So we have finally received a copy of the Registration vehicle that TBA want to propose to our League bowlers.Makes great reading and on paper most of it sounds a bit far fetched.
But I have a few questions for Alex as it was his name on the document:
1.Are bowlers are able to nominate any Association in Australia to be a member
2.When will Associations or Owners be briefed on this new concept.
3.How can Associations or owners check on their membership base if bowlers have chosen to be member of an association different from their own centre based.
4.Why would proprietors bulk purchase TBA registration cards if the system is designed for Bowlers to register on Line
5.Who issues TBA registration Cards, TBA staff or a third party.
6.If a third party, what guarantees are in place that members details are not passed on.
7.Why are only members with e-mail addresses who will receive news about TBA National events. Does that mean members who do not have e-mail addresses will be ignored. (again)
8.What centres are involved with Special practice rates and what will the rate be set at
In other words if MT Isa have a rate of $3.00 will AMF and all the other independent centre give our bowlers the same rate.
9.When will TBA official talk to all the owners and centre operators about a special practice rate.
10.How will TBA develop a pathway from League bowling to tournament bowling. Is TBA going to establish a Graded circuit and if so what states will they be held at.How will they fit the events into an already over crowded calendar.
11.Are the current discounts confirmed with TBA partners such as Quest / Europcar.
12.How will the smaller association survive if all bowlers use the online registration system.
13.Is it TBA's new policy to do away with all smaller associations and just have one Major Association running Tenpin Bowling in Australia.
14. What happens if the smaller association can not survive, which could see the demise of annual events such as Country Cups, Inter City Challenges. East Coast Challenge.
15.At present the current smaller association provide awards,championships, Association Tournaments and provide excellent services to league within their area.Most currently charge more than $10.00 which is allowed under the NEW TBA concept.That would make it very hard for some of them to survive.
16.Cards will be sent directly to bowlers, Which will make a lot more work for centres as now they will have to ask every bowler every week for their registration number to make sure that they have actually paid.Yet more work for our front counter staff.
17.TBA will assist association, find this gard to believe as you can never get answer from TBA NOW so why would this change under the new system.Unless TBA are going to employ more staff.
18.If association want to charge more than the $10.00 how will TBA react.
Will they put a blanket ban on those association. Would this be constitutional.
19.Is setting these new registration fees legal.
20.Are new fees not supposed to be set at the previous AGM. I dont recall anything being mentioned in the minutes from the last couple of AGM's to suggest a new fee had been set by the members. If that is the case why is this proposal going ahead at all.
For all those Legal heads out there, how legal will these new registration fees be and can they be challenged under Corporate Law.
This could be the "Start of the end" for a lot of our smaller associations thru-out Australia.
Larger association like CTBAM or MTBA in Victoria will suffer and it will have a big effect on our leagues. In Victoria these associations give out FREE awards and cash prizes for high scores. Will TBA do the same for our members.(I dont think so)
For all those East Coast Bowlers this might be the last East Coast Challenge as these various associations may not be alive this time next year.
All bowlers should think about this we need to support our smaller associations who have bee the back bone of our Industry for nearly 1/2 a century. Can TBA honestly say that they can match anything our smaller association have done or will do in the future.(I say NO)
Remember it is the smaller associations who attend league meeting to resolve disputes etc. They also run championships,run country cup trials,run other tournaments which keep all our smaller centres active and alive and kicking, they also do a lot of fund raising to help their travelling teams.Which they need to offset some of the membership fees which are direct towards these events.
If these associations are lost to our Bowlers, will TBA attend league meetings, will TBA answer or resolve problems via e-mail or telephone. Will TBA run these small championships or help organise trials and fund raising.(NO they will not)
We need these smaller associations as long as they are affliated with TBA, but they should not be told what fees they can set for their own areas. Each area has different needs and one association might get away with charging$7.50 where as another might have to charge $15.00 as some do already.
And believe it or not these associations have AGM's where their members vote on registration fees for the following year.(something TBA does not adhere too)
So what does the average bowler get
I am just amazed how little fight we are putting up with TBA in regards to this new proposal. It is not all milk and honey and will have some drastic effects in the next 12-18 months.
Joe Tomasinski
