Kia ora koutou,
Last week we wrapped up our Club Roadshow programme. It was great to connect with so many of you around the country to discuss the future of sailing and boating.
Much of what we heard centred on value, cost and participation. These conversations are healthy and need to happen regularly. Clubs, boaties, sailors and parents are asking whether the sport is getting value for what it puts in, and whether our current model is fit-for-purpose. These are the right questions, and I want to address them directly.
We are not alone in this
The pressures our clubs describe are being felt right across New Zealand sport. The most recent National Sport Club Survey covered 747 clubs across more than 78 sports. It found that the number of clubs reporting financial deficits has doubled since before Covid, with facilities, insurance and running costs all rising, families feeling the cost of participation, and volunteers carrying more of the load. The Institute of Directors’ latest report on sport governance reaches the same conclusion: expectations on sport have grown faster than the funding and support available to meet them, often through models built for a different era.
That doesn’t make the challenge any smaller, but it does mean the answers are best found by all sports working together – and we can be at the forefront of enabling that.
Being clear about the money
Yachting New Zealand’s core income comes from affiliation fees and investment from Sport NZ, alongside other sources including grants and commercial partnerships. Sport NZ participation funding is tied to specific outcomes, and affiliation fees fund the services clubs and their members rely on. The principle we apply is that every affiliation dollar is invested in resources that support our clubs. There will always be debate about how best to allocate the funding based on the varying needs we see and hear across the club system – again, that is healthy.
The core of affiliation
Affiliation connects 106 clubs into one national sport. It gives members the right to race under the Racing Rules of Sailing, from club level to national and international events. It also enables us to advocate in the best interests of our community with local and central government, provides safety regulations and training, as well as officials, race management and coach training. It supports clubs’ access to community and gaming trust funding, and it gives every club a vote on the direction of the sport.
These are shared services that are strongest when as many clubs as possible are part of the system. Our team delivers much of this quietly in the background, and we want clubs and their members to see more of it. You’ll hear more from us about the work being done on your behalf.
Steve Armitage visited clubs around the country as part of the affiliation fee model roadshow.
Building on the core
Alongside these services, we are focused on reducing the costs clubs carry and bringing wider benefits to their members. A good example is the work under way on a club management tool. It is designed to take the administrative load off club volunteers and to cut the cost of the separate systems many clubs pay for today. We are also focused on growing new partnerships and introducing more targeted member benefits, so the cost of keeping the sport running doesn’t keep falling on clubs and their members.
Reviewing the affiliation model
At last year’s AGM, members challenged us to look again at how affiliation works. We have done that, and a proposed model will go to members at the upcoming AGM. I do want to take a moment to thank Andrew Robertson and the members of the Membership Affiliation Advisory Group (MAAG) for their time and support in progressing towards a proposed model. Whatever the outcome of that process, our focus on delivering the work outlined above will not change.
Listening, evolving and responding
The MAAG process and associated Club Roadshow reinforced something important: the people closest to the sport know what’s working and what isn’t. We’ve listened, and that feedback is already shaping our work, from the affiliation proposal to the tools and benefits we are building for clubs.
Sailing and boating, like every sport, has to keep evolving to stay relevant to how people want to take part today. Yachting New Zealand is committed to evolving with it, and to keeping you informed as this work progresses.
Originally published by Yachting New Zealand.
