inter states

[christine bigg]

Hi I was elected Manager for the proposed trip to Adelaide. I didnt mind helping with the travel organisation, but as it was decided the younger girls needed a chaparone I would be the manager and therfore travel and look after the younger girls. Phil and Alan contacted all their groups, with info. Jac sent me a list of Senior women interested, James said nobody was in charge of Senior men and basically they looked after theirselves. Only today I have finally recieved info from Aussie regards the competition, information it seems I could of gotten earlier if James had given me the contacts he had given to Richard. I am mainly concerned with the younger teams and it seems there is not to much interest I have only heard from one senior man and the womens team who were interested, maybe the seniors could look after theirselves for this trip, if anyone wants a copy of the info I have please email me thanks Christine

[vashti]

Hey Guys,

I'm not in the Central region but this seems awfully weird to me. I am the publicity officer for Northern Region, and I almost have nothing to publicise- yet, I have set up a website and kept our small membership up to date with what is happening. (Whilst entertaining many others I might add- sorry I haven't updated that since november, laptop got stolen, stay tuned for february). We even have a mailing list for our members.

I understand that Rico (Richard) put forward a comprehensive proposal for the trip. As he has done so, perhaps there is no excuse for anyone to ignore entire portions of your membership. (Don't tell me the proposal got thrown out with the manager). It may well be that my interest lies solely in Senior men (ha ha) but I must still, as someone who works for the Association, do the JOB for everyone else.

If a person is appointed manager (bad luck, I reckon!), then in my books they are responsible for travel, accommodation, food and transportation. They provide a budget and schedule. The "chaperoning" is the responsibility of the coach and the manager, but it is not the primary concern of the Central region. You're there to make sure the teams play polo, and that means the teams have to get there in the first place.

As I've already mentioned, Northern has a small membership, and perhaps that makes the task easier, but Central had a comprehensive plan from someone who's done it all before. The senior teams shouldn't have to do it all themselves- the Central Association elected a manager to represent the squads, and the Central Association is responsible for making sure the job is done.

I feel really sorry for the senior players who are left with this situation. I wouldn't be too happy with my elected representatives at this stage. You can't blame it on one person, because it's a committee. The committee has to be accountable for the actions of it's volunteers, even if they themselves are volunteers.

There must be someone in the Central region who has set up a mailing list and can distribute information on an impartial basis. Go to Yahoo.com and set one up under yahoogroups. Send the whole lot out to everyone, regardless of levels. Ensure that the entire membership understands what the Association is doing, and give them all a chance to get involved. Better yet, make sure there is someone in the Association who is committed to improving the communication. You guys are the strongest region in New Zealand. You need to go to Australia and you need to have your Association behind you. Don't end up with the situation us Northerners have to deal with. Good luck...