GNAS Strategic Development Plan

[Shirt]

Anyone else seen it and got any thoughts?

The bit that's got my attention is the one that proposes a two tier membership scheme - recreational and competitive, with the recreational membership being 50% of the competitive. Does this mean:
a) Membership fees for a competitive archer will be 60 quid instead of 30?
b) Membership fees for a recreational archer will be 15 quid instead of 30?

And more importantly, how the hell are GNAS going to define a competitive archer?

[Meddler]

Originally Posted by Shirt

Anyone else seen it and got any thoughts?

The bit that's got my attention is the one that proposes a two tier membership scheme - recreational and competitive, with the recreational membership being 50% of the competitive. Does this mean:
a) Membership fees for a competitive archer will be 60 quid instead of 30?
b) Membership fees for a recreational archer will be 15 quid instead of 30?

And more importantly, how the hell are GNAS going to define a competitive archer?

Dunno, but I shot in France waaaaaay back in the 70s and they had a two tier system, Federal and FITA. The Federal licence was used for shoots at a local level up to 50 metres, and the FITA licence allowed you to shoot FITA Stars, Field and Indoor FITA competitions. If you wanted to enter National Championships you had to have a FITA licence.

[Murray]

I was looking at the strategic development plan only today (although it was dated April 04), but didn't spot that... I imagine Competitive Archers will get a "competitors" membership card which will be required for entry to tournaments.

I saw things in the SDP like funding for club secretaries internet connection. I'm not sure how much of it is "wish list" and how much is definite plan.

[JohnK]

I don't like the sound of this. It seems divisive, when so much about our sport is inclusive.

[Murray]

Well, so much moaning has been done by the membership about "why should I pay for all the stuff to support competitive archers, when I don't want to do competitions..." so it looks like GNAS are listening.

[JohnK]

A shame that these people don't realise how cheap archery is compared to some sports.

For example, the LTA fee per year is very low, but the basic annual fee of the tennis club we share a facility with is nearly £200 now, and that doesn't include court fees.

And then there's golf.

[Rik]

hmmm. So GNAS would say 'it's not really a competitive sport for most people'. I'm not sure that's the right message to send.

And think of the admin burden on the clubs, trying to keep track of who's competing, who isn't and who changes their mind mid-year... They might be better off with a competition levy - a tax on entries.

[Shirt]

Absolutely. I'll stick at recreational archer till I get a couple of GMB scores, then I might claim to be competitive...

[Micky]

And what happens if you pay for a year's "competitive" archery and get injured, or have a break in form, or get your kit stolen...

And what about beginners? Are they expected to decide whether to be "competitive" or "recreational" at the beginning of a season, or the end or what?

I don't like it. And I'm stamping my foot as I type :P

[Max]

Originally Posted by JohnK

A shame that these people don't realise how cheap archery is compared to some sports.

For example, the LTA fee per year is very low, but the basic annual fee of the tennis club we share a facility with is nearly £200 now, and that doesn't include court fees.

And then there's golf.

True John, but there you are paying for the upkeep of some very expensive greens and facilities, plus (in lots of cases) a levy to maintain a fair degree of exclusivity (like some golf clubs - can't have the damned Oiks mixing it with the captains of business!). We mostly tag along on other peoples fields when the main sport is either out of season, or we get fitted in between. We usually get second rate facilities for second rate prices. I have no objection paying a reasonable price for good club facilities.

However, I don't like the sound of a 2 tier GNAS system, if they intend to hit the competition archer harder. What I mainly get from GNAS is insurance, for which £30 per year is not too bad. Archery is basically a competitive sport, so that sets the baseline.