get more fun and satisfaction from gliding. Only if they get the same enjoyment from the sport as our better skilled and more seasoned pilots do we stand a chance to reverse our poor retention rates. If newcomers don't have the skills necessary to enjoy gliding they will soon vote with their feet. The consensus of the NCP is that better training as well as individual and group coaching is the key to membership retention and the survival of the sport in Australia. The prime reason for this posting is to find out whether the wider GFA membership is basically in agreement. Also, please let us know what percentage of available funds should be allocated to the coaching of our elite pilots on one hand and on the many newcomers in each state on the other. The coaching budget is currently being drafted and will soon be submitted to the GFA board for approval. Your input will help greatly to find the right balance. Kind regards Bernard Eckey State Head Coach for SA & NT PS: May I ask to answer these two questions first before sharing other thoughts with us??? _____ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Kym Sent: Thursday, 16 October 2008 2:05 PM To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] AEF Charges - $20 to GFA Dear all, I have been watching this topic with interest as I wrote to the GFA on behalf of Renmark Gliding Club committee for clarification when the (one sentence) letter was sent out "explaining" the increases. Regardless of whether AEF charges should increase or not, the annual membership cost is still too high when compared with RAAus and I agree with Guy that the GFA should look at cost reductions! I agree that a computerised system would be an excellent start to this. The area of cost saving which the RGC committee wanted to pick on was the money paid towards the support of the Australian competitors in International events. Quote from RGC letter to GFA: "It is the strong opinion of our committee that, given the current declining membership numbers and increasing costs, it is unfortunately no longer appropriate to continue supporting those who desire to fly internationally. We understand that the amount paid is insignificant compared to the costs incurred, however we believe that the costs in the GFA need to be reduced for the purpose of lowering membership fees in order to retain members." We received a nice reply including: "Funding of the International Teams has been the subject of considerable debate over the years, the current GFA policy is to continue supporting our teams." I'd still like to see this policy changed as I see no benefit to individual GFA members being forced (via subs) to assist funding people to compete overseas. Regards, Kym Z. Barry Kruyssen wrote: AEF's are a main source of revenue for some clubs in both dollars and attracting new members. This is a blatant grab for club dollars by GFA, taking revenue straight out of the clubs. In small clubs the cost of operating will most likely be in the red and are being propped up by donations from members (buying fuel for winch, food for fund raising BQ, etc out of their own pocket). Now their revenue is cut more even more. I thought that GFA was here to support it's members and encourage gliding, not to make a profit out of our sport. In today's economy every organisation has to reduce cost, yes even GFA, if we are to survive. So what is going to happen in the future? Fees are going up, therefore membership will decline, cost per member will go up, thus fees go up, more members leave and the vicious circle has begun. The answer is to keep reducing costs per member to attract growth this is simple business logic. Don't get me wrong, I think that GFA staff and board members are helpful and doing a job which many of us could not do (or would not do). And a lot of it at their cost. But we still need turn around spending by GFA. The answer is definitely not to keep slugging the members and clubs. Barry Kruyssen _____ _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring -- ------------------------- www.riverland.net.au/~kym -------------------------
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