formation of clubs/associations

[trust in gravity]

hey guys and gals,
tried several searches and visited a coupla sites, but didn't quite find what i wanted.
the subject im looking for info on is= how to go about forming a mtb club / assoc.? the ins an outs etc.
any help muchly appreciated.

 

[alchemist]

Start here

http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/business/associations.html

 

[trust in gravity]

so.. for a group of people with a common inetrest to become a "club" they incorporate themselves and appoint a commitee.?

 

[Le Matelot]

Forming a Club

Might be worth contacting Tony Scott at MTBA at info.mtba@mtba.asn.au

 

[thecat]

You'll need 6 people. President, Vice President, Secratary, treasurer, Publicity officer and at least 1 ordinairy member.

You don't have to incorporate but incorporation ir does give you a better legal standing.

Joining up with MTBA will get you some insurance coverage.

Just out of interest, where abouts in Sydney are you? Joining an existing club and getting involved in their committee may be a whole lot easier

 

[trust in gravity]

hey mr cat.
thankyou for the reply. already am in wsmtb. and am thinking of talking to steve h. about affiliating (if thats the right word)with wsmtb as a ... i dunno, a chaptor or branch of the western sydney club.(are you guys in the central table lands mtb affiliated with wsmtb?)
we live and ride around hornsby/ galston areas and kinda want our own banner as it were. as im in wsmtb i would like to stay under that mantel,though i know mwmtb has thier xc track out here at arcadia.
we're more gravity orriantated an as such would reflect that in whatever title we take on.
am partly looking into this avenue to further opportunities for getting some tracks and jump spaces recognised in the area.
(dont everybody jump on me at once with the whole legal tracks yadda yadda that gets thrown about every time someone mentions the "t" word)
already been ridin the area for years .we have our own unique situation, an would like to take it to the next level an would like to come outa the bush and get somethin happenin for the locals

 

[wsmtbdhvp]

formation of clubs / associations

Manly has XC at Arcadia and St Ives Showground.
Dural MTB www.duralmtb.info or phone 0418436831 has XC at Maraylya.
WSMTB has DH at Lower Portland and South Maroota but no DJ.

WSMTB is establishing a free ride at Yarramundee, and is looking at Wisemans Ferry.

The trouble is a site, with parking!

NSWMTB have a free ride co-ordinator in Brett Jones who is trying to get freeride/DJ contests going, best DJ so far is Tahmoor, San Remo may improve after the new Mtn X track is built.

Any help? PM me if you need more.

 

[thecat]

No we are not affiliated with WS. We do, however, work closely with them where possible, as do most of the active racing clubs in NSW. It's just one big love in

Don't quote me but I beleave mwmtb are negotiating with various councils about getting a DH area happening.

 

[scblack]

hey mr cat.
thankyou for the reply. already am in wsmtb. and am thinking of talking to steve h. about affiliating (if thats the right word)with wsmtb as a ... i dunno, a chaptor or branch of the western sydney club.(are you guys in the central table lands mtb affiliated with wsmtb?)
we live and ride around hornsby/ galston areas and kinda want our own banner as it were. as im in wsmtb i would like to stay under that mantel,though i know mwmtb has thier xc track out here at arcadia.
we're more gravity orriantated an as such would reflect that in whatever title we take on.
am partly looking into this avenue to further opportunities for getting some tracks and jump spaces recognised in the area.
(dont everybody jump on me at once with the whole legal tracks yadda yadda that gets thrown about every time someone mentions the "t" word)
already been ridin the area for years .we have our own unique situation, an would like to take it to the next level an would like to come outa the bush and get somethin happenin for the locals

Why do you feel the need to set up a new club or affiliation for that purpose?

 

[DHdog]

awsome

A dedicated downhill club sounds like its a real go-ha, interested interested when can i join

 

[wsmtbdhvp]

formation of club/associations

You find the different types of riding help the club long term. WSMTB is a good example, formed in the 1990's was mainly downhill club with some XC on the side, the club had its own bus and many downhillers, late 1990,s DH died due to loss of tracks, luckily XC started endurance and this carried the club through that period. We have used XC resources to carry DH back up and have used XC to help Mtn X. DH can now stand on its own feet now and is looking good again, but we are using endurance money to build Mtn X tracks.

 

[scblack]

You find the different types of riding help the club long term. WSMTB is a good example, formed in the 1990's was mainly downhill club with some XC on the side, the club had its own bus and many downhillers, late 1990,s DH died due to loss of tracks, luckily XC started endurance and this carried the club through that period. We have used XC resources to carry DH back up and have used XC to help Mtn X. DH can now stand on its own feet now and is looking good again, but we are using endurance money to build Mtn X tracks.

The theory of diversification in practice.

 

[anthonyma]

I can only offer an outside perspective (I'm from Adelaide so know nothing of the particulars of the club situation in Sydney) but I think you'd be best to throw your lot in with an existing club.

Here in SA (Adelaide in particular) we have at least 4 clubs / associations. There is an XC club, a DH club, a 4X club, and a "peak cycling body" (BikeSA). The first three pretty much concentrate on racing within their particular discipline. BikeSA runs "events" eg point-to-point rides, 24 hour enduro, "dirty weekend" in the Flinders Ranges. There's probably something about trials going on too that I'm not completely aware of.

Now, whilst it might seem good to have a dedicated club for each discipline as it means your particular discipline gets focus, it brings with it a whole host of issues.

• Want access to a site to hold events? Each club has to approach the land manager and go through all the red tape separately.
  
• Want a club trailer, podium, or other equipment (including trail building gear)? Each club has to buy their own.
  
• Want registration, accounts, insurance, and all that other paperwork taken care of? Each club needs someone to do this, which spreads volunteer labour thin.
  
• Want successful advocacy for MTB? Each club has a smaller number of members than it would have if all were combined, and thus each looks like a smaller (and thus potentially less "important") group. A club of 30 people asking for a 4X track doesn't hold as much weight as a club of 300, even if most of those 300 wouldn't race 4X.
  
• Want to run an event that isn't covered by the niche clubs eg freeride event, DJ comp? One club has to step outside their discipline to do it, or you form yet another club (as happened here with the 4X club a while back).
  
• Want to run an event that crosses disciplines eg women's skills day? You have to choose one club to run it through, and then try to market it through all the other channels to make sure you reach everyone. Then you have to deal with all the misconceptions about the nature of the event based upon the club that is hosting it eg all the people who assume it is a DH event because the DH club is hosting it.

If getting a particular focus on a certain discipline is a priority, approach the local club and find out what you can do to help achieve this within the existing club structure. You will avoid some duplicated effort, a greater mass (membership numbers) will probably achieve more, and having a pre-existing club with a proven history of responsible use of designated areas may hold more sway than a new one.

 

[trust in gravity]

hey yall, hope you had a awsome weekend . i did. maybe coulda got a bit more riding in but still enough to put a smile on my dile!!
scblack. why? why not.?
anyway just asking questions to see the what ,how and...why/not.
theres no such thing as stupid questions..but that doesn't mean the guy askin isn't a complete idiot.(me)
antonyma. awsome post man. i agree with it all.thats why im toying with this aproach.
maybe the main reasons for me pursuing this line of thought,are. in this area where i/we live,although geograghically close to everything.is a fucken inland island. basically two roads in an out. theres plenty of cats that ride and plenty of tracks (all blackmarket) but one,which i have verbal permision to ride/build.(and have done for the last 3-4 years.)(now a 3-4 minute dh run. with plenty of scope for freeride .and xc and even enduro) . now, as this track is starting to get a little more known and more people are comming .i'd like to make the first moves to getting a little more than verbal permission. but i feel that rather than me rocking up an saying g'day hows about it?(like i already have done several times)( and not been dissueded).maybe ,if i have ..some kind of an idea. that might ,infact ,be more of a managment plan rather than a club as such.but,im thinkin also that with the wealth of knowledge and expieriance that clubs can provide .having this to aid would be invaluable.
strength in numbers as anthoyma put it, but also the local aspect of having a club in the area under the umbrella of a larger might be appealing .(possibly a bit peroquial(?)but ..meh,it works out here.) also helps with the vague larger plan of gettin the local jumps made more perminant,though thats a whole other thread.
like i said .. just asking questions, doesn't mean im not an idiot though..

destroy me an my feeble dreams. before hard facts and reality will anyway.

 

[intense jonoooo]

sorry, maybe I missed it, but where were you interested in setting this club up?? i think someone mentioned "hornsby" in another comment.. i'm sure if you gave it some publicity of where this possible club might form up.. you'd be able to get alot of public support... i leave down in beecroft.. which is close to Hornsby.. and I have alot of other mates that are very involved riders that live all over the North Shore.. aswell as the Northern line... like there are tonnes of dh'ers on the north shore.. but anyway.. hopefully we're talkin about the same "hornsby" hahaha it sounds great.. i'd be interested in helping out later on... but i have the HSC to get through for now.. but it would be interesting, if in hornsby, where in hornsby you were interested in riding... i know of a couple of dh tracks in that area.. aswell as the hornsby pool session.. which a few mates and I fixed up a few months ago.. but yea.. talk to you later.
Jono.

 

[trust in gravity]

hey IJ, how are ya . yes we are talkin about hornsby ,as in hornsby nsw aust etc. as far as starting clubs are concerned theres nothing solid yet just asking questions at the moment. one of which the answer to ,you just answered for me. namely that of patronage .the hills district and even the "northern line" is full of dh'ers /freeriders ,xc'ers and enduro freaks. we all knew it but you wrote it here which illustrates the point. we maybe are not all from mwmtb's areas and not all from wsmtb's areas or any other you'd care to name( excepting of course duralmtb. which im still to find out a little more about. xc i believe?) so it seems theres a riding population which maybe would warrent the use of a club in the area?
thoughts????

 

[thecat]

hey IJ, how are ya . yes we are talkin about hornsby ,as in hornsby nsw aust etc. as far as starting clubs are concerned theres nothing solid yet just asking questions at the moment. one of which the answer to ,you just answered for me. namely that of patronage .the hills district and even the "northern line" is full of dh'ers /freeriders ,xc'ers and enduro freaks. we all knew it but you wrote it here which illustrates the point. we maybe are not all from mwmtb's areas and not all from wsmtb's areas or any other you'd care to name( excepting of course duralmtb. which im still to find out a little more about. xc i believe?) so it seems theres a riding population which maybe would warrent the use of a club in the area?
thoughts????

Possibly but just because an existing club isn't on your doorstep don't just write it off. we, for example have members for Cowra (200km away) and throughtout the Blue Mt. Most other clubs have similar diversity in rider locals.

I still think joining and adding to the structure of an existing club would probably be the easier option for you.

 

[trust in gravity]

Possibly but just because an existing club isn't on your doorstep don't just write it off. we, for example have members for Cowra (200km away) and throughtout the Blue Mt. Most other clubs have similar diversity in rider locals.

I still think joining and adding to the structure of an existing club would probably be the easier option for you.

BUT I WANT COOL SHIRTS!!!
look, i agree it would be most deffinately be easier to be part of an existing club, and i am. .
but its worth lookin into. my pm's have gone crazy.
more than likely ( not more than likely but deffinatly) what im in need of is a managment plan, but almost by accident the topic of forming a club has takin a bit of a turn, its worth talking about.

 

[thecat]

Then do a search for australian incorporation rules or something.

There is a site that goes into all the detail and you can download an example constitution. It might be on the ASIC site but I think I've got those letters wrong

 

[Daver]

so it seems theres a riding population which maybe would warrent the use of a club in the area?
thoughts????

All the guys who live in the area and race Dh are all with Central Coast. While their tracks aren't the best they're one of the better organised clubs, especially from a racing point of view. I think forming a club to get better access sounds like a good idea, it isn't as good as you'd think. The effort that MWMTB put in to try and get a raceable DH track around Sydney only to be not allowed (when they have some of the better DH tracks, and lots of them, already built and running smoothly with the landowners) makes think that the possibilities of a new club getting new tracks built seem far fetched. I think you'd be better off pooling your resources with existing clubs and trying to get new trails that way (WSMTB would be a good start).