Message from CDNA re Fees

Dear All,

Firstly, I would like to thank all the Club delegates for their time and ideas at the Club forum.  The open and collaborative spirit brought to the evening was greatly appreciated by all of us on the committee.

Two topics that were discussed towards the end of the evening were the increase in the 2020 competition fees and the planned use of the retained earnings held by the Association. I felt it important to provide a brief explanation of both to all the affiliates and individual teams. 

Increased competition fees for 2020 

For the last three years the Association has undergone a significant change in its operations and philosophy.  As with many community-based organisations we have moved towards a “pay for service model”.   The biggest impact of this change has been the increase in the operating expenses incurred by the Association in running its domestic competition and auxiliary programs.  The increase in office hours, the expansion of the umpire mentor program, increases in umpire game payments, the development of the CDNA website, the introduction of the Rep Ready Netball program and the expansion of the CDNA Representative Netball program have to date been funded through existing income sources together with income generated from hosting events (e.g the 2019 Central East Association Championships).   

The Association has now reached the point where its future plans, such as the reinvigoration of NetSetGo, cannot be absorbed by the existing levels of income received.  The Committee believes that the long-term viability of our Association lies in creating a cash flow model whereby the domestic competition and auxiliary programs are self-sustaining.  The small increase in competition fees proposed for 2020 together with responsible management of operating expenses will go a long way in achieving this aim.   

Plans for retained earnings 

The Association has for many years had in place a revolving seasonal rental arrangement with the Glen Eira Council for the use of the Duncan MacKinnon Netball courts.  Historically, this arrangement has served the Association well, however, the Committee feels that, in the long term, our competition will be better served with a rental arrangement that provides us with more security of tenure. 

We have commenced discussions with the Council regarding this issue and I am very pleased to report that our conversations to date have been very positive.   At this point in time it is too early to provide details of how this arrangement may look.  However, the Committee believes that any changes to our rental arrangements may result in the Association financing a greater portion of the costs associated with the regular maintenance and capital improvement to the courts than is currently required.    Whilst these discussions are taking place the Committee felt it prudent to place a moratorium on big ticket capital expenditure plans until the Committee has a clear and definite understanding of what the costs (operating and capital)  may be, as well as the time line for incurring those costs.   

As mentioned previously I am unable to provide you with a detailed outline of the potential changes and their impact on the Association’s capital expenditure planning. However, I would like to communicate that discussions regarding the installation of shade structures for between the courts and at the Pavilion end of the complex has already commenced.  We will be meeting with the Heads of Open Spaces and Capital Expenditure in the next few weeks to discuss options and costs.   I will endeavour to provide progress updates when possible.   

My apologies for the long email, however I felt that it was important to communicate the rationale for the proposed increases and our strategic goals for the next 18 months.   If you would like to discuss these issues further, please do not hesitate to contact me at this email address.

Kind regards

Christina O’Connor

CDNA Treasurer