Lyle Craver
12-31-2011, 05:25 PM
The CFC president Michael von Keitz approved the formation of this committee to look into the matter of what to do with CYCC surpluses as this was a matter of contention for the 2011 event. The committee members are Fred McKim, Gordon Ritchie & Les Bunning. The Qualifications of these members are included at the end of the report
The holding of the annual CYCC tournament was sanctioned by the governors at the 1998 annual meeting and the first event was held in Vancouver in 1999. Initially the entry fee was $150 but was increased by the 2007 annual meeting to $225. The committee found perhaps not surprisingly that there was a direct link between the entry fees and surpluses.
The CFC handbook sets out matters such as the entry fees($225), late entry fees($50), the amount to be retained by the local organiser to fund expenses such as site rental ,TD fees, prizes such as trophies and other expense($75). $150 per player is to be remitted to the CFC to fund travel for the CYCC winners to the WYCC
Despite these rules, bids to hold this event frequently vary the amounts to be collected and paid out and these bids are usually accepted without modification. The bids themselves often look attractive and are frequently the only bid and consequently are usually accepted by the CFC without modification. This process has occasionally caused problems for the CFC and this years event (2011) was no exception. In addition the bid that has been accepted for the 2012 event may also cause problems.
The bid for the 2011 event that was accepted by the CFC called for entry fees of $175 per player(Instead of $225) and $20,000 be paid to the CFC(instead of $150 per player) to fund Travel to the WYCC. The event was well run, obtained significant corporate sponsorship and was successful financially. There were approximately 237 entries. Instead of Remitting $150 per player or approximately $36,000 to the CFC only $20,000 was remitted as specified in the bid. This left the organisers with a surplus of approx $18,000 which the organisers then wanted to give back to the participants as prize money. The matter was debated at the annual meeting and then referred to the CFC executive who decided to distribute the surplus slightly differently but generally in accordance with the bid. The end result was the $20,000 paid to the CFC was insufficient to send all of the players, coaches and heads of delegation to Brazil and the CFC lost about $5,000 instead of building up a healthy surplus in the Youth program fund that would have happened if the CFC had received the $150 per player in accordance with its rules.
The 2012 event will likely prove even more problematic. The entry fee is $50 less than our rules require and the WYCC is being held in Slovenia for which the travel expenses will be more substantial. The advertised prise for the 2012 event has been publicised as “a minimum $1,000 towards travel to the 2012 WYCC for winners of sections where there are more than 8 players”. As this will be inadequate to cover the cost of travel the CFC will most likely be looked to for the difference. In addition the CFC likes to send coaches and chaperones and the 2012 event makes no mention of contributing to this expense. It is the committee’s recommendation that the CFC executive attempt to renegotiate the entry fee with the organisers so that the CFC will receive $150 per player. The CFC can then sort out the travel expenses with the winners.
When the current CYCC rules were amended by the governors at the 2007 annual meeting there was discussion about whether the new entry fee of $225 was too high. The meeting accepted that the entry fee was only a small part of the cost for most players to attend the event as many families stayed in hotels for several days. It is well known that parents will spend far more on their children’s activities than they will spend on themselves. In the 2011 event a lot of the players paid the late fee of up $50 to which is illustrative of the entry fee not being a deterrent.
Despite these comments the committee is of the opinion that if the local committee running the event wishes to lower the entry fees then they should be able to do so provided that they send the $150 per player to the CFC to finance travel for the winners to the WYCC. It may be that a local committee can secure sufficient local sponsorship to justify lowering the fees. To make this process more flexible the Committee recommends that the rules be changed so that the entry fees can be changed by the CFC executive if the changes are requested by the local organising committee. The committee nevertheless was of the opinion that the financial responsibility for running the event remains with the local organisers, The committee believes that the $75 per player to be retained by the local organiser should be sufficient to run the event but if the entries are lower than expected then the local committee should cut expenses and if the event was to incur a loss then this would be the responsibility of the local organisers. If the $150 per player submitted to the CFC is insufficient to fund travel for the winners to the WYCC then this would be the responsibility of the CFC. It is anticipated that this cost will vary depending on where the WYCC is being held and it is acknowledged that as the event moves around the country then some locations will attract more entries than others. It is hoped that in some years the amount received by the CFC($150 per player) will result in a surplus.
If there is a surplus then it is to be added to the Youth program fund as specified in the current CYCC rules. The committee believes that the uses of the Youth program fund should be expanded by amending the present rules so that surpluses can be used for the following objectives. (a) sending more coaches or chaperones to the WYCC (b) funding travel in years when the CYCC did not generate sufficient funds to pay all of the travel expenses of the CYCC winners (c) to pay expenses to other international youth tournaments for players who, in the opinion of the CFC executive, are significantly stronger than other players in there age group and therefore have the potential to become world class players. (d) to provide funding for players to the CYCC or WYCC who otherwise could not afford to go.
The Committee then looked at what should happen if the local organisers had a surplus after expenses from the $75 retained by them. It is the opinion of the committee that their should be NO cash prizes paid to the young players but the surplus money could be spent on (a) books or equipment prizes for the participants (b) retained by the local organisers for other local youth events (c) be used to fund more players to attend the WYCC (d) be used to assist in sending more parents to the WYCC to chaperone the kids. The committee also recommends that amounts paid to Tournament directors or professional organisers should be a fair amount and if there are surplus funds these amounts could be increased but they should not be excessive as the Committee is of the opinion that excess revenues should be used to promote chess and in particular youth chess.
The committee is also of the opinion that it be mandatory for the committee to provide a preliminary financial accounting for the event at that years CFC annual meeting which usually is held a few days after the CYCC has ended and a final accounting no later than six weeks after the conclusion of the event.
The committee is also of the opinion that the CYCC entry fees should be collected by the CFC business office through an automated process. The CFC website has recently been changed so that CFC memberships can now be processed in a similar fashion and therefore the committee believes that this capability should be expanded to include CYCC entry fees.
The holding of the annual CYCC tournament was sanctioned by the governors at the 1998 annual meeting and the first event was held in Vancouver in 1999. Initially the entry fee was $150 but was increased by the 2007 annual meeting to $225. The committee found perhaps not surprisingly that there was a direct link between the entry fees and surpluses.
The CFC handbook sets out matters such as the entry fees($225), late entry fees($50), the amount to be retained by the local organiser to fund expenses such as site rental ,TD fees, prizes such as trophies and other expense($75). $150 per player is to be remitted to the CFC to fund travel for the CYCC winners to the WYCC
Despite these rules, bids to hold this event frequently vary the amounts to be collected and paid out and these bids are usually accepted without modification. The bids themselves often look attractive and are frequently the only bid and consequently are usually accepted by the CFC without modification. This process has occasionally caused problems for the CFC and this years event (2011) was no exception. In addition the bid that has been accepted for the 2012 event may also cause problems.
The bid for the 2011 event that was accepted by the CFC called for entry fees of $175 per player(Instead of $225) and $20,000 be paid to the CFC(instead of $150 per player) to fund Travel to the WYCC. The event was well run, obtained significant corporate sponsorship and was successful financially. There were approximately 237 entries. Instead of Remitting $150 per player or approximately $36,000 to the CFC only $20,000 was remitted as specified in the bid. This left the organisers with a surplus of approx $18,000 which the organisers then wanted to give back to the participants as prize money. The matter was debated at the annual meeting and then referred to the CFC executive who decided to distribute the surplus slightly differently but generally in accordance with the bid. The end result was the $20,000 paid to the CFC was insufficient to send all of the players, coaches and heads of delegation to Brazil and the CFC lost about $5,000 instead of building up a healthy surplus in the Youth program fund that would have happened if the CFC had received the $150 per player in accordance with its rules.
The 2012 event will likely prove even more problematic. The entry fee is $50 less than our rules require and the WYCC is being held in Slovenia for which the travel expenses will be more substantial. The advertised prise for the 2012 event has been publicised as “a minimum $1,000 towards travel to the 2012 WYCC for winners of sections where there are more than 8 players”. As this will be inadequate to cover the cost of travel the CFC will most likely be looked to for the difference. In addition the CFC likes to send coaches and chaperones and the 2012 event makes no mention of contributing to this expense. It is the committee’s recommendation that the CFC executive attempt to renegotiate the entry fee with the organisers so that the CFC will receive $150 per player. The CFC can then sort out the travel expenses with the winners.
When the current CYCC rules were amended by the governors at the 2007 annual meeting there was discussion about whether the new entry fee of $225 was too high. The meeting accepted that the entry fee was only a small part of the cost for most players to attend the event as many families stayed in hotels for several days. It is well known that parents will spend far more on their children’s activities than they will spend on themselves. In the 2011 event a lot of the players paid the late fee of up $50 to which is illustrative of the entry fee not being a deterrent.
Despite these comments the committee is of the opinion that if the local committee running the event wishes to lower the entry fees then they should be able to do so provided that they send the $150 per player to the CFC to finance travel for the winners to the WYCC. It may be that a local committee can secure sufficient local sponsorship to justify lowering the fees. To make this process more flexible the Committee recommends that the rules be changed so that the entry fees can be changed by the CFC executive if the changes are requested by the local organising committee. The committee nevertheless was of the opinion that the financial responsibility for running the event remains with the local organisers, The committee believes that the $75 per player to be retained by the local organiser should be sufficient to run the event but if the entries are lower than expected then the local committee should cut expenses and if the event was to incur a loss then this would be the responsibility of the local organisers. If the $150 per player submitted to the CFC is insufficient to fund travel for the winners to the WYCC then this would be the responsibility of the CFC. It is anticipated that this cost will vary depending on where the WYCC is being held and it is acknowledged that as the event moves around the country then some locations will attract more entries than others. It is hoped that in some years the amount received by the CFC($150 per player) will result in a surplus.
If there is a surplus then it is to be added to the Youth program fund as specified in the current CYCC rules. The committee believes that the uses of the Youth program fund should be expanded by amending the present rules so that surpluses can be used for the following objectives. (a) sending more coaches or chaperones to the WYCC (b) funding travel in years when the CYCC did not generate sufficient funds to pay all of the travel expenses of the CYCC winners (c) to pay expenses to other international youth tournaments for players who, in the opinion of the CFC executive, are significantly stronger than other players in there age group and therefore have the potential to become world class players. (d) to provide funding for players to the CYCC or WYCC who otherwise could not afford to go.
The Committee then looked at what should happen if the local organisers had a surplus after expenses from the $75 retained by them. It is the opinion of the committee that their should be NO cash prizes paid to the young players but the surplus money could be spent on (a) books or equipment prizes for the participants (b) retained by the local organisers for other local youth events (c) be used to fund more players to attend the WYCC (d) be used to assist in sending more parents to the WYCC to chaperone the kids. The committee also recommends that amounts paid to Tournament directors or professional organisers should be a fair amount and if there are surplus funds these amounts could be increased but they should not be excessive as the Committee is of the opinion that excess revenues should be used to promote chess and in particular youth chess.
The committee is also of the opinion that it be mandatory for the committee to provide a preliminary financial accounting for the event at that years CFC annual meeting which usually is held a few days after the CYCC has ended and a final accounting no later than six weeks after the conclusion of the event.
The committee is also of the opinion that the CYCC entry fees should be collected by the CFC business office through an automated process. The CFC website has recently been changed so that CFC memberships can now be processed in a similar fashion and therefore the committee believes that this capability should be expanded to include CYCC entry fees.