This is probably a subject that could be over on the Convention thread but since more people are likely to see it here and hopefully engage in some discussion I'll go ahead and post (and see if i get chastised by the moderator!)
If you are out of the loop on convention topics this one is pretty important and will have an impact most likely on just about everyone who swims in pool and/or open water events.
Here is a quick overview of the proposal but be sure to click on this link and read through carefully: www.usms.org/.../eventsanctionfeeproposal.pdf
TASK FORCE CREATED TO DEVELOP A NEW SOLUTION
A task force was constituted at the 2014 convention with representation from open water,
pool swimmers, LMSCs, Finance Committee and the National Office. Their charge was to
study the issue of event sanction fees and bring forward a recommendation that would provide
opportunity for open water growth without taking dollars from existing programs.
The task force looked at all USMS sanctioned events concluding the cost of insurance and
event risk is not isolated to only open water events. Sanctioned pool events benefit from
USMS insurance and other event costs and should be contributing to help offset USMS insurance
costs just like open water events, clubs and workout groups. Therefore, the task
force recommended an event sanction fee model that adjusts the fee for open water events
and adds a fee for pool events.
Some thoughts:
- With regard to OW, we have already seen where events in our area have chosen to NOT use the USMS sanction because they can obtain 3rd party insurance at a lot lower cost. Is having the USMS affiliation important/necessary to run a successful event?
- Sanction fees are inconsistent in the USMS world but standard in USA Swimming. The difference is in USA sanction fee of $50 goes to the local LSC (USA swims version of masters LMSC) not the national office which is what USMS is proposing (and at a cost of $70), there is also a splash fee that is charged in USA swimming of $6 which again goes to the LSC. Both organizations charge a membership fee, for USA swimming the LSC gets to keep $12 of that fee the rest goes to the national office. Point being, I would support a local sanction fee not a national one.
Lot's more to all of this...as a meet host I look at things very different than a person who is a club member and competes but not involved with the financial side of the business. My concern is any increase in cost will go almost 100% to participants given the very low return on hosting meets (other than things like nationals or select invites)...just for a point of reference in AZ 2 of the largest facilities now charge about $2000-$2500 per day in pool rental.
Muppet, I'm not surprised...most people are to busy to try and dig through and understand things like budgets when your really only talking a few dollar for the individual member.
Some stats from the report Chris provided (thanks), again these are real rough because its easy to move certain expense/income line items into other areas of a budget and unless you understand the language its easy to miss. On face value however and after only a few minutes scrolling through the budget here's what I saw (my apologies if am in error, if someone with more knowledge would like to correct me please due so):
2014 Total Income = $2.9 million with a profit of $336K (I'm rounding off)
2016 Total income projected = $3.6 million with a loss of $24k
2014 Insurance costs = $367,000
2016 Insurance costs projected = $387,000
2014 Administration costs = $714,000
2016 Administration costs projected = $887,000
2014 membership services payroll = $1.7 million
2016 membership services payroll projected = $1.2 million
2014 Interest & Dividends = $263,000
2016 Interest & Dividends projected = $120,000
2014 Individual memberships revenue = $2 million
2016 Individual memberships revenue projected = $2.4 million
So I'm sure I'm going to take heat for bringing up my concerns but so be it...its not a reflection on people respect who bust their asses making this organization run. Rather its a concern I have any time someone wants to charge me more money, which means I have to charge my members more money UNLESS its going to increase my membership than lets talk.
The reality for me an I'm guessing a lot of other people who own clubs and/or run events is its getting harder and more expensive every year so every dollar counts. With regard to membership in USMS the truth is I've never had a new swimmer come to me and say they heard about masters swimming through something the local and/or national offices had done EXCEPT from publicity we got from our adult LTS program that we did receive a grant from the USMS Foundation for which we are VEY grateful.
To me that means we need to do something better and different but I can't tell you what that is other than what we have been experimenting with and that is the following:
- We offer free adult learn to swim lessons
- We offer reduced fees for school teachers, police officers and first responder's from the city of Mesa
- We market and discount club membership to parents of age group swimmers on club team and water polo team
So for now I'm not keen on a sanction fee going to the national office for pool events, i'm open to discussion this week however. For OW I'm just not sure the proposal will help...I've had several people I trust in this area tell me they still would not be interested in foregoing the use of 3rd party insurance to get the USMS "brand" on their event as they don't think it will increase participation, but again I'm open to discuss!
Muppet, I'm not surprised...most people are to busy to try and dig through and understand things like budgets when your really only talking a few dollar for the individual member.
Some stats from the report Chris provided (thanks), again these are real rough because its easy to move certain expense/income line items into other areas of a budget and unless you understand the language its easy to miss. On face value however and after only a few minutes scrolling through the budget here's what I saw (my apologies if am in error, if someone with more knowledge would like to correct me please due so):
2014 Total Income = $2.9 million with a profit of $336K (I'm rounding off)
2016 Total income projected = $3.6 million with a loss of $24k
2014 Insurance costs = $367,000
2016 Insurance costs projected = $387,000
2014 Administration costs = $714,000
2016 Administration costs projected = $887,000
2014 membership services payroll = $1.7 million
2016 membership services payroll projected = $1.2 million
2014 Interest & Dividends = $263,000
2016 Interest & Dividends projected = $120,000
2014 Individual memberships revenue = $2 million
2016 Individual memberships revenue projected = $2.4 million
So I'm sure I'm going to take heat for bringing up my concerns but so be it...its not a reflection on people respect who bust their asses making this organization run. Rather its a concern I have any time someone wants to charge me more money, which means I have to charge my members more money UNLESS its going to increase my membership than lets talk.
The reality for me an I'm guessing a lot of other people who own clubs and/or run events is its getting harder and more expensive every year so every dollar counts. With regard to membership in USMS the truth is I've never had a new swimmer come to me and say they heard about masters swimming through something the local and/or national offices had done EXCEPT from publicity we got from our adult LTS program that we did receive a grant from the USMS Foundation for which we are VEY grateful.
To me that means we need to do something better and different but I can't tell you what that is other than what we have been experimenting with and that is the following:
- We offer free adult learn to swim lessons
- We offer reduced fees for school teachers, police officers and first responder's from the city of Mesa
- We market and discount club membership to parents of age group swimmers on club team and water polo team
So for now I'm not keen on a sanction fee going to the national office for pool events, i'm open to discussion this week however. For OW I'm just not sure the proposal will help...I've had several people I trust in this area tell me they still would not be interested in foregoing the use of 3rd party insurance to get the USMS "brand" on their event as they don't think it will increase participation, but again I'm open to discuss!
