Hi all

I hope everyone is well and keeping safe.

Our committee and coaches have been discussing the situation regarding subs recently, with some people who have paid in full asking about a partial refund in light of hardly any games being played.

Initially we decided to wait and see how long the lock down would last (assuming that it would be much shorter than it actually turned out) and not knowing whether the season would resume and if so would it simply be extended resulting in the same number of games.

If this was the case then obviously there would be no need for any refund.

As it turned out we had no access to our pitches for 4 months and after training became an option we then had a proposal for a period of non competitive games (friendlies). At the moment things are still a little bit up in the air.

Our subs are calculated to cover our normal seasonal expenditure including pitch maintenance, insurance and registration fees, post match food, club memberships (pitches, changing rooms and club) and end of season trophies/other presentation costs etc.

Subs were set at £160 with an “early bird” discount of £30 for those paying by the end of March. For everyone else there were options for paying in full or by direct debit.

There were also sibling discounts on the full subs amount.

On reviewing all our payment information we have a combination of people paying up front, some people starting and then cancelling direct debit payments or paying very little at all.

The aim would be to strike the right balance between our costs and our members expectations in light of the reduced season.

We still have to maintain our pitches (with increased costs as both the previous contractors have gone out of business and the new contractor being more expensive) and new club membership fees that are due in September). As you may be aware, club membership fees are included in subs.

After discussing this matter at length, our committee and coaches have jointly decided that subs for 2020 will be set at £96 meaning those who have paid in full being offered a refund (or the option to offset against 2021 subs) and those who have underpaid so far being asked to bring this up to date.

We would like to bring this all up to date before the end of the year so we can start afresh next year. Your respective team coach will be in touch with information about individual subs.

We also hope to hold some kind of end of season event for each team, but that would obviously depend entirely on Covid-19 rules and advice nearer the time.

If you have any queries on any of this or other matters, please speak to your coach or contact me directly at the address below.

Stay safe.

Regards

Terry Mellor