Although I remember back in the early days, the club secretary would have to vouch for the ability of the person applying for a licence, not that that happens anymore.
As a level 1 coach I do the Kickstart program & log book signing for our Juniors free of charge (Keeping costs down) but also for first time seniors, or seniors that not held a licence in the past 12 months, they have to do a written test & I have to sign off on their riding ability. How will this happen if they don't have to be a member of a club? Sure you can do the written test on line but who "vouches" for your riding ability? We also offer free coaching days to our Juniors as well. Some L1 coaches will take advantage of this to make a buck. If I remember rightly I can charge $33 per person & take up to 6 at a time. Two session a day, 2 days in a weekend = $792 & I can get a permit from MA to run it on anyones land. That's just Juniors, for seniors I could probably squeeze in 10 sessions a day.
we run monthly ride days at a Motocross track, the only way you can ride at our days is to be a member of our club
So do we
rather than blackmailing them to join just to get a licence.
We don't "blackmail" anyone, (Poor choice of words, me thinks heh John?) it is just a fact of life that many members, ours at least, are there just to get their licence & fullfil their obligation of being a club member. This is why we are one of the few clubs (Two I think, don't quote me) that still requires new members to be officially welcomed into the club at a Thursday night meeting. It has cost us many members over the years but we feel it's important for all members to show some committment to the club. Many argued it was too far for them to come just to join but they were willing to travel that distance, and more in the case of PonyX/Enduros, to ride so why not once to join?
Personally I am sick of MA's bloody mindedness. Look at the MX track rule, sorry, guideline changes. 7 metre minimum width, flag marshalpoint 3 metres from the track etc. This is OK for tracks that are flat, you just kick the tyres out a bit further and add some dirt to the jumps but Monza would need $10-20,000 worth of mods to comply and for what? So we can host a Vic title and may make a profit of $5000? The last big change we did to Monza cost the club about $45,000. We still have not recouped that money. This was the 40 gate, 6 metre rule. I asked the then inspectors how long before the rules would change again? Nope, this is the last time I was told. TWO YEARS LATER NEW RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Enough's, enough. Admittedly not all that was spent to comply with the new rules, there were other upgrades done to ammenities, watering system & such but we thought let's do it once & do it properly.
Yes I have stayed off point but I am showcasing the ignorance of this organisation to the common clubs which they are entrusted to govern.
