Sept 2 Update: A few emails have come in where an address that is definitely not in their area has ended up on their list, and an address that should be in their area went elsewhere. Since we automated the process to read the postal codes and match them with the city database of postal codes to communities, we can explain this two ways. One - the postal code was incorrectly data entered (and there were a lot that didn't match that I had to search by address) or the city has the wrong data matched to community leagues. This requires a fair bit of delving into data so please be patient while EFCL sorts out the irregularities. We will notify the leagues who have the irregularities and send the funds and member to the correct league.
August 30 Update: The second round of lists generated from the sales of corporate rate memberships through hockey will be sent on August 31 to leagues. It will include the August 20 submission. Unfortunately, due to the heavy volunteer work load not all lists made it to EFCL by the deadline of August 15, and some are still missing by August 30. If you have membership inquiries for folks that are not on your lists, contact EFCL. Please provide your members on your lists with their cards!
HOCKEY REGISTRANTS WHO NEED MEMBERSHIP CARDS:
- Please wait until mid September to hear from your league - use your receipt to register for programs until you get your card (contact your registrar for a receipt if you didn't get one)
- If you don't hear from your league in a timely fashion, contact them (look them up on our league directory) and ask if you were on the lists of hockey registrants - if not contact your registrar. They have not documented your purchase
LEAGUE MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORS AND TREASURERS:
- Please contact your new members and invite them out to a league event or program - don't miss this opportunity to welcome them!
- For quantities of memberships under 10 ($250 remittances) we will withhold the cheques. If by January's final remittance we still haven't 10 for your league the amount will first be applied to any outstanding EFCL membership dues or supplies and then we will write a cheque for any balance.
- For quantities of membership over 10, we will be forwarding cheques as soon as we sort out some duplicates.
- Final remittance is after January 10. If you need to verify a membership receipt for parents who neglected to get one please contact EFCL.
- Further questions may be answered by the Background Information
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The Edmonton Minor Hockey Association and Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues jointly created a new system to facilitate the sales of Community League memberships during hockey registration. The objective is to eliminate all the work that the registrars have had to do for these many years and ease the strain for their volunteers. They still support the community leagues and want to ask for a membership as part of their process. So together we developed a new streamlined system.
We appreciate the fact that this is not agreeable to 100% of our membership either for Hockey or the Leagues. The new system solves the registration problems involved around collecting funds and information for community leagues and couples very well with the technology of hockey’s online registration. It also puts the onus back on the membership director for each league to administer their own memberships.
The following motion was voted on and accepted at EFCL's April 19, 2010 Annual General Meeting by a majority of Community League Voting Members:
“That the Edmonton Minor Hockey Association be granted the right to sell $25 “corporate rate” family Community League Memberships to all of its minor hockey players, during hockey registrations.”
The Corporate Rate for Memberships of $25 per family is established and will be charged by registrars to every family. The amount is set as the current average rate for community league memberships across the city. The Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues will honor this corporate rate.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR PARENTS
If you know that you have to register for hockey, do not buy your community league membership from your league. Be prepared to pay the mandatory hockey registration $25 corporate community fee for your membership online and at in-person hockey registration. Community League Membership Cards will not be accepted as proof of payment. So leave your community league card at home. Parents will receive a receipt from the registrar to use to verify payment when registering for other programs until you receive your card from the league. Be sure to ask for one if you don't get one.
Some leagues with higher membership fees are hoping they may request the difference. This will be administered league by league.
After registration, if you need your membership card for other sports or programs or recreation discounts and haven’t received it from a league, contact: communications@efcl.org or call 780-437-2913
BENEFITS to PARENTS:
· Parents pay one person – one cheque
· Line ups are reduced at in-person registration
· Parents don’t have to chase down a membership director
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR LEAGUES
League fees vary and each organization will set its own policy on how to administer the Corporate Rates and how it will work for the circumstances of their league. We emphasize that the majority of leagues accepted the corporate rate at the Annual General Meeting. All leagues are subject to this motion and will provide a membership card to hockey registrants who have paid the fee. Disputes will be directed to communications@efcl.org
Be sure to ask all people who are buying a membership if they have registered or are registering through hockey and have paid the corporate fee. This will save a few refunds. For interim periods where you do not have the contact information, parents should receive a receipt from hockey. Click for Sample in person receipt or for Sample online receipt. If this is missing, please contact EFCL to generate a new one for them or to verify payment. Keep track of distributed cards so you can match the cards with the list.
Leagues will receive lists of members for their league after August 15, 2010 and again after January 15, 2011. EFCL will sort the registrants by postal code and forward to leagues within one to four days. EFCL will calculate the amount to send and distribute this ASAP after the lists and cheques from hockey registrars arrive. After the funds are all in we will generate the cheques and get them signed.
Leagues will remit cards commencing after receipt of their lists and hopefully in time for August 31. For memberships purchased through hockey after August 15, families that want their cards may contact communications@efcl.org We will verify the purchase with their registrar and organize the remittance of their card.
We understand there may be some duplication, again it will be up to the league to manage discrepancies and duplications. To limit the duplication, when selling a membership ask if the family has registered or will register for hockey.
EFCL recommends that the leagues hold a meet and greet to invite their new members to get involved and to distribute their cards & skate tags. How this is handled will be a league decision. We have also suggested that leagues with higher fees may ask for a donation of the difference.
Please thank your hockey registrars for doing this service for so many years and for the continuing volunteer hours they spend supporting community. If we cannot improve the process for Hockey Registrars we stand to lose this valuable connection to the sports community.
BENEFITS to LEAGUES:
· No more stale dated cheques
· A social opportunity to meet your new members
· Parents can no longer purchase from the wrong league
· You don’t have to find volunteers for in person registration
· No one is distributing your membership cards but you
WHAT THIS MEANS TO HOCKEY REGISTRARS
Hockey Edmonton Associations will charge and collect a $25.00 corporate member fee from all families participating in hockey in Edmonton and includes AA Clubs.
On August 15th and January 15th the Associations will send a list of families to EFCL along with a cheque for the funds collected.
That is all Hockey Edmonton has agreed to do to support EFCL and the leagues. PERIOD
If a family wants a membership the same day they pay hockey for other program registrations or discounts, then they are to contact EFCL and EFCL will verify the purchase with Hockey Edmonton and issue a card.
This is a fee Hockey Edmonton collects, just like Hockey Canada technology fee of $1.50; Just like the $7.95 per player for Denshel; the $7.95 per player for EMHA General Manager. It is just confusing because before community leagues and membership cards were involved and now they are nothing to do with Hockey. Clean and simple.
BENEFITS to REGISTRARS:
· Eliminates the multitudes of hours spent validating the possession of community league memberships and confirming that they actually bought the membership
· No second cheques or stale dated cheques
· No rounding up volunteers or tracking down representatives of leagues for in person registration
· No extra lineup at registration
· No handling of skate tags or cards
· 60 different fees for online registration become one fee
· Easy registration data base printout of families instead of tedious documentation of sales
“The good of the many outweighs the good of the few … live long and prosper” ~Spock
EFCL will be hosting a meeting on June 21, 2010 at 7:00 pm at our offices, 7103 - 105 Street for leagues that wish to discuss suggestions to improve the process.