|
|
|---|
|
SLAM! Sports SLAM! Soccer World Cup COLUMNS THE WORLD
INTERACTIVE ALSO ON SLAM!  |
Monday, May 1, 2000CSA proposes fee hikeCurrently the national association takes in $3.25 from each of the 700,000 players registered across the country, whether they are six-year-olds whose parents pay $60 fees or senior players who ante up $100 to $200 to play in a league. The association wants that to rise to $5.25 per player in 2001, $6.25 in 2002 and $7 in 2003. "In the past, player fees have represented less than one-quarter of our total revenues and we are now trying to adjust that to a more realistic level in order to give our teams and players a better chance to achieve success," Adrian Newman, director of finance for the Canadian Soccer Association, said in a statement. The association budget is forecast to reach $10 million in 2001. The proposed fee increase will be discussed at the association's finance committee this weekend and its annual general meeting in Alliston, Ont., on June 10. "Like everything, it's always going to be a challenge," Kevan Pipe, the association's chief operating officer, said of persuading provincial groups to ratify the increases. "But certainly these ideas were presented at our board meeting and certainly the concepts of the increased programming -- and even the concept of increasing fees -- were reasonably well-received." The registration fees are paid to the local level, with some of that money siphoned off at each step of the soccer organizational ladder. The Canadian Soccer Association, under president Jim Fleming, has long wanted to increase its piece of the pie. The association blueprint calls for spending an additional $1 million annually on an expanded national youth development team program, more money for the under-20 men's team, a system of national scouts, and improved funding for coaching and public relations. 
|
