EA Clubs 'One Sport One Membership' - Club Focus

1. I run a dressage club where we wish to run open official competition and ungraded competition for EA members and club members – who can enter my competition?

• Your club may run a variety of activities for all types of members at the same time
• For example you may run official classes from Prelim right through the GP Freestyle for all competition members of EA on registered horses. You may also run Participant classes in Prep, Prelim & Novice (which do not attract grading points)
• You can maximise your club’s resources to offer a wide variety of activity therefore ensuring you can attract significant entries and income.

2. My club would like to run a training day up to Grand Prix level for my club’s members only. Can I do this?

Yes

3. Our club ran popular Associate classes for club members and EA members. How will we cope now?

• While the Associate Class Structure essentially no longer exists, you are still able to run Participation classes below the line – Prep, Prelim and Novice - for EA members (Participants and Competitor) AND club members for closed club events. [see membership table]

Please note: Clubs can be assured that while it’s a closed club activity the same principles apply – you can have people outside your club involved in your closed club events (as was the case in the old Associate classes) they just need to be at a minimum, a participant member of EA and only compete up to and including Novice level in dressage.

• The Prelim and Novice classes are by far the most popular and most often entered levels for ungraded classes and will remain to enable clubs to run income generating activity for their members and EA members
• If someone wants to ride at Elementary and above more often than not they are ready to compete and be graded. This should be encouraged as it develops the sport and ensures that the officials we train, the rules and regulations that are developed and the infrastructure that is invested in are used by competitor members of the sport
• If your club members wish to train at Advanced level, for example, you can still offer this to them either on a normal open Competitor (official) day in a Club members ring or in  a closed club day event - therefore enabling you to offer a strong product for those riders who only wish to join a club.

4. How can the new membership structure help clubs attract more members? And how can clubs use the structure to their advantage

The new membership structure provides a more defined structure.   It makes the role of our clubs more important.  Clubs can still run “competitive type classes” for their members only (or invited EA members) at Closed Club days.

For example:

• Through the closed competition, clubs can offer their members the chance to compete at all levels of the sport – from the lowest level (participation level) through to the highest (competition level) ie Prep to GP
• Clubs are more viable – because you can now run club/participation/official in parallel rings on the same day as part of your Club events including closed competition). It makes club activity days/events more financially viable by pooling resources, including equipment costs, volunteer schedules and much more.

5. How does our club remain viable and attractive for people who do not wish to join EA and only want to join their local club?

A club can conduct a range of classes or training activity limited only by your imagination – see below some examples. You may find that by adding these types of activities to your schedule you are able to attract more local riders and also give Competitor  and Participation members more options and therefore more local businesses for sponsors and more volunteers.

As a club you have a blank canvas for the types of initiatives you can introduce to attract more entries and club members.  You may find that by not channelling your energies into running a Medium Associate class – judges, schedules, steward, arenas etc. – for a very small amount of entries, that your club’s resources are freed up to run more activities for club members thus providing another incentive for them to join your club.

CASE STUDY:  A local dressage club chooses to run a competition with Champions awarded at each grade for EA Competitor and/or Participant Members and Registered Horses.   The event will cater for Preliminary to Grand Prix, and the club’s objective is to maximise the viability of the event by receiving as many horses/entries as possible. Consider the possibilities for the Novice 2B. This test could be offered as follows: Arena  1 – Novice 2B (Competitor classes) All “Competitor” member scores are eligible for grading points and can be used as qualifying scores since NOAS judges are used. Arena 2 – Elementary to GP tests (Competitor Members only and horse must have full registration) The same ideas for subsets within classes as below  could occur but must be Competitor Members. Would be eligible for grading points. Arena  3 – Novice 2B (Closed Club Novice 2B) The club may also wish to hold a ring for club members only. The criteria below could be incorporated with entries open to members of the host club only. This arena could offer classes to Host Club members for all levels. 1.OPEN – to riders wishing to be considered for the Champion Trophy (must also enter the OPEN 2C) 2.LOCAL HORSE AND RIDER – to riders residing within ____km’s of the club 3.MASTERS – for riders over 50 yr (Competitor/Participant) 4.OWNER/RIDER 5.YOUNG RIDER – for riders under 21 yrs (or limited to 16-21) 6.JUNIOR  -  for riders 14-18 yo 7.ACHIEVEMENT – for riders that have never achieved >65% at Novice It is up to the clubs to develop the criteria for each class and explain it clearly in their schedules. For Closed Club Activity, you only need to use club based officials (accredited or otherwise).Clubs may also use NOAS judges from outside the club if need be, but this is certainly not mandatory.

6. Will the new structure require more planning and administration for Club organisers?

Initially it will as Clubs will need to look at their programs and work with their State Branches or Discipline Committee to create ways they can maximise the structure for their existing members and potential new members.

7. Will there be an impact on certain groups of members?

By introducing the Participant level of membership, EA has created the chance for more people to be part of the overall ‘equestrian family’ – they can have opportunities at their Club as well as via EA’s official structure. But for Participant members looking to progress, their initial opportunities will be provided to them best at a Club level, where they can access a range of different levels of competition in a friendly, well known environment.

8. Could the new structure impact Clubs entry numbers?

The new structure is designed to make it easier for members to get more actively involved in the sport. We expect over time, for more members to get involved in the sport. See some of the ideas to increase activity opportunities for your club in point 4 and Point 5

For more information on how your club can make the most of the new structure, contact your state branch or Equestrian Australia.  For contact details click here.