UK Student Archery Association

AGB Roadshow Review [04/Dec/15]

The following article was written by David Williams, BUCS SAG member:

Every year, ArcheryGB holds an AGM in April to discuss and vote through a number of proposed changes to the way it is run. Prior to the AGM, ArcheryGB holds roadshows to keep the membership up-to-date on proposed changes to the organisation. This year, these changes were addressed at three roadshows at Huddersfield University, Loughborough University and Bisham Abbey.

These roadshows, held in the last few weeks, saw a good turnout and lively debate throughout the evenings, concerning the proposed membership structure changes. The information below was presented at the roadshows with the idea being that this would be disseminated throughout all clubs in ArcheryGB for discussion and feedback. At this point, it is still in the consultancy stages, so these proposed changes may not actually come to a vote in April at the AGM and/or they may be altered before then so it is important that you have your say about them.

In regards to membership fees, the ArcheryGB Board has proposed:

The abolition of the en-bloc fee for juniors, university clubs and disabled archers
To set the new rate at 25% of senior fee for all three groups
All juniors not currently in junior clubs qualify for this reduced fee
Those in full time education qualify for this reduced fee*
Disabled archers will qualify for this reduced fee through a yet undecided rule

*This is the currently proposed change, however the HE group are in the process of defining a "student" and therefore the feedback from the roadshows means this is open to discussion. The proposed structure for student clubs signing up members could be as follows:

Uni/Student Membership - At Freshers Fair to record interest
Taster/Have-a-go - Currently covered by AGB insurance, does not require AGB membership
Beginners Course - Currently covered by AGB insurance, does not require AGB membership
Join AGB - After beginners course, AGB membership should be completed for returning members

These proposed changes allow for alumni and staff to join the university club but be charged at the full senior rate (currently they must affiliate through another club and then associate to the university club).

ArcheryGB's main reasons for these proposed changes are: equity in archery for all, accurate participation numbers and amalgamation of membership structures. ArcheryGB hope that the proposed changes to pricing of membership structures will allow all of the affected groups to pay the same regardless of which club they join, give an incentive to those joining to stay on and thus shoot regularly whilst also simplifying the current membership structures so that there are effectively only two prices that a member would have to pay rather than 3 different en-bloc prices.

This information was presented at the three roadshows and there was much debate about the fee structures, a lot of it around university clubs. It should be stressed that these are all proposed structural changes and nothing is yet set in stone. ArcheryGB have asked for responses to these proposed changes by getting in touch with them at enquiries@@archerygb.org. There will be an opportunity to vote on whether these are implemented at this year's ArcheryGB AGM on Saturday 16th April 2016 at Bisham Abbey.

Editor's Note

Many thanks to David for attending the Roadshows and also for writing the above review.

There is also a Facebook Group, "AGBs Membership Modernisation - Impact on Universities", that is worth joining to discuss the issues raised. This group is being reused after a similar proposal was defeated, mainly by the student clubs, in 2013. Remember that a Facebook rant is NOT the same as contacting Archery GB with some measured opinions. You can also read the UKSAA editorial article from November 2012, snappily entitled "Modernisation vs Insurance"

For 2015/16, the student club en bloc fee is £135, whilst joining fee for an adult club member (rather than direct member) is £41, 25% of which is £10.25. This information is taken from the Fees page on the ArcheryGB website.

The potential removal of en bloc membership is a spicy issue. Clearly ArcheryGB wish to streamline their membership structure, but is that reason enough? It cannot escape notice that ArcheryGB stand to make substantially more money this way. Any university club with more than 13 members, i.e. all of them, would pay more, with Clubs effectively having to charge their members - including novices - an extra £10 after 6 weeks. It would also decrease student voting power at the ArcheryGB AGM, though arguably there is some legitimacy here, since a relatively high proportion of student ArcheryGB members are inactive. It does solve the issue of non-students who shoot with student clubs having to affiliate elsewhere.

UKSAA's counter proposal? One standard en bloc club fee for all types of clubs. Individual membership fees for adults but not for students, juniors and disabled archers.

That's just one idea though. Get involved.