Supporting Teams

[samurai80]

The National Team Support thread was interesting enough to warrant a poll. Me? Well, I'm for supporting them, but I think an individual has the right to not pay a mandatory fee (such as an increase in their federation's dues).

[samurai80]

Ummm...the poll went away. Oh well, your opinions matter more than the colored bars.

[Sparv]

I think that supporting the teams is important.

A kendo federation has to help everybody to express his kendo at his level, this including non-ranked, high-ranked, and international competitors.

1 for
0 against
to be continued!

[D'Artagnan]

I think an individual has the right to not pay a mandatory fee (such as an increase in their federation's dues).

what if I don't feel I need insurance, can I opt out of that also?

sorry don't mean to be sarcastic, but as you can tell from the other thread, I'm pretty passionate about this topic. :ko:

[samurai80]

I got you, it is totally fine. That is kind of why I set this seperate thread up. You certainly have the right to say how you feel. Hopefully this will turn into an eye-opening discussion, and not just a heated battle between members here. Here is how my poll looked before it went ghost...

1. Yes, I support my federation's/national team. Everyone should pay.
2. Yes, I support my federation's/national team. I think an individual has the right to choose wether or not they pay extra.
3. No, a federation/national team doesn't concern me. A team should have to pay their own way.
4. No, a federation/national team doesn't concern me. I will pay an increase in dues to continue to practice.

[D'Artagnan]

I'll take option number 1. :wink:

[Neil Gendzwill]

Just how many people do you think would "opt to pay"?

[samurai80]

Well, I think that is still up in the air. Obviously, from the other thread (if you used that as a sample of kendoka in one particular federation) I think that most people would still pay an extra $10 to have a national squad. It would probably end up(this is a complete wild guess) 2/3 would still pay, 1/3 would opt to not do so. It is kind of different for each country though. I noticed that "benefits for everyone" was thrown around. In the U.S. (you're probably already aware of this) the national team is comprised out of members from the same few dojos. You certainly will get to see, if not actually practice with national team members if you live on California. I can understand how somone from the East-coast would feel left out (if knowing we even had a national team wasn't enough for them). We get visiting hachidan sensei every once in a while, but national squad practices, or visits? Probably not going to happen. I think a lot of politics are involved in the West-coast heavy teams thing, but I'm certainly not in the position to be throwing anything out there. Anyway, I'm playing devil's advocate. If everyone could be happy about the same thing, great. Unfortunately, there is always going to be a faction that doesn't agree.

[Neil Gendzwill]

I don't think there's much politics in Canadian team selection, the process is pretty cut and dried. For men's, it's top 2 from nationals and the 4 top guys from round-robin elimination and then a couple of coach's picks. The fact of the matter is that unless you live in Vancouver or Toronto, you're too far from the mainstream to get enough experience to make team unless you have serious money for airfare.

[nodachi]

The dues are minimal, in my opinion, and we only pay once a year. I bet if you took a break down of what paid for insurance costs, supporting a national team, other benefits, etc, then the fraction spent on the national team per person is probably really small anyway. A few bucks isn't going to hurt me. The bulk of the dues goes to each member somehow, even though things like insurance aren't things we get excited about.

[Bokushingu]

I would take option 2.
My reasons are split. I'm a heavy spporter of National/Regional Teams. And I actually encourage people to become involved in some way since the teams do represent all of us...
...However, I believe in freedom of choice. I think giving people the option of not having to pay would get far more mental support & a much better monetary support than expected. I believe that if giving the choice, with clear explanation, most people would not mind paying a little extra...That would be the most ethical route.

Of course with excellent mangement & quality assurance, an effective fundraiser drive could be more than enough.
1) what are the demographics: age, gender, area specific, etc... (I won't mention ethnicity since it really is unimportant)
2) What would people spend 10 to 20 bucks: something unique that pertains to the sport or needed by most.
3) Security, communication & info gathering: a system to quickly & accurately obtain the above info throughout the Nation. And a method to secure & deliver the funds--this would take involvment on the dojo level.