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Where Does Your £40 Sports Membership Fee Go?
The current membership pricing structure means that every student who wants to join any sports club has to pay a £40 sports membership fee, before paying their club membership fee. This is then split with £25 going to the Sports Centre and £15 going to York Sport. But what happens with this money then?
The Sports Centre lies within Commercial Services and thus has to break even at the very minimum. The £25 of each membership that goes to the Sports Centre makes up part of the income stream that keeps the Sports Centre open. Costs must be covered first and foremost; these include staffing and maintenance costs. Any profit made by the Sports Centre is then directly invested back into sport. Recent examples of this are the newly resurfaced tennis courts and the instalment of air conditioning in the gym.
York Sport helps both clubs and individuals in a number of different ways, primarily through the club grants and with member insurance. The £15 that comes to York Sport from the membership fees is used in conjunction with a grant from YUSU to help provide the service of sport. Club grant allocations are used to help club members play their sport and include things such as: affiliation, competition entry fees, transport, facility hire, equipment, coaching, etc. Although members frequently contribute towards these, it is important to remember they are subsidised.
York Sport also spends money on BUCS affiliation and entries, the clubs' core hours at the Sports Centre, publicity, subsidising the College Sport programme and the discretionary funds which are distributed by the York Sport Committee (which clubs apply for as and when they need them: these are the Development Fund, the Safety & Emergencies Fund and the Contingency Fund). The costs of the annual tournaments (Varsity and Roses) also need to be covered, although it is hoped that the majority of these will come from event-generated income and sponsorship.
When looking into altering the current membership pricing structure (particularly to tackle the unfairness associated with all club members needing to pay £25 towards the Sports Centre, whether or not they use it), it is important to remember that these income streams must be maintained at least if service provision is not to be adversely affected. This evidently makes things a little tricky and once we have finalised alternative solutions that will not compromise the income stream, the options will be presented in a questionnaire. If an option different to the current model is most popular, it will be submitted as a UGM motion to be voted on.
I hope this has helped to answer any questions you may have, but please don't hesitate to contact me on e.scott@yusu.org if you want to know anything further or have any suggestions to make.
Thanks,
Emily xo
