CLARIFICATION OF THE NKOA PADDLER AFFILIATION FEE

At the 2006 NKOA AGM, it was decided to replace the existing club based affiliation fee with a paddler based affiliation fee. 

Background

In the past each club that wished to become affiliated to NKOA paid a set affiliation fee through their regions. The affiliation fee was set each year by NKOA at its Annual General Meeting, which was then paid by the regions based on the number of clubs within it. Generally regions would collect the affiliation fee from their clubs. Regions and clubs were also entitled add their fee to cover their own operational costs. 

This affiliation process has now been replaced by the new paddler based affiliation fee.

The new process imposes a paddler affiliation fee set by NKOA annually at its Annual General Meeting. This paddler affiliation fee is charged to each paddler through their club who will pay NKOA through their regions. This will be in addition to all other fees charged by the regions and clubs.

This process also included shifting the NKOA financial year from 30th Sept (end date) to 30th Jun (end date). This allows clubs more time to plan and budget in the “off season”, knowing what the NKOA paddler affiliation fees will be for the new season. 

The new fee structure has been implemented for the current financial year 1 Sept 2007 to 31 Aug 2008

The fees for the 2007/2008 season are set at:
$15 per Open/Senior	(20 years and over in the year of competition)
$12 per Junior 	(19 years and under in the year of competition)

Due to the transition between the old club based system and the new paddler based affiliation fee, a part payment will apply for the 2007/2008 season, which equates seven months of the year. 

The current fee payable is as follows.
$8.75 per Open/Senior	(20 years and over in the year of competition)
$7.00 per Junior 	(19 years and under in the year of competition)

The due date for payment of these fees is May 20th 2008. 
Failure to pay these fees will result in regions/clubs being non-financial and unable to take part in nationally sanctioned events or international events such as the World Sprints. 

THE RATIONALE:
Why the big change? The reality of it all is that we need more money to run the sport.
The sport of Waka Ama has grown massively over the last decade. It was easy to manage paddlers back then, but there are now an estimated 10,000 paddlers in New Zealand, and we are struggling to manage this with volunteer effort alone. 

The choice to apply a fee per paddler, rather then per club, more evenly spreads the cost across clubs, then the old club fee system did. 

It also allows NKOA to compile a more accurate database of paddlers that will be useful when negotiating with funders & sponsors. 

We are not the first national sporting organisation to adopt this model. Many national sporting organisations in New Zealand already do this and have been doing so for some time. Basketball New Zealand, NZ Touch, Netball New Zealand, Volleyball New Zealand, to name a few

WHO IS REQUIRED TO PAY
All paddlers who have competed at any event on the NKOA race calendar during the current season will be expected to pay an affiliation fee. This includes those who might only attend the sprint nationals, through to those who attend every event on the race calendar.

There are some exclusions:

•	Corporate days, club days, social paddles and any other events that are not on the calendar
•	School students that attend school events only. (School students that attend club events are considered as Juniors)
•	Non Waka Ama paddlers. e.g. if an event includes surf ski and kayak, they are not required to affiliate.
•	International paddlers who are not members of New Zealand clubs

Social paddlers and supporters can choose to pay the affiliation fee through their clubs

The idea behind this is for the affiliation to apply to people who paddle regularly and will benefit most from the advancement of Waka Ama in New Zealand. 

We are not interested in collecting affiliation fees from first time, social or corporate paddlers or any events that are not on the calendar. We want to encourage new paddlers into the sport and as such the paddler affiliation fee will only apply once they commit to a club and start attending calendared events. 

HOW WILL WE COLLECT THE FEE’S?
Each region has its own affiliation process for clubs, so to respect that process, invoices will be sent to each region. Regions can choose to pass the fee directly onto clubs or they may wish to look at alternative methods of payment. Regions may also charge their own regional affiliation fee in addition to the NKOA per paddler fee.

Therefore paddler’s annual fees, payable to their clubs will be made up of;	
•	the club subscription fee (set by the club)
•	the regional affiliation fee (set by the region)
•	the NKOA per paddler fee (set at the NKOA AGM)

Invoices will be sent out every 3 months, and they will be broken down by club and paddler. Once a paddler has paid their affiliation fee, they will not have to pay again until the start of the next season. Each subsequent invoice will only show new paddlers that have joined since the last billing cycle. These paddlers must be added to your online register of paddlers.

Billing cycle
•	1st December 2008
•	1st March 2009
•	1st June 2009
•	1st September 2009

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

•	What about the yearly club fees?
There are no more club based affiliation fees. They have been replaced with the new paddler based affiliation fee.

•	What about ID Cards?
Paddler ID cards are a separate one-off cost and are not included in the paddler affiliation fee.

•	What if I belong to more then one club?
You will only need to pay one affiliation fee, no matter how many clubs you belong too. 
 
•	Can I race for more then one club?
Yes, but you may only paddle for one club at an event. So you could race for one club at sprint nationals and a different club at long distance nationals.

•	What if I join part way through the season
People that join after the start of the season, will still need to pay the full year fee, and regions will be invoiced in the next billing cycle.

Should you have any further questions
Please contact 
Lara Collins
Email: lara@collegesport.co.nz