Rugby Bridge Club rejects Pay to Play
Through a poll of the entire membership, the Club has chosen not to affiliate to the EBU for the forthcoming year, starting 1st April 2010. The proposal was carried by an overwhelming majority of 78%
-
Total membership 120
-
Votes received 99
-
Late votes 1
-
Votes in agreement 76
-
Votes in disagreement 22
-
Abstentions 0
-
Spoilt paper 1
Thanks to Robert Cooper and Margaret Cassin for doing the count whilst the rest of us played bridge.
PAY TO PLAY – THE CASE AGAINST
Following the Extraordinary General Meeting of Rugby Bridge Club on 12 January, club members are being asked to vote by postal ballot on a motion that the Club should not affiliate to the English Bridge Union (EBU) in 2010/11, but that the position should be reviewed again at the Annual General Meeting in 2011. On the strength of the 45 – 30 vote against affiliation last autumn, the Club have already told the EBU that they are ‘minded not to affiliate’.
There are arguments on both sides. In our view the main arguments against affiliation are as follows
-
It’s a closed shop. If the club affiliates, every member will be forced to become a member of the EBU. You will be able to opt out of receiving some benefits such as the diary and magazine, but you will still be a member;
-
It’s greedy. The proposals bear particularly heavily on Rugby Bridge Club because only about a quarter of our members are currently members of the EBU. Current EBU members would no longer have to pay individually and might therefore be slightly better off, but the great majority of club members would lose out badly. Overall, the Club and its members combined would be paying roughly double what they pay now to the EBU;
-
It’s inflexible. The Club would have to pay the EBU for all duplicate sessions (except training ones), whether or not it wanted to award master points for a particular session;
-
The EBU say bridge in the UK is declining and Pay to Play is necessary to save it. But our club is flourishing without such a system. Countries such as the USA and Italy have not sought to introduce Pay to Play and England has just won the World Championships without it.
-
It is an unknown quantity. We need at least a year’s experience of how the scheme in practice affects other clubs analogous to ours before deciding whether to take the plunge. If we affiliate now, it may be difficult to back out later. For the time being, healthy scepticism seems the best approach.
This ballot is not about the EBU itself, but about the present Pay to Play scheme and whether it is in the best interests of Rugby Bridge Club and its members. We believe the scheme is unfair and potentially unworkable in its present form, but unless enough clubs like ours reject it, it will be introduced against the better judgement of many bridge players. If we decide not to affiliate, individual bridge players can remain members of the EBU if they wish, so freedom of choice will be preserved.
We urge you to vote in favour of the motion in the postal ballot.
Pete Augustus
Peter Langley
Wendy Pattinson
January 2010
Any of our readers looking for further commentary on the P2P situation are referred to the "Last Words" article at the back of the latest edition of "BRIDGE" the Mr Bridge magazine. Number 99 February 2010. The article, by Ned Paul, refers to the mindset of centralised control that defines P2P for many clubs who are opting out. We have an example of this attitude in a directive recently received from the EBU where they forbid any of their Clubs with devolved sections from operating a joint website.
This website, whatever the outcome of P2P, will print anything that I consider of interest to the bridge players of Rugby
Pete Augustus 18th Jan 2010
The second vote on Pay to Play is getting closer. Here are the views of Peter Langley
I am strongly opposed to the EBU Pay to Play Scheme. It seems to me in essence to be a greedy attempt to create a closed shop in which clubs and individual players are coerced into paying far more to the EBU than has hitherto been the case. What additional benefit they would get for this extra money is far from clear.
It seems to me that each bridge player should have the right to decide for him- or herself whether to be a member of the EBU. Freedom of choice is a fundamental principle. Because I have no interest in master points, do not want a bridge diary and already receive a free bridge magazine, I have no wish to be an EBU member. I understand that I could ‘opt out’ of membership under Pay to Play, but I presume the club would still in effect be forced to pay for me as a member.
I agree that someone needs to look after the rules of bridge. But rules should change only infrequently in a mature game like ours, and it does not require a costly organisation to keep them under review.
It is clear from the excellent paper that only about 30 of RBC’s 110 members will benefit financially from the proposed change. The other 80 will lose, as will the club as a whole. As I understand it, even if RBC does not affiliate, individual members can still retain their membership so they will not lose the benefits they currently get.
If the Club does not affiliate, I welcome Malcolm Taylor’s suggestion of a reciprocal arrangement with another non-affiliated club. This could apply not only in respect of disciplinary appeals (bearing in mind that few disciplinary issues are likely to go to final appeal) but also for example to find tournament directors for annual pairs events etc.
The master points issue is clearly of importance to a minority of people and I agree it could have some effect on attendance at annual events, though this should not be over-stated. However I do not believe that this in itself is a sufficiently strong argument in favour of affiliation.
In my view the paper fails to make a convincing case for EBU affiliation. I would suggest that RBC does not affiliate in year 1, but keeps the situation under review. It will be particularly important to discover what proportion of clubs in Coventry and Warwickshire are affiliated and to monitor the benefits of affiliation in more depth, so that we can reach an informed decision about the possibility of affiliation in future years.
If the Club does decide to affiliate, I would strongly oppose any move to increase table money to meet the higher costs. We have built up a huge development fund with nothing (at present) to spend it on. If necessary we should be prepared to draw on some of this money to bridge the funding gap, or at least to redirect future contributions to the development fund to pay the EBU’s inflated cost requirements.
To sum up, it seems to me that the Pay to Play proposal deserves to fail in its present form. Unless clubs like ours, the majority of whose members would lose out under the proposals, have the courage of their convictions and decline to affiliate, the result will be the entrenchment of a very poor scheme rather than the emergence of a better one at some stage in the future.
Peter Langley
HOT PRESS Kenilworth and Northampton have voted not to Affiliate to the EBU and therefore P2P
Rugby Bridge Club and the EBU Pay to Play Scheme
(assessment by Nicky Cook)
Introduction
The English Bridge Union (EBU) has taken the decision to go to a new funding structure from April 2010.
Rugby Bridge Club (RBC) now needs to decide whether it wishes to remain affiliated to the EBU.
This matter arouses some strong views both for and against. There are probably also a lot of members who haven’t had a chance to be fully informed.
The RBC committee has formed a sub-group to help with the process of making this choice. The group consists of Nicky Cook, Peter Augustus and Graham Lightfoot. Please contact any of us if you have views, questions or suggestions. Thanks to those of you who already have!
This decision will be put to the members at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to be held on Friday 11th September 2009 at Dunchurch Parish Hall at 19:15. Bridge will be available after the meeting subject to time available.
This document has the following purposes:
§ To service as notice of the EGM on 11th September 2009
§ To provide information, and links to further information, on EBU Pay to Play and its likely impact on RBC.
§ To gather views of the members on the effect of the change, to be collated and presented at that meeting as further background information.
Motions for the EGM have yet to be drafted.
The English Bridge Union
The EBU provides the Laws and Rules of the game for England. It represents England at the world level. It selects and enters players for international competitions. It runs national competitions and congresses.
It runs a shop from which books, tables, bidding boxes, cards etc can be purchased by mail order. There are other sources of such items.
It provides training and support for tournament directors from club to senior levels. There are some, possibly emerging, and alternative sources.
It runs a Bridge Teachers Association, qualifying scheme, and publishes details of qualified bridge teachers on its website.
It publishes the magazine: English Bridge, six times a year.
It runs the masterpoint scheme. This scheme allows members to collect points for good performances in club, county and higher levels and online. Many members enjoy the recognition of progress with their rise through the various levels published in the magazine and marked with cards, optional certificates, and small gifts. The EBU is working on a new scheme, to run in parallel with the Masterpoint Scheme, a National Grading Scheme, designed to recognise a player’s current ability, rather than lifetime achievement.
The EBU has its main relationship with the clubs through their county organisations who appoint “shareholders” who have the power to influence the EBU at Annual or Extraordinary General Meetings. The shareholders have supported the Pay to Play structure. The EBU has around 24,000 individual members, understood to be static. The EBU has not had a strong relationship with clubs previously but has now formed a Club Committee and is starting to consider what it offers to clubs. One member, one vote has been mooted but there is no sign of it being adopted. One frequently raised point is that the EBU is not responsive to either clubs or individual members, and there is no sign that Pay to Play will change this.
Despite the launch of PlayBridge UK about two years ago, no full alternative to the EBU has yet come to light.
Summary of Estimated Impact of Pay to Play on RBC
The Pay to Play structure will result in RBC paying far more to the EBU than it does at present. The change may favour members who are already EBU members (approximately 30 out of 110), because they would no longer pay their individual affiliation. Even taking the individual subscriptions into account, the EBU would still receive more than double their present income.
There is also some extra administrative work by our Club Officials involved, and there are implications for Information Technology. Inevitably this change has called into question the value of the EBU to the club and to its members, and to the game in general. It has also stimulated discussion about possible alternatives.
In the sections: Impact of Affiliating to the EBU with effect April 2010 and Impact of Non Affiliation with effect April 2010, the financial and factual implications are laid out in more detail.
The EBU have published their proposals on their website www.ebu.co.uk There have been articles and letters setting out alternative views in the Bridge magazine, particularly no 95. The magazines are reproduced on the website at www.mrbridge.co.uk/library.php .
Impact of Affiliating to the EBU with effect April 2010
Impact on the Club
The Club will pay substantially more money to the EBU. Current estimate is an increase from approximately £300 to approximately £1700. This could be collected by the club in the form of increased table money, probably by 50p for ease of collection. Tuesday evenings are struggling to break even at present (£1 of the £2 table money is a levy for the Development Fund) so the excess 14p collected would assist. Wednesday evenings generate a surplus, so might not have to change. Thursday evening table money could pay the P2P from the current table money and reduce the support of the Development Fund, or table money could be increased.
The Club will have to undertake administrative work in gathering, maintaining and providing to the EBU: membership, visitor, session and scoring information.
The Club will need to install a new version of Scorebridge, and ensure it is used by all Tournament Directors at all club sessions, including exempt sessions.
Impact on Members
Rugby Bridge Club will automatically enrol all members as members of the EBU. Normally Rugby Bridge Club will supply name and address details to the EBU so that the EBU can send membership cards, diaries etc directly to the member. Members can opt to remain “anonymous” to the EBU. In this case, RBC will assign a unique key to the member, send results etc associated with that key to the EBU, but will retain the name and address etc in the club records only.
RBC Members who have previously subscribed directly to the EBU no longer have to pay their £21.50 subscription. This applies to 30 people, making a total saving to them of £645.
Members will “qualify” to receive the magazine “English Bridge” and an EBU diary when they have played 12 sessions in any affiliated Club in any year.
Members will continue to be able to win masterpoints when they play on Tuesdays at Sacred Heart. Members will now be able to win masterpoints on Wednesday evenings, Thursday evenings and in Troughers events.
Impact of Non Affiliation with effect April 2010
Impact on the Club
EBU related expenses will disappear altogether.
The Club will have to select and maintain laws and rules by which to play the game, and to formalise the powers of its tournament directors, disciplinary committee and policy for the situation where a member or visitor challenges decisions. Malcolm Taylor has suggested we could make a reciprocal arrangement with another non affiliated club to act as final appeal arbiters. The disciplinary process has been invoked at least three times in the last three years, but disputes have been resolved by our own disciplinary committee.
If Warwickshire Contract Bridge Association adopts the new county constitution proposed by the EBU, RBC would not be able to affiliate to the County, enter teams, pairs or players into County competitions. RBC will not be able to rely on the county for support for tournament directors.
If RBC opts out of the EBU is possible that some RBC members may wish to pursue competition in EBU events and participation in the Masterpoints and National Grading Schemes by preferring to join and play at other, affiliated, clubs. RBC might lose members and attendance. It is not possible to quantify this effect at present. Alternatively some RBC members might choose not to remain in a club with compulsory EBU membership. It would be most helpful if members could complete and return the attached questionnaire.
RBC will not be able to run any of the 4 EBU Simultaneous Pairs events in future. Other Simultaneous Pairs events are available. We would not be able to run EBU sanctioned events which offer masterpoints.
Impact on Members
No members will qualify for EBU masterpoints when they play at any RBC event, whether or not they are members of another EBU affiliated, club.
Members will be able to affiliate to the EBU by joining another EBU affiliated club at the cost of joining that club, or by joining as a Direct Member at a cost, in 2010/2011, of £23.
Estimated Financial Effect of Pay to Play
Information from the EBU
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR CLUBS ON UNIVERSAL MEMBERSHIP THROUGH PAY TO PLAY
What are your plans for development?
Since the EGM on 4 June we have been working hard on developing a Business Strategy Plan for the next five years. At the AGM in October this plan will be outlined and then published on the website for the membership as a whole.
How will Pay to Play stabilise the organisation as a base for these future developments?
We cannot build on quicksand. We need a strong foundation to build on and universal membership provides us with that. Pay to Play is the mechanism that we feel is the most effective and fair way of achieving it.
Why haven't you considered any other forms of universal membership?
We have. Our findings show that there would be administration overload, not only for the EBU but also for clubs if we run a subscription system or a hybrid system of subscription and Pay to Play levy, or two levels of subscription, one for tournament players and one for non-tournament players. This last system brings another level of administration and checking for tournament entry.
· The Universal Membership Project Board is currently looking at the simplest way for clubs to exchange membership data with the EBU. We are dedicated to making the process as easy as possible for our affiliated clubs. We are also looking for clubs who will help us test the new system in the 2009.
Yes but club membership is diminishing so how can this provide stability?
The whole philosophy of this first stage of the strategy is to develop our existing clubs, grow new clubs, attract unaffiliated clubs and invest in education which, in turn, will provide new players for our clubs. This strategy will be club driven to ensure a healthy climate for duplicate bridge in England.
· One of the first things that the EBU has done since Pay to Play was approved on 4 June is to set up a club sub committee of the Board. Importantly, clubs are also represented on the Pay to Play implementation committee to ensure a smooth transition for all clubs, large and small, in the next 18 months. This Universal Membership Project Board has already met and has four independent members of clubs on it. The Club Committee will meet for the first time on September 17th.
How much will the Pay to Play fee be in April 2010?
It will be 29p increased by no more than the Retail Price Index over 2 years.
How will counties raise their funds?
This will be up to the counties to decide. It is expected that the majority will ask the EBU to add a county Pay to Play element to the national fee.
What about the club contract?
The new Club Committee will help develop the club contract
· The national Pay to Play fee will be in the contract that goes out to clubs in July 2009 along with any county Pay to Play component.
· The Pay to Play fee will be put before the EBU's AGM every year for approval by the shareholders, just as the annual subscription is now.
· The club/EBU contract will be the same as any contract between a service supplier and its client. The EBU agrees to provide services and the affiliated club will agree to pay for them. Clubs will remain sovereign in every respect. The contract will be "evergreen" and a club will be able to opt out at the end of any financial year by giving three months notice.
· Each year clubs will know the cost of the next year's Pay to Play fee in October (AGM as stated above). The financial year will run from 1 April to 31 March, so if clubs are not happy with the level of the fee they can give three months notice of resignation on 31 December and will not incur any payments they do not wish to make.
This is the timeline for the Club Contract over a period of 18 months from June 2009:
· At the shareholders meeting in June 2009 the Pay to Play fee will be agreed so that it can be inserted in to the Club Contract that will be circulated in July 2009.
· July 2009 -first contracts go out to clubs with the national Pay to Play fee and county Pay to Play component.
· October 2009 - shareholders ratify Pay to Play fee for financial year 1/4/2010 - 31/3/2011
· April 2010 - Pay to Play system is launched
· October 2010 - Pay to Play fee for financial year 1/4/2011 -31/3/1012 is announced
· 31 December 2010 - Cut off date for clubs who wish to give three months notice if they do not approve of the next year's fee.
· April 2011 - new Pay to Play fee charged
What is the real VAT situation?
We currently pay a reduced rate of VAT (roughly half the standard 17.5%) on our membership subscription income because English Bridge is a zero rated service. This reduces our VAT bill by about £35,000 per annum. Pay to Play is a different method of collecting membership subscriptions and, as such, should not alter the VAT position, although it will be necessary for us to make sure things are set up correctly.
Our auditor is satisfied that this can be done and will advise us. Now Pay to Play is approved, we have begun discussions to obtain formal clearance from HMRC, however, it is likely to be many months before we get an answer.
Note that the subscription amounts the EBU now collects on behalf of some counties (and any similar amounts it would collect for them in future under Pay to Play) are merely their cash passing through the EBU's hands.
That money is not part of the EBU's profit and loss so is and will remain outside the EBU VAT net.
What about a detailed risk assessment? The Board decided that the most appropriate way to mitigate the risks at this stage was to adopt a macro financial approach and to make a financial contingency that would cover all risks. This is explained in detail on page 22 of our proposals published in April 2008.
Because of the importance of this project, the Board will insist that during the implementation phase, detailed risks are comprehensively identified and operational solutions proposed.
There has been some concern expressed that we are moving from two sources of income - Master Points and Membership Subscriptions - to just one, Pay to Play. However, Master Points and Membership Subscriptions are so interlinked and overlap that merging them has little effect in terms of changing risk.
Democratic representation: Pay to Play allows all members of all our affiliated clubs to have a stake in the EBU enabling them to determine the way the organisation develops bridge in clubs and meets the needs of its clubs. You will note that the EBU has pledged to investigate one member one vote, but even without that the democratic process does exist for all to have a say through their county representation.
COVENTRY REJECT PAY TO PLAY
News from Coventry is that members at their AGM voted to disaffiliate from the EBU from next April. This is a clear cut rejection of the policies of the current EBU management. Coventry are one of the leading Bridge Clubs in the Country, this year winning the Garden Cities Trophy again. Building work on their new purpose-built club commences next week, The Clubhouse will be on the Binley Road, within the grounds of the Coventry and North Warwickshire Cricket Club. The building will house 40 bridge tables, Coventry were due to host this year's annual Rugby v's Coventry match but because of their present accommodation problem we are hosting the match instead. It will take place on Wednesday 12th August at the Sacred Heart, members hoping to play should contact our Secretary. We should be playing in Coventry's new Clubhouse for the 2010 event.
The future for Ecats SIMS
There has been some concern that when P2P is introduced, the EBU would attempt to restrict SIMS events to EBU Clubs. This is not the case, it is only the 4 EBU events that will be restricted. Ecats puts on other events and these will remain open to all. The Children in Need SIMS event will take place on Tuesday 17th November 2009
read all about it: www.ecatsbridge.com/sims/info/calendar.asp
Masterpoints are Dead, long live Masterpoints
When the English Bridge Union (EBU) announced its new Strategy for the future it was looking at the failings of the present set-up and concluded that although the Masterpoint system was attractive to some new members, it was not attractive enough to pull in as many new members as they would like (membership of the EBU has been falling for many years, hence the attraction of Pay to Play; make them all join whether they like it or not). We all know that to many players the attraction of masterpoints fades and some people could not even be bothered to send in their certificates. So in their wisdom the heads of the EBU thought of a new system, where ranking was determined by current performance, the National Grading Scheme. Ranking will be determined by how well you are playing, at the moment, over the last 40 or so performances. Of course, as with masterpoints the ranking is determined by who you are playing, if you play every week at the "Duffers Club" and win every week, you will accumulate lots of points
This idea has a lot of merit but the EBU had not reckoned with all those players who had built up a grand title by slogging away for 30 years, or who had spent a fortune on green point events (a way of buying your way into top points). Because of their protests the EBU has relented and is now going to run the two systems side by side. How this will work when it comes to selecting the "best players" remains to be seen, but the EBU has a working party looking at it!
Of course, at Rugby, we have our own grading system, you can see your results every week on this website. Alan Webb, with the aid of Scorebridge works out the averages that you and your partner are achieving and list them in our Tuesday Summary: Totals