Proposed Changes to County Board Structures

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Draft Proposals - Changes to County Board Structure

December 2021

At the December 2021 Open County Board meeting, discussion took place with regard to introducing significant changes to the roles of Officers of Cork County Board, and to making several changes to improve structure of Athletics in Cork

Communication

Communication between clubs and county could be greatly improved. We do not have up to date contact for several clubs and communication between clubs is non-existent in very many cases

This needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency – we need to put an effective system in place

We have discussed this before, Mailchimp, or similar, should be suitable for our needs. Plans vary from Free to €60/month, based on the essential plan, with 5,000 contacts. We could start with the free plan and take it from there

The following table taken from the Clubs pages on the Cork Athletics Website (These pages receive some of the highest traffic, an indication of people seeking to join clubs) given an indication of how serious the communication is

Some clubs have no contact information at all listed (i.e. no contact name, contact number or contact e-mail address). While this relates to external communication, internal communication information is just as bad. Cork Athletics cannot grow if our communication remains in its current state

Board Structure

The structure of the Board needs to be changed if new blood is to be brought in.  We are operating with far too few people doing far too much work each. This is a major disincentive when filling any of the rare vacancies that do occur. Roles should be “Bite Sized”.

Other County Boards with far fewer clubs, Divisions and members operate with far more officials. One County Board has 38 roles filled by 26 individuals

Tenure of officials

A limit should be set on the tenure of any post. Currently most positions have been occupied for many years. It is great to have such experience on the Board, but it also means, that, when a vacancy occurs, we don’t have people ready to step into the role. We should have people who can easily take on vacant roles, even if it means individuals swapping roles

A further reason for limiting tenure is to ensure that “new blood” is constantly coming in. It would also ensure a wider diversity across the clubs

(Note: When we have officials in place for decades, it sends out several messages:

a)    The position is locked

b)     If a vacancy does occur, anyone taking on the role is ‘there for life’

How We Do Things

We are all volunteers, so our time is valuable. We need to examine much of what we do and see if there are simpler ways of doing them

Competition Secretary

Split into four separate positions, two Senior and 2 Junior:

Secretary

Assistant Secretary is urgently required to help with this position.

Webmaster

This relatively new position has expanded significantly in the last couple of years, and ,during the lockdown, has been absolutely vital to the Board

However, the position has become much too busy for one individual

The following changes are proposed: It is felt that there should be three roles involved in this position

Meetings

Pre-Covid, we frequently spent over an hour dealing with admin matters including reports and permits

Proposed:

• Circulate minutes before meetings, taken as read

• Circulate all reports (except financial details) before meetings, with all reports taken as read

• Circulate basic details of Permit applications in advance (AAI’s online permit system, is going live on Friday December 10th, and will likely influence this

• Circulate non-confidential correspondence in advance. Any confidential correspondence to be shared with Chairman, and/or Child Protection Officer(s) as appropriate

• Consider hosting reports on website

Medium and Long Term Planning

We need to develop medium to long term plans and strategies for the Board. If we cannot state where we would like to be in 5 or 10 years, then we are simply “Doing” not managing

Clubs are asked to submit their ideas about development of Athletics in Cork County so that a strategy document can be produced

Finance and Grounds

Finance:  We should develop financial plans, including an annual budget, along with medium and longer term financial plans

Grounds: We should develop plans/intentions for our current grounds, including MTU track, along with possible future grounds (if any)

Mini-Marathon Sub-Committee

Ideally a separate committee should run this event

Cork Athletics should take much greater control of the event and rebuild our own Brand identity – Currently, in reality, it is an Echo event, with most control resting with the Echo. This is highly undesirable and is not in our best interests long-term

Sub-Committees

With the enlarged Board, Sub-Committees should be formed, both by function and as required. Many/Most of these, particularly with small numbers, might meet via Zoom, again creating a better environment for new/more people to become involved

Juvenile Committee

Reform

Field Committee

Define functions/Duties

Track & Field and Cross-Country Committees to be re-established

Cross-country, Track & Field & Leagues

With more track facilities becoming available in the next few years, set criteria for selection of venues. (Unforeseen circumstances may lead to these criteria not being met, in particular weather related events affecting cross-country)

Board currently pays for Ambulances, P.A., Chip Timing, and toilets for all cross-country events and pay the host club to hold some events

At a minimum the host club should provide assistance to the Competition Secretary, and all finish line officials, along with a course marshal (who shall be available to liaise directly with Competition Secretary with regards to any venue issues)

Editorial Comment

Cork County Board very badly needs new blood. Maybe this will happen at our next AGM (whenever that may happen, given the ongoing Pandemic and the resulting restrictions on attendance numbers for indoor meetings). Several Officers have indicated that they intend standing down at the earliest opportunity, so vacancies WILL occur.

Will clubs and/or individuals put themselves forward?

If the past 8 to 10 years is anything to go by, the answer is probably No

......But the remaining Officers are already overloaded, so things cannot continue, doing more work with fewer Officers

Change will NOT occur, unless we, the registered individuals, and our respective clubs, have the will, and the drive, to implement change

I'm reminded of comments (paraphrased) to Board Officer by an Officer of a prominent club: "You're mad going on the Board! Look after your own club, like me!" ...and yet the same individual has been highly critical of the Board????

If we all took this stance, there would be no Board. It also perpetuates the status quo. Einstein defined madness as 'repeatedly doing the same thing, but expecting different results'  We simply cannot keep going unless we are prepared to change - it is already past time for it to happen!

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