AN OPEN LETTER TO THE CEO & ALL TBA BOARD MEMBERS
This letter will also be posted on the Total Bowling website to enable the members with an interest in the sport to read it.
I will open by saying that the Board’s role is to represent the members of the TBA and grow its membership. It is not the plaything of one, two or three ‘Johnny Come Latelys’ who wouldn’t know a bowling ball from a Baseball bat.
Some people have been members of the ATBC / TBA for what is approaching 60 years. As a member since 1976 I have formed the opinion that the TBA now appears to be an organisation held together by government grants. This would be the opinion of any person capable of adding two figures together.
The figures below are taken directly from the 2019 Annual Report:
Expenses
Employee Benefits expense - $890,221 (up 47.4%)
Administration and Overheads - $100,582 (up 29.78%)
Governance and Meetings - $ 51,553 (up 358.28%)
Membership costs - $185,980 (down 17.07%)
Income
Registration Fees - $749,800 (up 24.18%)
Grants - $713,687 (up 122.85%)
5 years earlier in 2014 - Registrations were $603,777
Governance and Meetings $ 11,249
Employee benefits expense $570,310
Administration and Overheads $ 77,499
Grants $320,250
Membership Costs $224,284
I will dumb it down – Registration fees don’t cover the Employee Benefits expenses. This is farcical.
The more research I conduct the more worried I become.
The constitution states as follows:
15 Chief Executive Officer
Appointment and removal
15.1 The Directors may appoint a person to the office of Chief Executive Officer either for a fixed term or without limitation as to period of appointment but not for life, and may remove a person so appointed and appoint another instead.
Remuneration
15.2 The Directors will determine the terms of appointment including the remuneration of a Chief Executive Officer.
Powers
15.3 The Directors may confer on a Chief Executive Officer such of the powers conferred on the Directors by this Constitution, for such time, to be exercised for such purposes, on such terms and with such restrictions as they think fit and all or any of those powers may be conferred collaterally with but not to the exclusion of the powers of the Directors and may be revoked or varied by the Directors.
THE DIRECTORS may appoint a person to the Office of Chief Executive Officer.
Were all Directors of the Board actually given details of the candidates including their full CVs so they could do their job and evaluate the merits of all candidates?
OR was it an appointment made by possibly the Chair & Deputy Chair?
THE TBA has a Board for a reason. There are 8 members summarised below:
3 - Bowlers
2 - Bowling Centre affiliated individuals
2 – Make your own best guess
1 – Cricket background who once said the following to the ABC - Involvement with bowling came as a bit of a surprise for the squad coach, Shane Bernhardt, who after coaching cricket and AFL has turned his hand to ten pin.
"I never really thought ten pin bowling was a sport, I thought it was the beer and skittles type thing on a Friday night, but I went along and watched them play ... and it really surprised me how much it is ... and how much technique is very, very important in the sport itself."
It is not exactly great but in all fairness he has stuck around for a while and made an effort to contribute and become better educated in regard to the sport.
So who actually made the appointment of Martin Stillman to the role of CEO?
IF the other Board members were not given the opportunity to be involved in the FULL selection process and were not given copies of all of the candidates CVs then I would expect severe action to be taken. I assume a no-confidence motion is an option for the Board.
The appointment of a CEO to any organisation is critical. This is probably even greater in an organisation which has lost 15 board members in only 42 months.
I was told on 19 November we would have a new CEO with a strong sporting background but no prior connection to bowling. That was 12 days prior to the announcement being made. It appears that I knew more than some of the Board. That in itself is disgraceful!
I have since wondered whether Martin Stillman is the son or nephew perhaps of former SA & VIC Shield cricketer and former Footscray & Essendon VFL footballer – Les Stillman. I still don’t know. I am sure we will find this out at some stage.
Now, there are a number of improvements I want made to the way the TBA operates. (Transparency would be good start):
Grants – I want a break down of all grants and for what purpose they are awarded. Are they to top up the shortfall between Registration fees and Employee expenses? Somehow I think not.
Relationships – Full disclosure of any prior relationships IF THEY EXIST. We now have a Chair, CEO, 2 General Managers and a board appointed non bowling director all from Victoria. We are a National organisation.
Consultancy Fees – Full disclosure of any possible outside consulting fees paid by the TBA.
Membership Growth – I want to see projections of TBA membership growth for the next 1 ,3 & 5 years.
I don’t want to hear any garbage about the Constitution saying that financial matters are not disclosed to the membership. Was the constitution followed in regard to the appointment of the new CEO with all Board members involved and being adequately heard in the selection process? I would find it hard to be involved in the selection process for any position without the CVs of all the candidates in my hand.
Board Elections – I want to see the dates of when each board member is up for re-election on the website as soon as they are known. I also want to see Board nomination forms on the website for immediate download by the membership. I also want to see email contact details for all Voting Delegates.
Meeting Agendas – I want to see the Agendas on the website so that bowlers can contribute to matters of importance. I think it a safe bet to assume that 40 and 50 plus year members might just possess a little more knowledge of the game than non-bowling board members who dropped out of the sky in the last shower.
Employee Benefits – When is the TBA projected to again have Registration fees in excess of Employee Benefits? That should be a fundamental goal of the organisation and if it is not then it is time for anyone not committed to this goal to ride off into the sunset.
Finally, I would like to wish Martin Stillman success in his new role. I trust he will try and learn something about the sport and listens to BOWLERS. At least he does possess a sporting background. As a result of 15 board members having departed in the last 42 months he has a fairly new team and at least 3 of the Board have a very substantial knowledge of the game. LISTEN TO THEM MARTIN and success may follow.
Sean Gothe
This letter will also be posted on the Total Bowling website to enable the members with an interest in the sport to read it.
I will open by saying that the Board’s role is to represent the members of the TBA and grow its membership. It is not the plaything of one, two or three ‘Johnny Come Latelys’ who wouldn’t know a bowling ball from a Baseball bat.
Some people have been members of the ATBC / TBA for what is approaching 60 years. As a member since 1976 I have formed the opinion that the TBA now appears to be an organisation held together by government grants. This would be the opinion of any person capable of adding two figures together.
The figures below are taken directly from the 2019 Annual Report:
Expenses
Employee Benefits expense - $890,221 (up 47.4%)
Administration and Overheads - $100,582 (up 29.78%)
Governance and Meetings - $ 51,553 (up 358.28%)
Membership costs - $185,980 (down 17.07%)
Income
Registration Fees - $749,800 (up 24.18%)
Grants - $713,687 (up 122.85%)
5 years earlier in 2014 - Registrations were $603,777
Governance and Meetings $ 11,249
Employee benefits expense $570,310
Administration and Overheads $ 77,499
Grants $320,250
Membership Costs $224,284
I will dumb it down – Registration fees don’t cover the Employee Benefits expenses. This is farcical.
The more research I conduct the more worried I become.
The constitution states as follows:
15 Chief Executive Officer
Appointment and removal
15.1 The Directors may appoint a person to the office of Chief Executive Officer either for a fixed term or without limitation as to period of appointment but not for life, and may remove a person so appointed and appoint another instead.
Remuneration
15.2 The Directors will determine the terms of appointment including the remuneration of a Chief Executive Officer.
Powers
15.3 The Directors may confer on a Chief Executive Officer such of the powers conferred on the Directors by this Constitution, for such time, to be exercised for such purposes, on such terms and with such restrictions as they think fit and all or any of those powers may be conferred collaterally with but not to the exclusion of the powers of the Directors and may be revoked or varied by the Directors.
THE DIRECTORS may appoint a person to the Office of Chief Executive Officer.
Were all Directors of the Board actually given details of the candidates including their full CVs so they could do their job and evaluate the merits of all candidates?
OR was it an appointment made by possibly the Chair & Deputy Chair?
THE TBA has a Board for a reason. There are 8 members summarised below:
3 - Bowlers
2 - Bowling Centre affiliated individuals
2 – Make your own best guess
1 – Cricket background who once said the following to the ABC - Involvement with bowling came as a bit of a surprise for the squad coach, Shane Bernhardt, who after coaching cricket and AFL has turned his hand to ten pin.
"I never really thought ten pin bowling was a sport, I thought it was the beer and skittles type thing on a Friday night, but I went along and watched them play ... and it really surprised me how much it is ... and how much technique is very, very important in the sport itself."
It is not exactly great but in all fairness he has stuck around for a while and made an effort to contribute and become better educated in regard to the sport.
So who actually made the appointment of Martin Stillman to the role of CEO?
IF the other Board members were not given the opportunity to be involved in the FULL selection process and were not given copies of all of the candidates CVs then I would expect severe action to be taken. I assume a no-confidence motion is an option for the Board.
The appointment of a CEO to any organisation is critical. This is probably even greater in an organisation which has lost 15 board members in only 42 months.
I was told on 19 November we would have a new CEO with a strong sporting background but no prior connection to bowling. That was 12 days prior to the announcement being made. It appears that I knew more than some of the Board. That in itself is disgraceful!
I have since wondered whether Martin Stillman is the son or nephew perhaps of former SA & VIC Shield cricketer and former Footscray & Essendon VFL footballer – Les Stillman. I still don’t know. I am sure we will find this out at some stage.
Now, there are a number of improvements I want made to the way the TBA operates. (Transparency would be good start):
Grants – I want a break down of all grants and for what purpose they are awarded. Are they to top up the shortfall between Registration fees and Employee expenses? Somehow I think not.
Relationships – Full disclosure of any prior relationships IF THEY EXIST. We now have a Chair, CEO, 2 General Managers and a board appointed non bowling director all from Victoria. We are a National organisation.
Consultancy Fees – Full disclosure of any possible outside consulting fees paid by the TBA.
Membership Growth – I want to see projections of TBA membership growth for the next 1 ,3 & 5 years.
I don’t want to hear any garbage about the Constitution saying that financial matters are not disclosed to the membership. Was the constitution followed in regard to the appointment of the new CEO with all Board members involved and being adequately heard in the selection process? I would find it hard to be involved in the selection process for any position without the CVs of all the candidates in my hand.
Board Elections – I want to see the dates of when each board member is up for re-election on the website as soon as they are known. I also want to see Board nomination forms on the website for immediate download by the membership. I also want to see email contact details for all Voting Delegates.
Meeting Agendas – I want to see the Agendas on the website so that bowlers can contribute to matters of importance. I think it a safe bet to assume that 40 and 50 plus year members might just possess a little more knowledge of the game than non-bowling board members who dropped out of the sky in the last shower.
Employee Benefits – When is the TBA projected to again have Registration fees in excess of Employee Benefits? That should be a fundamental goal of the organisation and if it is not then it is time for anyone not committed to this goal to ride off into the sunset.
Finally, I would like to wish Martin Stillman success in his new role. I trust he will try and learn something about the sport and listens to BOWLERS. At least he does possess a sporting background. As a result of 15 board members having departed in the last 42 months he has a fairly new team and at least 3 of the Board have a very substantial knowledge of the game. LISTEN TO THEM MARTIN and success may follow.
Sean Gothe
Last edited:
