GAA mentor Fees

groef

I would like to know what to do. I love coaching the children, but mentor fees are due and I just can not pay it due to other financial commitments. I feel that I am giving up lots of my time, twice a week with training and weekend games and then have to pay to give up my time. I am in a position where I will just have to give up mentoring.

Any advice on this?

run_Forrest_run

groef wrote: »

I would like to know what to do. I love coaching the children, but mentor fees are due and I just can not pay it due to other financial commitments. I feel that I am giving up lots of my time, twice a week with training and weekend games and then have to pay to give up my time. I am in a position where I will just have to give up mentoring.

Any advice on this?

sorry, mentor fees??
I'm also a mentor for one of our underage teams. Since all mentors must be members of the club I just pay I pay the basic pavilion membership for the year which is €20 which is fair enough and is affordable and contributes to the club expenses, insurance etc.

How much are these fees you are referring to?

groef

We have to pay over a €100 and it is just toooooo much for me . I am so sad that I will have to give this up.

Oldtree

€50 this end for mentors, but also going to have to get a few balls for training.

These Smyths ones seem to be the cheapest around, anybody know what they are like to use? (sorry op )

http://www.smythstoys.com/ie/en-ie/outdoor/c-651/sports-equipment/p-5133/smart-touch-gaelic-football/

run_Forrest_run

good god, I'm pretty shocked to be honest that volunteers are being asked to pay €100 for the pleasure of training other people's kids:eek:

Stationmaster

groef wrote: »

We have to pay over a €100 and it is just toooooo much for me . I am so sad that I will have to give this up.

Is the €100 on top of membership or does it include membership? If it includes membership then how much does someone who's not a mentor pay?

Hesh's Umpire

OP, I would approach the club registrar or secretary and explain your position.

I'm sure the last thing they'd want is to lose a volunteer coach and they might be able to come to an arrangement of some sort with you.

groef

Thanks so much everybody, I will follow up with the club.

groef

Stationmaster wrote: »

Is the €100 on top of membership or does it include membership? If it includes membership then how much does someone who's not a mentor pay?

If you are not a mentor you pay a lot more than the €100. The €100 include membership.

groef

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

good god, I'm pretty shocked to be honest that volunteers are being asked to pay €100 for the pleasure of training other people's kids:eek:

On top of financial issues, still feels it a bit much.

Kavrocks

I think it's slightly more in my club. You also aren't paying to give up your time to coach people, you are paying to be a member of a club and one of the opportunities that affords you is to be able to volunteer as a coach. As a member of the club you can also avail of the facilities of that club and will be insured in the event of an accident or other such happening.

Most clubs will be very reasonable to people undergoing financial hardship too so the best thing you can do is contact the club.

Boom__Boom

groef wrote: »

If you are not a mentor you pay a lot more than the €100. The €100 include membership.

That's a huge amount for mentor membership.

Does the club have debt or very fancy facilities or what? The only other thing I can think of is if its ladies football or camogie as their finances can often be a lot more precarious than long-established football or hurling clubs.

I definitely be having a look at the financial report of the club as charging a mentor €100 for membership is utter lunacy to me.

Stationmaster

groef wrote: »

If you are not a mentor you pay a lot more than the €100. The €100 include membership.

If the €100 includes membership and other members who are not mentoring pay a lot more then are you not doing well out of it!?

In my club there is no difference in the membership fee of a mentor or non mentor and it isn't an issue.

nice_guy80

Ring underage chairman and explain your situation

I doubt they'd pursue it, considering they'd lose an underage mentor.

spudbike

It costs close around 40k per annum to run a small rural club. This money has to come from somewhere. Sponsorship comes nowhere nearer, membership and fund raising fill the gap. Everyone's sick of fund raising. Membership should meet most of the costs of running the club. Coaching is easy compared to fund raising.

nice_guy80

spudbike wrote: »

It costs close around 40k per annum to run a small rural club. This money has to come from somewhere. Sponsorship comes nowhere nearer, membership and fund raising fill the gap. Everyone's sick of fund raising. Membership should meet most of the costs of running the club. Coaching is easy compared to fund raising.

If you don't have volunteer coaches, you don't have teams. Simple as.

kala85

The irony of underage coaches getting charged to coach the future of the club while the coaches of the adult teams receive at least 50 to 100 e per training session expenses in most cases.

Unreal. The gaa. You couldn't dream it up.

groef

OMG did not realise this, now I am a bit upset and do not seem fair

nice_guy80

Is this a wind-up?

bruschi

So this isnt really mentor fees then is it? If being a member costs more than being a mentor, surely that means your club membership fees are too much?

Apart from that, I'm shocked that a) the fees are higher than €100 per person to be a member and that b) there is such a thing as mentors fees that others have alluded to.

big_drive

I don't see the issue here. To be a member of any club you pay membership. The cost here is a membership fee not an actual fee to coach a team.

Anyone who isn't a full member should not be involved with a team, especially an underage team. There would be all sorts of complications if there was any type of incident and it emerged that that club had left an individual who was not a full member involved with a team.

As mentioned above if you are under financial pressure approach the club and make an arrangement to pay your membership in instalments or something similar.

groef

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Is this a wind-up?

What do you mean?

Wind up as in it is "fair for mentors to pay club subscription" and encourage children to continue to play the game that will eventually make the club and the teams, while the coaches at more senior level get paid?

I love the teaching, mentoring and coaching the children.

So, far: I accept the €100 is for club subs and I assume that coaches on senior level will pay this as well. Only difference is that they get paid expenses. Also pointed out; without all this work at juvenile level, there would be no club and no teams. So, would it not have made more sense to wave the subs for mentors as we already have to pay for our children. Lastly, I also see the club sub varying from 20 and the sky being the limit that mentors will have to pay even though it is a reduced price. On top of this we are required to offer up more time on ensuring that we have completed courses such as child protection, which I agree with, but more time. If I had to bill the club for my hourly rate or even basic minimum wage I will have pretty stuffed pockets.

I will go back to club relating to the financial situation.

Thanks so much for all the advice, but feel that I have opened up a can of worms and I sense the frustration and inconsistencies in a standard GAA policy.

big_drive

To point out as well at adult level its usually outside coaches that get paid.

Adult coaches in their own clubs don't I'm pretty sure and pay their membership fees the same as other members within the club

kala85

big_drive wrote: »

To point out as well at adult level its usually outside coaches that get paid.

Adult coaches in their own clubs don't I'm pretty sure and pay their membership fees the same as other members within the club

Not always.I know of plenty of lads who take money off their own club. I know of one club where there was a massive row at an agm over the senior teams manager because three different lads wanted it - not because of training the team but because of the training expenses that come with the job.

In general in clubs, it wouldn't be the done thing for clubs to pay their own members train the senior team. That's why plenty of lads will get involved with other clubs but not with their own.

A outside manage costs money but sometimes they are, rightly or wrongly respected more than the lad in club who does it for nothing.

The financial strain on clubs to pay managers.is unbelievable. When you think about it 100 to 300e is going straight from the weekly club lotto to managers pocket during the playing season.

And even then they still mightnt get any results.

TallGlass

Wow. And I thought the GAA was bad not playing players playing at basically professional level.

If your volunteering membership fees should be waved IMO. You should not have to pay a cent, your giving up your time to help the club and in turn generate revenue to fund it.

Next I will be told the RNLI are paying money for the privilege of saving people's lives.

The GAA is sounding like an absolute scam to anyone not on payroll.

ProudDUB

TallGlass wrote: »

Wow. And I thought the GAA was bad not playing players playing at basically professional level.

If your volunteering membership fees should be waved IMO. You should not have to pay a cent, your giving up your time to help the club and in turn generate revenue to fund it.

Next I will be told the RNLI are paying money for the privilege of saving people's lives.

The GAA is sounding like an absolute scam to anyone not on payroll.

People volunteering their time, is the very life blood of the GAA. Some people do the highly visible stuff, like coaching the u12's on the clubs main pitch, on a Sunday morning. And fair play to the OP for doing that.

For every one of them, there are a lot more people who volunteer for the far less enjoyable, often unseen tasks, like fund raising, ferrying juvenille teams to/from away games, washing dozens of jerseys, cutting the grass, putting up and taking down goalposts, repairing the nets, acting as umpires and refs, organizing equipment, making the sambos and teas and coffees for committee meetings, texting players and coaches the match times and venues, organizing club draws, dealing with the county board bureaucracy.....on and on it goes.

If you waive the membership fees for every single person who gives up a couple of hours a week for their club, you may as well close the club down. Have a wee think about that, the next time you come out with such uninformed & insulting comments.

TallGlass

ProudDUB wrote: »

People volunteering their time, is the very life blood of the GAA. Some people do the highly visible stuff, like coaching the u12's on the clubs main pitch, on a Sunday morning. And fair play to the OP for doing that.

For every one of them, there are a lot more people who volunteer for the far less enjoyable, often unseen tasks, like fund raising, ferrying juvenille teams to/from away games, washing dozens of jerseys, cutting the grass, putting up and taking down goalposts, repairing the nets, acting as umpires and refs, organizing equipment, making the sambos and teas and coffees for committee meetings, texting players and coaches the match times and venues, organizing club draws, dealing with the county board bureaucracy.....on and on it goes.

If you waive the membership fees for every single person who gives up a couple of hours a week for their club, you may as well close the club down. Have a wee think about that, the next time you come out with such uninformed & insulting comments.

Wow, over reacting much, I never understand people on this site. It's a public forum, my point is just as valid as anyone elses.

Listen, if you giving up time for your local club your fees should be waved. Don't be so ridiculous. The GAA makes a hell of alot of money I thought that was the whole idea of not paying players so it goes back to the clubs. Quite clearly its not. BTW, I volunteer. If I was asked for a membership fee I would be out of there, you can't be placing levys on people and as you said are helping out a few hours a week.

And chill the hell out, no one is insulting anyone. I have the up most respect for anyone giving up there time for communities. If anyone you should be having a pop a the GAA and how stupid it is to be charging as you say the life and blood of the clubs money to keep the lights on.

kala85

I think it's reasonable for non playing members to pay 20 to 30e for membership and also for playing members to pay the same. Everyone should pay their membership if they want to coach ,play or just be a member.

I think 100e for general membership ( especially for non playing members ) is excessive.

Other fundraising methods could include gaa annual draw , or sell so many weekly lotto tickets or bag packing.

ProudDUB

TallGlass wrote: »

Wow, over reacting much, I never understand people on this site. It's a public forum, my point is just as valid as anyone elses.

Listen, if you giving up time for your local club your fees should be waved. Don't be so ridiculous. The GAA makes a hell of alot of money I thought that was the whole idea of not paying players so it goes back to the clubs. Quite clearly its not. BTW, I volunteer. If I was asked for a membership fee I would be out of there, you can't be placing levys on people and as you said are helping out a few hours a week.

And chill the hell out, no one is insulting anyone. I have the up most respect for anyone giving up there time for communities. If anyone you should be having a pop a the GAA and how stupid it is to be charging as you say the life and blood of the clubs money to keep the lights on.

The GAA are stupid scam artists.

I need to stop being ridiculous and chill the hell out.

But you aren't insulting anyone?

Okey dokey then.

You are just taking the piss now & pushing buttons to get a reaction.

Sorry to disappoint you.

I'm out.

Realt Dearg Sec

TallGlass wrote: »

If your volunteering membership fees should be waved IMO.

In a club, everyone is volunteering. Everyone. So if nobody is paying any membership fees, where is the funding going to come from?

nice_guy80

Does the club have a bar?

Does membership grant you access to that bar?

RMDrive

The 2 things need to be considered separately IMO. Do you want to be a member of the club? Then you decide to pay the membership fee. Do you want to voluntarily give your time to coach teams? Then you decide to give your time. If you are only giving your time so that you can avoid paying membership then there's a real contradiction.

Hesh's Umpire

TallGlass wrote: »

Listen, if you giving up time for your local club your fees should be waved.

That's not viable. Not just in the GAA. Any sport.

TallGlass

ProudDUB wrote: »

The GAA are stupid scam artists.

I need to stop being ridiculous and chill the hell out.

But you aren't insulting anyone?

Okey dokey then.

You are just taking the piss now & pushing buttons to get a reaction.

Sorry to disappoint you.

I'm out.

Listen. I didn't mean to come across as insulting to you and I am sorry if I did. That's all I will say also.

Paulzx

I don't see the issue here. I'm a mentor in my club. I pay a non playing membership fee in order to be a member of the club. This entitles me to use the facilities, vote at agm's and train a juvenile team. I train the team because I enjoy doing it and I'm willing to ignore or disregard what other people might regard as the inconvieniences that go along with this.


Having financial trouble paying your fees is a valid worry and should be addressed by speaking to the powers that be in your club.

However, expecting to not pay any fees (as some people seem to advocate) just because you are giving up your time is a ridiculous and unsustainable option for any club

rpurfield

Waiving memberships for volunteers would break clubs, where do you stop is it just for coaches or do the people spending hours getting pitches ready or attending county board meetings and so on get it too. But reading the comments here Croke Park needs to set a membership range that clubs need to stick within. There seems to be a massive difference from club to club