Once again, it has been a very busy year for Membership matters. We have continued to keep the club fully ‘stocked’ with many new members joining us to replace those who have left during the year. We welcome all our new members and hope that you have found that we are a friendly and enjoyable club to be part of. As we have reported in previous years, the club continues to operate at near capacity. This is very healthy as it means that we have full classes (meaning that members are able to progress in line with the swimming plans) and we also have a wide range of swimmers from which we can select our gala teams. This is very important to us as we now enter a large number of competitions and leagues, and need to rely on member availability to fill our squads. As a practical example of this, during 2008 we achieved our first ever ‘Super Saturday’ where we fielded three teams on the same evening – this is something that very few clubs are able to do. We are looking forward to being able to supply a substantial number of swimmers to our Gala Squad Managers during 2009 and we hope that more members than ever before will be representing the club. We do urge all members to read the Three-Year Plan being presented at the AGM as it describes in detail how we see the club operating in the coming years. Of course, our ability to deliver on this plan depends greatly on the continued commitment of our members (and their parents!).
You will have noticed that we have managed to keep membership and swimming fees fixed for 2009. It is vital in these times to ensure that we provide the best value possible for your fees. We have not increased fees despite some of our costs increasing for 2009, including the fee we have to pay the ASA (every member of BASC must also be a member of ASA, for which the club has to pay). While on the subject of fees, we would like to thank all those who have settled fees for the coming term by the advertised date. However, there are a few members who have not paid (or who only paid after being chased by us). The club can only operate if everybody adheres to the membership rules, and it is not fair on the majority who pay on time, for some to make late payments. We do not wish to sound a negative note, but we really do not enjoy having to chase people for fees. The due dates are always advertised at least four weeks in advance (on poolside, in the newsletter, on the web-site, on the BASC front desk and by personal email to every member). Please make sure that fees are paid on time. Put simply, if swimming fees are not paid, you will not be allowed to enter the water at any point. If the annual membership fee is not paid, your membership will be lapsed (including the ASA subscription) and you will not be insured to attend any BASC activity, nor take part in any internal or external competition (as you will no longer be a member of ASA). Membership can only be re-established by re-applying to the club and going through the assessment process. Following this, there may be a delay before you can re-join us, and there will certainly be a delay before ASA membership can be regained – you cannot represent the club at any level without ASA membership.
We have been operating as Membership Secretary for the past three years, and in line with the club constitution must now stand for re-election once again. Janet is now a qualified teacher (you may have seen her teaching on Sunday evenings), and Jon is a qualified Swimming Judge (you may have seen him officiating at internal and external meets). We thoroughly enjoy being an active part of BASC, and in addition to these activities, we would welcome the opportunity to continue managing the membership aspects of the club for a further term.
It just remains for us to welcome you back to the new year at Bushey. Once again, we wish you a very successful year, and happy swimming!
Jon and Janet Wood
Membership Secretary
