Judo . Auckland Judo Association area meeting report.Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent.” ― Napoléon Bonaparte

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

Hi Team,

Attached are the minutes of the last Area Management Meeting.

The Secretary and I have been through them. We are trying to keep them as concise as possible so they record the ‘resolutions’ made by the meeting rather than proposed ‘recommendations’ or discussion.

If you read them in conjunction with the agenda you can see there was a fair bit of debate and the key outcomes of the meeting can be summarized as follows:

·         Steps need to be taken quickly to ensure the financial sustainability of the AJA – Over the last few years we have lost money and our prediction is that if we track the same way this year we will lose about $ 9,000.  This means that we need to look closely at a range of issues including:

o   The Area Levy – At the moment the AJA levies an additional $5 per registration.  Obviously this is not enough.

o   Contest Entry Fees – At the moment we generally subsidise (i.e. lose money on running contests).  In contrast if you enter a BJJ contest (that doesn’t have the same level of consistent refereeing or the chances of selection for national teams or points towards international selection) it costs considerably more than entering a Judo competition.  We need to look closely at our business model for competitions.

o   Funding Travel – Last year the AJA said it would no longer fund travel for association funds.  We will apply for funding on behalf but we need to seriously consider how we can help our people travel or develop their Judo.

o   The mat purchase – An issue dear to my heart is replacing the current contest mats.  In 2013 the AJA resolved to replace the contest areas but did not follow through.  Unfortunately this will probably need to be re-assessed in light of the financial position of the organisation.

·         Supporting travel – The AJA did resolve to submit funding applications on behalf or squad members travelling to a variety of events but we cannot support funding travel from savings at this time

·         The website – We don’t intend to upgrade it at this time. We have financial concerns and the majority of members present believe the current website is fit for purpose.

·         We have a plan – I intend to get out and start discussing the plan with members at clubs soon. 

·         We are going to look at a project based approach to organsing the work – Instead of having a string of people appointed in roles that are big and ill-defined we believe that it is better to try and involve more people but ask less of each individual by focussing on putting together project teams rather than a management structure.

In summary it was a good meeting – the next one will be on 24 May 2015.  If you want to put an issue on the agenda email me a report before 15 May 2015.

In conclusion. Get involved. Any of you are welcome to come to the Area Management Meetings and to be actively involved.  Let’s get beyond whinging about things and start working together to promote Judo.

Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent.” 
― Napoléon Bonaparte