[tournament-org] Consultation on the BGA Levy

[Geoff Kaniuk]

I have scanned the response to the EGF fees proposal.  Some comments:

Both parts 1. and 2. are reasonable in principle.  I understand that EGF 
has some difficulty in collecting membership fees from some countries so 
something needs to be done. A lot of work is involved in managing the 
EGD database so it is fair to collect a contribution for that. It needs 
to be kept very simple eg a clear split member/non-member as compared to 
our old levy system with its several categories.

There has been some call to tie the BGA registration system into the 
pairing program.   Pairing programs have a very specific role and should 
always be kept independent of any external functionality like membership.

The place to collect and maintain membership information is surely best 
managed by the online web entry system.  Some TD's do use the BGA entry 
form and that can ask for membership status. Other TD's opt to have 
their own form and should be encouraged to collect membership status.

There has been a suggestion that new players pre-register for a pin. It 
sounds attractive, but currently the only way a new player gets a pin is 
when the results are submitted to EGD.


Geoff

33 Ashbury Close, Cambridge CB1 3RW 01223 710582

On 25/09/2023 16:21, secretary--- via tournament-org wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I am looking for some input on lessons learned from running the BGA Levy 
> system on tournaments. In fact this is to help the EGF, but will 
> indirectly help ourselves as well. I have circulated this to the 
> tournament organisers list, and a few others who will have relevant 
> experience. I need to explain the background to this request first …
> 
> Background:
> 
> The EGF is proposing to change the way it charges membership fees to its 
> member countries. If it gets agreement (possibly a big if) this will be 
> applicable from 2025. The details are as yet undecided, and I did expect 
> there to be a formal consultation exercise, but it now looks like they 
> will just bring their proposal to the 2024 AGM and vote on it. However, 
> as we already run a system which is similar to their proposal (the levy 
> system) they are keen to hear from us about what works well and what 
> doesn’t. Hence we may have some ability to shape the debate before next 
> year’s AGM.
> 
> Proposed Fee Structure:
> 
>  From 2025 the EGF membership fee for each country will consist of two 
> components
> 
>  1. A set annual amount per member from that country, plus
>  2. For each tournament played in that country which is submitted to the
>     EGD, a small participation fee for each player in the tournament
>     /which will vary according to the status of the player/. Players who
>     are members of a national association which is in the EGF will incur
>     a much smaller fee than non-members.
> 
> The first part requires each country to maintain a list of its members. 
> The second part means that the BGA will be charged based on UK 
> tournament participation, /regardless of which country the players are 
> from./ Whilst we have still to discuss this it is likely that the BGA 
> will expect Tournament Directors to pay that component to the BGA, who 
> will then pay the EGF. How the TD’s set the price for their events will 
> of course be down to them, but the EGF fees will apply to all events 
> submitted to the EGD.
> 
> An example:
> 
> Please note these numbers are from my head and are very much *indicative 
> only* and the final figures will be set as part of the debate with the 
> EGF. The scheme may look like:
> 
>   * The BGA pays 2 or 3 euro annually to the EGF for every member we have.
>   * For each tournament held in the UK, the EGF will charge the BGA 0.5
>     euro for every participant who is already a national member of an
>     EGF country, and 2 euro for every non-member.
> 
> Some immediate implications:
> 
> The EGF have already realised that TDs will want to charge non-members 
> more than members, given that non-members will cost them more. This 
> means that that TDs will need easy access to a Europe-wide membership 
> database, so they can quickly check for each entrant whether or not they 
> are a paid up member of an EGF country. The EGF know they have to build 
> this database, and then persuade all member countries to keep it up to 
> date. Without this the system is unworkable as TDs won’t be able to do 
> differential charging.
> 
> Just a little thought raises a whole slew of questions on the detail of 
> this, none of which we have answers to yet. Some that I can think of are
> 
>   * What about multi-day tournaments, is the charge per day? If so how
>     would the EGF know which rounds were on which days to raise the
>     correct bill?
>   * What about first-time tournament players where typically we don’t
>     charge? Will the EGF do the same?
>   * What about concessions? Will the charges for juniors etc be lower,
>     and if so how will the EGF know who qualifies for a concession?
>   * Will online tournaments/events be charged?
>   * Will the membership database say when the person’s membership starts
>     and ends, and will that be used by the EGF in their billing
>     calculations?
> 
> Sorry for the length of this, but what I would like from you please are 
> your experiences of handling our current levy system, what problems it 
> has caused you, and how you got round them. Also given the proposed 
> structure above, what would be needed to make it workable for you?
> 
> I will collate all the responses and create a document to send in to the 
> EGF. It will ostensibly be  a ‘lessons learned’ document, but if there 
> is a strong view on any topic I can use it to put the case for the 
> things we want to see.
> 
> Thanks in advance.
> 
> *Colin Williams*
> 
> BGA Secretary      mail: secretary at britgo.org <mailto:secretary at britgo.org>
> 
> 
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