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MEMBERSHIP REVIEW / REGIONALISATION
ASA Council 2004 commissioned a review of the membership of the ASA with the specific aim of answering the question “What is a member of the ASA?”. The responsibility for conducting that review was delegated, by Council, to the Regionalisation Project Board (RPB) and this report was written by the 5 members of the Board who have striven to maintain their independence from and accessibility to the whole of the sport.
With this in mind, the Committee feels that it is prudent to set the scene for those reading the report and to outline the parameters that the RPB worked within. The RPB has now reported to ASA Committee and together we now invite Council to consider our views.
Swimming and English society have changed considerably in the 135 years since the ASA was formed. But the rules of membership have their roots in Victorian and post World War II principles. It is a tribute to our forebears that many of these principles hold good today but others need urgent review; something that they would have and did tackle head on. The need for change and the need for clarity are clear; we must all work together as a team to get this right.
The Government has defined its role in sport as:
1. To assist strong well managed governing bodies to achieve excellence and success in World competitions; and
2. To encourage us all to have more active and healthy lives.
In the case of swimming, this means success at Olympic and Paralympic level along with the recognition that swimming is a life skill that can significantly contribute towards a healthy life as part of a more active life. The ASA must either embrace and engage with both these aims or face the prospect of someone else moving into our area.
We, the swimming family, recognised that the world in which we live and work is very different. We also recognised that people’s motivation to become involved in the sport has changed dramatically and vary from person to person equally dramatically. It is probably impossible to list all the reasons but they include:
- to access “talent development” and competition,
- for health and fun,
- to belong to a club or organisation,
- to gain access to better services such as coaching,
- the protection of working and practicing in safety and a controlled environment,
- for the insurance, or
- because they simply want to.
Some become involved, if not immersed, in the ASA because they recognise the importance of maintaining and demonstrating its ability:
- to protect the integrity of the sport,
- to establish a jurisdiction and avoid chaos,
- to demonstrate to all levels of government that we are driving activity and achievement up,
- to provide competition and training with order and the appropriate level of control that a strong governing body can give,
- to provide a rules structure which enables fair competition and equity.
We also recognised that the time was right to review our structures and to make sure that they are robust and meet the sport’s needs. That process began with the Boundary Commission Review in 2002 and has continued with the 2004 Membership Review. In fact, there is no better indicator of our (the swimming family’s) recognition of the need to debate these issues and our engagement in the debate than the number of submissions to the review bodies, many with very detailed, well-made and important points. This in itself is an inclusive and innovative approach.
Both Reviews were given carefully crafted remits and the review bodies were careful not to be distracted into related but ancillary areas. The bodies were also careful to consider emerging issues and the needs:
- for simplicity and ease of understanding,
- for inclusion of all sections of the community, for example minority groups,
- for inclusion of all sectors of society, for example the voluntary sector,
- for maximum membership levels,
- for accountability to the membership and good governance,
- to meet people aims, desires and reasons for joining the swimming family,
- for flexibility to adapt to new issues and circumstances, and
- for robustness.
As the representatives of the ASA swimming family, ASA Council has the ultimate decision on whether to adopt the recommendations in the report; taking the opinions of the wider membership into account and recognising that the membership review considered over 150 responses to the consultation exercise.
The aim in writing this foreword was not to influence the debate around the challenges that the RPB has set us all. Nor is it our intention to pre-empt the decisions of Council about the recommendations in this report. It is important that we, the ASA and the swimming family, have a free and open debate. Our aim was simply to set the scene and to introduce the report.
We therefore recommend consideration of the report and ask everyone to read it, consider the underlying issues, and think about the effects on the whole of the sport and OUR collective need for the future.
ASA Committee, November 2004
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