after taking advice from our club lawyer today, we need to start documenting some of the things that we are doing with setting up this club.  one of the items was to have a register of club members.  as we don’t really have any at this stage, what i am asking for is an “expression of interest” in becoming a club member.

there will probably be at least three different levels of membership based around the cycling australia licencing system.  firstly there will be racing members (those with a full racing licence) also recreational members (those with a non-racing licence but it covers insurance) and also social members (no licence but generally don’t ride, so usually partners who may want to be involved in social events).

we are working with cycling wa to formulate a member benefit summary so that you know just what you get for your licence and how cost effective it will be for you.  we would encourage you all to take up some form of licence just for the added benefit of the insurance in the unfortunate event of an accident.  there are a number of issues we need to explore with respect to insurance for both individuals and the proposed club and it will be sorted out before we officially become a club.

so what i am asking for is if you are interested in becoming a member could you please email me the following information to admin@southperthrouleurs.com.au

name, address, contact #, email, type of membership.

your information will be kept confidential but will be needed to prove that this venture is not just a way for me to profit for myself.  if you have already joined a club, in order to get a racing licence, that is ok, send your details through if you are thinking of joining us.  we will organise a transfer later.

once we have a constitution (in progress), office bearers (will talk about that in a sec) and a register of potential club members, we can move forward to getting the club affiliated with cycling wa and following that, becoming incorporated.  the affiliation allows riders that take out a licence to nominate our club as their club to join, and becoming incorporated gives us an opportunity to get access to government grants as well as changes our effective liability in the event of an accident.  it also allows us to open a bank account in the name of the club making everything a lot more transparent.  all legal yada ya but essential in this process.

now office bearers.  i have taken advice (non-legal) on this one too and i have changed the positions that we will need to fill.  i was originally going to have minimal defined roles and a bunch of committee members from which we could pick to do the work.  it was pointed out that this would effectively mean that we would have to continually delegate people tasks throughout the whole year.  so what we are going to do is define the roles early, then those people know what they have to do throughout the year and can get on with it.

so the roles are

president – leader of the free world.

vice-president – in case president is inactive.

secretary – keeping the club on track.

treasurer – keeping the finances on track.

marketing and promotions manager – promoting the club externally.

events manager – organisation of events both social and race (could be two roles).

team manager – logistics for race events we attend.

committee member – a few extra hands to help out when needed.

new roles may develop as we grow as a club and we will have the provision within our constitution to change these if the committee thinks that it is needed.  we will sit down later with the elected officials and clearly define the roles that they need to play.  if you would like to put your hand up for one of these positions please let me know.  please don’t feel like if you are not one of the hard-core racers you shouldn’t be a part of this.  every aspect of our group needs to be represented as it is the only way that we can continue to grow and i do not want this club to become only focused on racing.

 

so where do we go from here.

we will have a draft constitution. 

we will elect office bearers this weekend (those office bearers will be confirmed at a later date with an official election of fully paid up members). 

we become affiliated with cycling wa so that people can join through the normal channels.

we will finalise the constitution and become incorporated.

 

it all sounds so simple.  so if you think that you would be interested in becoming a member let me know.  this isn’t a binding contract and once we get the club off the ground, we will have a proper membership drive.

brendan and i had a meeting today with the ceo of cycling wa chris thompson and the development officer toby hodgson, about the possibility of setting up a cycle club.  as most of you know it is something we have been toying with for a while but we really didn’t have the numbers of people racing to make it worthwhile.  however, the last race of the season at joondalup and the response that lorriane has received for the upcoming pemberton race, has seen such a high level of interest that we thought we should act.

so some info to keep everyone up to speed.

 

why become a club???

initially it is because we have so many people racing that we thought that we should have some support behind them in an official manner.  to get a racing licence you have to join a club.  why not join our club instead, because at least you know where the club fees are going.  it also gives some structure behind who we are and what we want to achieve.  we will be setting to goals and objectives for what we want to do as a club.  these will be broadly aimed at allowing a pathway for people to make the step from casual weekend cyclist to a proper road racer.  how we develop these things will be not up to me, but up to the club.  another reason is so that the group has more than just one person running the show.  i appreciate the support that many of you have given me over the last year, but as you all know, i will not be in perth forever, so this gives us a succession plan.

 

what will change???

the saturday and sunday and thursday and public holiday rides will not change in their format or intent.  however, what we will be looking at is some form of club fee and licence to protect us in the event of an accident.  this “us” is both the rider (with personal insurance) and the club (with public liability).  we are working with cycling wa at the moment to table just what your options are as far as cost and benefits.  as part of our objectives, this licence will also help those people take the next step to participate in some of the low key races as a stepping stone to bigger things. 

 

so i don’t want to race, what about me???

well, we cannot force anyone to join the club, and i am loathe to stop anyone from riding with us just because they haven’t joined.  however, we will be continuing the social events that we started last year and will be running them as club activities.  if the aforementioned cost/benefit paper still doesn’t do it for you, then we will have to see what we as a club can do for you as you know that my goal has always been to get people on the bike.

 

what do we do now???

well, if you want to get involved, our next step is to write a constitution and an example can be found here.  i will be having a go at drafting one and will post it for comment as soon as possible.  we then need to hold an agm to elect office bearers.  there will be six positions – president, secretary, treasurer and three committee members who will hold various roles (marketing, event organising, team manager, etc).  the agm will be at the coffee shop after the saturday ride on jan 24th.  i know that it is a long weekend, but we need to have this done asap so we can get the club affiliated with cycling wa and give our riders a club to join.  for those that have already joined a club, we will look at the possibility of changing after we have set ours up.

so, if you want to be involved let me know, by sending me an e-mail.  also, we will need nominations for the office bearers roles before we can vote at the agm.  please send in your nominations via e-mail. 

please don’t let this just pass by, it gives everyone a good opportunity to become involved in how we set up and run a club.  if you have any concerns, or feel that we are heading in the wrong direction, please get in contact with me so we can see what we can do for you.