New ECF junior members charged £13/month?

[Nick Thomas]

Have juniors playing in the British Champs, joining the ECF for the first time at the beginning of the tournament, been charged £13 for one months membership i.e. it expires at the end of August 2013?

[Sean Hewitt]

Have juniors playing in the British Champs, joining the ECF for the first time at the beginning of the tournament, been charged £13 for one months membership i.e. it expires at the end of August 2013?

All annual memberships expire on 31st August after they have been taken out. That membership also covers any league game fee that they may otherwise have been liable for since 1st September 2012.

[Nick Thomas]

That's a yes then.

[Adam Raoof]

If anyone plays at Golders Green Rapidplay tomorrow, 3rd August, and they are not a member, I am advising them to pay the £6/£4 pay-to-play fee and of course save some money. That is an obvious decision for an Italian junior just here for a few weeks and looking to play in a tournament. For a home-based player who might actually join the ECF it may discourage them, at least for a few months.

I am sure that in the future the ECF will look at ways to tack a few bonus months onto new memberships so that players who have never been members, such as juniors, can be encouraged to take up membership right away!

[Nick Thomas]

You announced recently that juniors who are new to ECF membership will shortly be given a years free membership. Are these lucky juniors who have been charged £13 for one months membership now exempt from this?

[Carl Hibbard]

A good job Roger is busy

[Sean Hewitt]

You announced recently that juniors who are new to ECF membership will shortly be given a years free membership. Are these lucky juniors who have been charged £13 for one months membership now exempt from this?

Juniors who have never before been an ECF member can take out their first years membership free of charge. By definition, a player who is an existing member is not eligible for this offer.

[Nick Thomas]

My mistake, the title should have read £26/month.

[Angus French]

I thought there was a special clause for the British Championships such that if you join to play in the Championships then your membership lasts until the end of the August after next (approx. 13 months)...

[Sean Hewitt]

I thought there was a special clause for the British Championships such that if you join to play in the Championships then your membership lasts until the end of the August after next (approx. 13 months)...

That was done as a one off last year as an introduction to membership. Most players were not members last season so it seemed sensible I guess. This year, we would reasonably have expected most players playing in the British to already be a member, so the offer wasn't repeated.

[Angus French]

I thought there was a special clause for the British Championships such that if you join to play in the Championships then your membership lasts until the end of the August after next (approx. 13 months)...

That was done as a one off last year as an introduction to membership. Most players were not members last season so it seemed sensible I guess. This year, we would reasonably have expected most players playing in the British to already be a member, so the offer wasn't repeated.

I thought that was something different: a special introductory offer in which it was possible to get up to 14 months of membership (from the start of July and conceivably covering events before the British) for the annual fee.

I've checked now and seen that the Direct Members Bye Law states:

"...Provided That with effect from 1st September 2012 all Membership Fees shall cover the period from 1st September until 31st August in the following year (subject to the discretion of the Direct Membership Officer to extend the period of membership for a new member who has joined so as to play in the British Championship to cover that event and the period thereafter to 31st August in the following year).".

So it's at the discretion of the Direct Membership Officer but wasn't there an intention that this would be available each year (otherwise, why is it in the bye laws)? Also, didn't something like this exist under the old membership scheme?

[Nick Thomas]

Is Dave Thomas the membership officer?

[Rob Thompson]

Do you know of any actual players that this affected?

[Nick Thomas]

Yes

[Alex McFarlane]

I don't think you can blame Dave Thomas. A motion was passed at the AGM to prevent the President from reviewing the membership scheme.

We can guess whose block votes helped to ensure that such a stupid proposal was accepted. To quote from an earlier post, it is quite "reasonable" to assume that such a stupid situation could have been prevented. I've been mentioning it for months suggesting that it could prevent people from entering the British. It almost did until Lara deducted someone's membership from their entry fee. But I don't know how many failed to enter because of this.

Possibly as many as failed to enter because the venue was full as one director erroneously posted here.