gaa membership

obi604

Hi,

Am a coach at my sons under 8 hurling. I like hurling and all, but the fees do my head in

couple of years ago juvenile membership was 40 euro

since 2022 this has gone up to 75 euro

I have paid this every year for my son and by default when I do this, it adds:

1x juvenille player

1x parent &guardian

so thought this covered both of us

Now I am being told that as a coach I also need to pay a fee of 50 euro as a "Non-Playing/Social Adult"

does this sound right?

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058296650/gaa-membership

Offer to step down from the coaching and see if their tune changes

average_runner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058296650/gaa-membership

Your fee covers the insurance for on the side of the pitch. Ours is alot higher and so is our kids.!!

obi604

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120603189#Comment_120603189

do you mean the 50 euro fee?

if that is the case, does every other parent that stands on the sideline watching games need to pay the 50 euro adult fee also

obi604

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120603182#Comment_120603182

I am half tempted to. takes up a lot of time and effort

what do you get rewarded for as a coach?  having to pay 50 euro extra a year for the privilege V parents that don't coach

I have enough bloody fees to pay with young children etc and now yet another one

celt262

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120603281#Comment_120603281

If all parents decided to do that there would be no football for kids.

What sort of reward would you like for been a coach anyway?

obi604

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120603358#Comment_120603358

I was being sarcastic with the rewarded word

All I am saying is I put in time and effort here, and because I am a coach I have to pay more money

if I chose not to be a coach/bother me arse, I dont have to pay anything.

Salmon

What does the 1 x Parent/guardian cost? I wouldn't pay this fee as well as the coaches fee. It'd be either/or. My club doesn't charge coaches if it did I certainly wouldn't pay! Its a very underappreciated role your in, but I guess your doing it for your own kid too so no point complaining. I can see why it gets on your nerves thou!

Alias G

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058296650/gaa-membership

Those prices are cheap compared to clubs near me.

PARlance

Coaches should be given "free" membership as a token of appreciation for giving their time imo.

It's only a small fraction of total membership fees but I think it would be a great gesture. A simple thank you for your time.

Quite frustrating when you see constant fundraising in clubs and money being thrown at expenses for the senior team setups etc...

celt262

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120603417#Comment_120603417

Where do you stop with "free" membership, might as well give it to committee members, players, etc they all give there time also.

callaway92

Ya - similar to an above comment; I'd be involved with multiple clubs/counties simultaneously, and all of them 'cover' my annual fee for the Team

For the above comment - you stop at the Primary management team (for each team within the club):

Manager, Selectors, Coach, S&C Coach, Analyst (FLO if a female club)

Weird for them to not mention that to you OP

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120603501#Comment_120603501

It could be a slippery slope but I would stop with coaches.

Player's benefit from coaching, facilities, equipement etc. I don't think there's a realistic argument to be had for free membership there. Some clubs do struggle with Committees but they are generally older people / aren't paying for several children's membership on top. Having been both a coach and committee member, the coaching took up way more time.

Not saying it's entirely fair, that others wouldn't be as deserving, or that it's a must. I just that I think it would be a nice gesture as a token of appreciation for doing a very important role in the club.

average_runner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120603232#Comment_120603232

If they are part of the coaching/mentor team, the answer is yes

average_runner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120603364#Comment_120603364

Depends on how well the club is financed also. If the club can afford to cover the mentors that is fair enough, but membership only covers 50% of the costs for our club.

obi604

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120603394#Comment_120603394

The 1 x Parent/guardian cost seems to be included when I sign my son up to Juvenile membership. So its by default part of the Juvenile membership. I thought this covered me also

kippy

Some clubs have close to 200 coaches and 20-30 "backend" people, who help administrate the club (often these are coaches also)

You simply cannot provide "free" membership to all of those people unless the club is in a really strong financial position.

I am not sure if EVERY club requires that coaches are full GAA members - I don't believe that they do. The Parent/Guardian isn't classed as a Full membership (it's classed as a social membership with the GAA themselves). A full member has full voting rights and usually ends up in draws for tickets assigned to the club although I know of some clubs that also include parents/guardians in this type of thing.

The facilities that many clubs have costs money to develop and maintain, insurance for facilities, player injury funds, affiliation fees, assorted training gear (balls,sliotars, clothes), electricity bills as well as various bits and pieces that come up regularily all add up.

There's very little funding coming from the top (GAA) down, so membership fees are a key component of a clubs income. The club doesnt exist or thrive without them.

There's no individual making money within the club out of the club. Many roles are far more time consuming than coaching and are done on a volunteer basis also but coaches are the core of the club - unfortunately they need to contribute financially also.

I would assume other sports are similiar at the grassroots levels.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120603281#Comment_120603281

Like you I am also an underage coach courtesy of my Daughter, I wouldn't expect to be rewarded but I certainly wouldn't expect to pay for something that a non-coaching parent doesn't have to pay for

If I were in your shoes I'd be stepping down

average_runner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120604107#Comment_120604107

It covers the coach for insurance also

celt262

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120604094#Comment_120604094

They need to be members to apply for vetting ?

kippy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120604747#Comment_120604747

They need to be on Foireann to apply for vetting.

kippy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120604236#Comment_120604236

What insurance are you talking about here?

celt262

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120604859#Comment_120604859

Yeah and they need to be a member tk be on Foireann.

kippy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120604884#Comment_120604884

It's up to the club what level of membership a parent/guardian is assigned within Foireann. By default they are assigned a social member. But there's a number of variables at play. As I said some clubs have no issues with parents and guardians being assigned social members and as such having access to Foireann. There's no parent or guardian membership on Foireann.

celt262

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120604901#Comment_120604901

I'm on about coaches.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120604094#Comment_120604094

Two things strike me there!

A club with 200 coaches must have a helluva lot of playing members and a good sized income from various sources?

You say "There's very little funding coming from the top (GAA) down". What? But this is not what we are constantly being told - the GAA get very generous support from the state and it's been recognised that the club is at the heart of the GAA. So what do you mean?

kippy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120605091#Comment_120605091

So am I.

kippy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120605188#Comment_120605188

Close to 2k members. And significant expenses.

What other funds can clubs rely on.

I mean the club's get very little direct financial support from the GAA.

celt262

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120605581#Comment_120605581

The post I quoted was about parents and guardians.

kippy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120605614#Comment_120605614

Indeed. Which was the category the OP found themselves in.

The club can register that person as a social member of a full member with the GAA on Foireann. Social or Full members can be Garda vetted on Foireann.

Club seems to be suggesting to the OP that they don't register Parents or Guardians on Foireann and that the OP needs to become a social member which will incur another charge.

The fact that the OP is a coach changes nothing really from a membership perspective. All down to how the club deals with memberships.

If the OP has issues it's possible to bring a motion to the AGM to review the club's policies around these things.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120605587#Comment_120605587

Must be a big urban club so, Dublin?