Originally Posted by
Michael von Keitz
The crux of my plan is a change to a club-affiliate model. In essence, a club pays a fee to become a member of the CFC and, in turn, each member of that club has the rights of CFC membership. This is not something I would want to immediately implement wholesale. Rather, I would like to run a 3-5 club pilot for the coming year (probably starting in January), in order to have some empirical data to work with. I have been putting some feelers out and, in general, this concept seems to be receiving a positive response.
1) Changing the membership structure of the CFC
It seems to me that members of any national organization, especially those in a country the size of Canada, start out by becoming involved at the local level. Ergo, in order for the CFC to realize any meaningful growth, it must promote, facilitate and nurture recruitment municipally. At this level, we regularly see direct interaction between members and non-members alike, something that makes any organization seem much less distant to the uninitiated.
In order to tailor itself to club recruitment, however, I envision the need for a shift in the CFC's membership structure. Specifically, I see clubs affiliating directly with the national federation. In other words, if you aren't a demonstrable member of a club (e.g. possessing a membership card, having an exec vouch for you, etc.), then you can't join the CFC. Similarly, if a club is too small (e.g. under 10 players), the CFC will not allow it to affiliate. In this way, we introduce some incentive for players to recruit. At the same time, note that this structure does not necessarily require the abolishment of provincial organizations or their affiliated leagues, which still have their place as administrative bodies.