Post by Eric Roussin on Jul 7, 2010 8:30:05 GMT -5
With the Provincial Championships this Saturday, every competitor will need to purchase an OAA membership for the 2010-2011 season. The cost is $20. $10 from each membership goes to the Canadian Arm Wrestling Federation (CAWF) to support a number of national initiatives. The funds remaining for the OAA are used for the following:
All of this is accomplished with an annual budget of approximately $1,000 to $1,200 (collected through memberships + t-shirt sales).
Members also get to earn points for the various points races (Puller of the Year, Team of the Year, Ontario’s Strongest Armwrestling Region).
My question to you is “Is there more that you would like the OAA to do with its money?” For instance, what do you think of the OAA paying the Nationals entry fees for all pullers who place top five at Provincials? Or what about paying $250 to just the winner of each class at Provincials if they attend Nationals? The goal would be to do what we can to help send the strongest team possible to Provincials. Do you consider these measures to be good incentives that should be pursued?
Of course, in order to implement these types of rewards, the money would need to come from somewhere.
Possible ways to raise money for the OAA:
If any change is made, it’s important that attendance at events does not decline. Would increases in the annual membership fee and/or entry fees discourage existing/new competitors from attending events? Will competitors who don’t feel they have a good shot at placing in the top 5 at Provincials (or those who have no intention of going to Nationals) feel they aren’t getting anything out of the added cost?
Depending on the feedback I receive on the board, I plan on putting one or both of these ideas (increase to membership/increase in entry fees) to a vote at the AGM on Saturday (if a vote to increase the membership fee is made, the increase would only take effect in 2011). Depending on what gets approved, we will announce the new measures that the funds will cover in the coming weeks.
I am counting on the many visitors to this site to please share their opinions. I am not firmly attached to any of these ideas – I just want to get an idea of what Ontario pullers want.
- Special awards (Annual, Hall of Fame)
- $200 towards the hotel rooms of the Male and Female Pullers of the Year at the Canadian Championships
- Offsetting referee clinic costs
- Partially sponsoring select large events
- Website fees
All of this is accomplished with an annual budget of approximately $1,000 to $1,200 (collected through memberships + t-shirt sales).
Members also get to earn points for the various points races (Puller of the Year, Team of the Year, Ontario’s Strongest Armwrestling Region).
My question to you is “Is there more that you would like the OAA to do with its money?” For instance, what do you think of the OAA paying the Nationals entry fees for all pullers who place top five at Provincials? Or what about paying $250 to just the winner of each class at Provincials if they attend Nationals? The goal would be to do what we can to help send the strongest team possible to Provincials. Do you consider these measures to be good incentives that should be pursued?
Of course, in order to implement these types of rewards, the money would need to come from somewhere.
Possible ways to raise money for the OAA:
- Raise the annual membership fee for the OAA by $5 to $25. This would add about $500 to the annual budget. The cost for the membership has been $20 since I’ve been in the sport (going back to 1996) and was possibly $20 when the OAA was originally formed in 1992. Is it justifiable to increase the cost at this time, considering inflation?
- Raise the entry fees for the five circuit sanctioned events (the ones that count for points), by $5 to $25 per category. The entry fee for circuit events has been $20 for as long as I can remember. Once again, is it justifiable to increase the cost at this time, considering inflation? The extra $5 would go directly to the OAA, not to the tournament director. With circuit tournaments averaging approximately 80 entries, this would add about $2,000 to the annual budget.
If any change is made, it’s important that attendance at events does not decline. Would increases in the annual membership fee and/or entry fees discourage existing/new competitors from attending events? Will competitors who don’t feel they have a good shot at placing in the top 5 at Provincials (or those who have no intention of going to Nationals) feel they aren’t getting anything out of the added cost?
Depending on the feedback I receive on the board, I plan on putting one or both of these ideas (increase to membership/increase in entry fees) to a vote at the AGM on Saturday (if a vote to increase the membership fee is made, the increase would only take effect in 2011). Depending on what gets approved, we will announce the new measures that the funds will cover in the coming weeks.
I am counting on the many visitors to this site to please share their opinions. I am not firmly attached to any of these ideas – I just want to get an idea of what Ontario pullers want.
