CTF Dues Increase for 2010-11 - Why?
The following is a letter that the WTBA included in every league secretary's "kit" this year...
CTF Membership
Dues Increase
Well, for those of you who
haven’t yet heard, CTF membership dues are increasing.
Quite a bit. For us here in Winnipeg, it is going up from $18,
up to $24. Yes, a $6
increase.
The first question
everyone asks is “Why?”
CTF is now in desperate
straights, financially. They
have been operating in a deficit position for several years, and do
not wish to borrow any more money to carry them through.
The primary reasons for these problems are:
 | ABC
and WIBC had originally promised to give CTF up to $250,000 in
financial aid to assist us in “getting started”.
They reneged on that. |
| ABC
and WIBC had originally promised that we could utilize their
membership software (called WINLABS) at no cost, but they reneged
on that as well, changing their offer to say that we could use
the program, for $50,000 per year!
This meant CTF had to pay to create their own membership
processing software. |
| CTF
Membership numbers have consistently been dropping each year,
which of course means that CTF collected less than budgeted
revenues. |
The next question that a
lot of members ask is “Why should I join?
What’s in it for me?”
§
First and foremost, CTF is the National Governing Body
of Tenpin Bowlinghere in Canada.
Prior to 2004-05, we simply rode on coat-tails of the American
bowling associations, paying our membership dues to them while
getting little in return. Every
sport has a national governing body:
o
To provide standardized rules and specifications that
make our sport fair and consistent for everyone in Canada who
participates in it. Without
this, there would be chaos.
o
To provide leadership and guidance for our sport to
ensure it stays in line with Sport Canada’s “big picture” of
sports in Canada.
o
To provide and manage an overall structure of
Provincial and Local Bowling Associations, which provide services to
their local communities.
o
To provide programs, particularly in the Youth arena,
to further develop, enhance, and grow participation in tenpin
bowling.
o
To work with the National Coaching Certification
Program (NCCP) to create courses and programs designed to develop and
train tenpin bowling coaches throughout Canada.
o
To run National Championship Tournaments for adults and
youth.
o
To select and manage our National Teams (Adult Women,
Adult Men, Youth Girls, and Youth Boys).
This includes the securing of funding from Sport Canada to
support those national teams (tournament entry fees, travel, etc.).
o
To provide an awards program to recognize members for
their bowling achievements.
Obviously, it costs money
to run such an organization. CTF
depends on membership dues to fund their operations.
§
A CTF Member bowling in a sanctioned league gives them
a sanctioned average. This average is recognized by CTF and by USBC and
is required for any CTF or USBC Handicap tournament.
Without a sanctioned average, a bowler gets a zero handicap.
Actually, most tournaments are CTF-sanctioned, and only allow CTF
members to enter the tournament.
§
CTF-sanctioned leagues are automatically bonded to
protect them in the case of a loss of their moneys (due to theft,
burglary, misuse, etc.)
The details of how your
membership dues are split:
In 2009-10, the membership
dues were $18 here in Manitoba.
$14 went straight to CTF, $3.50 went to our local (Winnipeg,
or Brandon, or Dauphin) bowling association, and $0.50 went to the
Manitoba Bowling Association.
In 2010-11, the membership
dues will be $24. $20
goes straight to CTF, $3.50 will go to our local bowling association,
and $0.50 will go to the Manitoba Bowling Association.