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Dear ABASA Players:
While we know that you have already received
recent communications from the league, the ABASA Board of Directors
wanted to send out this information to specifically address some
important league-wide changes that are being made.
We
apologize for the long email, but it contains very important
information about changes taking place in the league. Please read all
this information.
Length of Season
First, after much internal discussion,
informal discussions with a number of captains and for some important
scheduling and financial reasons, we have decided to shorten the season
to eight (8) regular season games. Briefly, one of the principal
reasons for making this decision is financial. As you should know, the
league has not raised fees in several years, but during this time, all
our costs have gone up. Importantly, the cost for field use and
referees has gone up each year. Therefore, our collected revenue is
not keeping pace with our expenses. Given the economy and other
factors, we wanted to avoid raising fees for as long as practical.
Reducing the number of regular season games helps us achieve our
financial goals.
Additionally, the shortened regular season
will work much better from a calendar/scheduling perspective. When you
factor in the weather, youth soccer tournaments and other reasons for
field unavailability, it had become increasingly difficult to schedule
games in a way that flows and utilizes all available weekends for play,
while also not spilling over into holidays and/or the summer session.
For example, shortening the season for the spring 2010 spring session
means we will be able to conclude the full season, including the
post-season tournament, before Memorial Day weekend.
Please
note that we will determine after the spring season if an 8 game season
works or if we need to increase fees and go back to a 10 game season.
Please feel free to send us your comments on this during or after the
season. We appreciate everyone's understanding as we make this
necessary change.
Increase In Multi-Roster Fee
Related to
the comments above about revenues not matching expenses, we have
determined that it is necessary to slightly increase the fee paid by a
player wishing to play on more than one team during any one season. We
feel this is fair and needed primarily so that we cover the actual
costs associated with a player multi-rostering.
Scheduling
1. Registration Dates & Tentative Game Weekends
• Early Registration ends Friday February 19th.
• Late registration begins February 20th with a $10 increase in registration fee (see below).
• Registration for eligibility to play in first game (2/28) ends on Wednesday, Feb. 24th.
Games tentatively will be played on the following weekends:
Week 1 - February 28-March5
Week 2 - March 7-12
Week 3 - March 14-19
Week 4 - March 21- 26
Week 5- March 28-April 2
*No Games on Sunday, April 4th (Easter)*
Week 6 - April 11-16
Week 7 - April 18-23
week 8 - April 25-30
May 1-9 Youth tournaments, so we will use these weekends
for make-up games
May 15-23 Post-season tournaments
2. Late Fee for Late Registration & Refund Policy
•
We have heard from many of you regarding the issues that inevitably
surface each season regarding the scheduling of games and the timing of
scheduling, etc. One of the primary reasons for delays in publishing
the season's schedule is due to late player/team registrations. In the
past, the Board has taken the attitude that we would rather have some
scheduling delays if it means encouraging the maximum number of
players/teams to play in the league. While we want to encourage
participation in the league, after looking this issue carefully and
talking to many of you, we understand that there needs to be some new
timelines with regard to publishing the game schedules. We are
committed to doing this, but it will require a commitment from Captains
and players to ensure teams and players are registered as soon as
possible. To encourage this, we are implementing a $10.00 late fee for
any registration that occurs past a certain date. This is consistent
with policies in place for playing indoor and by ABYSA. Since this is
the first season for this new policy, the late fee will only apply to
registrations after February 19, 2010. Since the spring season starts
on February 28, 2010, we feel this is a fair timeline. Captains:
please make sure your players and potential players know of this new
policy and deadline. It will also be conspicuously posted on the ABASA
web site (www.abasa.info).
•
Please be aware that when a player signs up in the 11v11 leagues and
they are placed on a team and then they cannot play for whatever
reason, in most cases we will now only be able to issue a refund in the
amount of $50. Players in the 8v8 leagues will only get a $20 refund.
This is not meant to be punitive and is not an attempt to increase
revenue. Rather, there are some fixed costs associated with each
player registration that the league is required to pay and in most
cases we are not able to recoup those costs when a player drops out.
In these cases, the league actually loses money when a player drops
out.
Thanks
for your understanding of these issues and as always, please feel free
to communicate with us about how we can try and make the league better
for all adult soccer players in the Asheville-Buncombe County area. We
hope you all have a good spring season.
The ABASA Board of Directors
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