The cost of joining sports clubs has rocketed this year with the introduction of a new £30 fee for joining the Athletic Union.
Reaction from sports clubs has ranged from measured acceptance to "shock" at the new fee, which has caused some clubs’ memberships to decline dramatically.
The charge means a steep increase in the amount of money needed to play sport at Bristol. Previously, a portion of club membership fees, typically £8.50, were given to the AU, the remainder being kept by the club to cover for kit, league fees and other club expenditure. Under the new system, this is reversed. £20 is kept by the AU and £10 returned to the accounts of the clubs that members join; but this amount is reduced further if people join multiple clubs. For example, if a student joins four clubs, each will receive only £2.50 in return. This makes it highly difficult for club heads and treasurers to budget, especially at the beginning of the year, and many clubs have been unable to offer any reduction in their membership costs due to this uncertainty. As a result, a number of people are functionally paying an extra £30 on top of what they used to in order to take part in team sports this year.
Different clubs have taken different approaches. More than one, including Badminton, Hockey and Football, have actually had to raise their membership fees this year to ensure they are still adequately funded should numbers decline, meaning a more than £30 increase for some of this year’s Freshers. Conversely, some smaller clubs have had to slash their costs, despite budget concerns, just to ensure sufficient numbers of people continue to sign up and keep them in existence.
It is not just the nature of how money is returned to clubs that has rankled, however. Many have expressed surprise at the apparent skyrocketing cost of insurance given the disparity between the amount clubs previously paid to the AU and the amount they now charge.
Louise Shelton, the Union Vice-President for Sport and Health, explained this when Epigram e-mailed in. She said:
"For the 09/10 year the AU has increased its level of insurance for every member. The new cover provides each member with numerous benefits which we are hoping to release in detail to our clubs shortly."
Though more comprehensive insurance sounds like a good thing, surely this can’t mean that the amount of insurance Bristol athletes had last year was inadequate or lacking in some way? Continuing to explain the reasons behind the increased costs, she went on to explain:
"Costs have increased over the years and this has not been reflected in the cost a student pays to the Athletic Union on a yearly basis. This means that year on year the Athletic Union does not meet its costs and amounts debts. Quite simply, with the new charity status of the union we can not amount any debts at the end of the year".
Given this, it seems the AU believes that rather than the price being high this year, it has been charging too little in previous years.
On first glance it also seems to add legitimacy to allegations that the cost had grown in part to cover existing debt, meaning that this year’s sportspeople would be paying for people who had played in previous years. However, Shelton stated unequivocally that "None of the money from membership is being spent on previous debt".
Of course, there will always be complaints whenever the cost of something rises, and so it’s important to note that some of the club captains Epigram spoke to were broadly in favour of the new system. One said, "I actually think it’s a good system, having people join the AU directly...I think that we have to understand that the AU are providing us with insurance, travel funds, and other monetary support, so in the long run 20 pounds isn’t that much money". But even those who have accepted the need for a greater fee have not been particularly impressed by its implementation. Our source, a club captain who would rather not been named, went on to say, "the only problem I have with the new system is that it was implemented a bit late - we only found out about it just before the year started".
Whether this additional help with things such as travel will materialise, or materialise enough to justify the price increase, is not certain. The cost of minibus hire for away matches, for instance, has increased from £90 to £100, begging the question of where the extra money not being spent on insurance is actually going.
What’s clear is that this is a hastily put-together system that’s drawn some justified criticism for the manner of its implementation and some fairly major flaws, rather than just for the sudden cost increase. What’s unclear is exactly how improved the system will become as the sabbatical officers bed in.. Hopefully by this time next year the system in place will justify the substantial cost increases imposed on Clubs this year.
