One Association?

[Eberbachl]

It seems that this question is rearing it's head more and more frequently these days, and it is the topic of choice amongst many archers at the moment. In another thread it has been reported that 3DAAA and AA are making moves to join as one...that only leaves one more association :roll:

With current insurance issues, funding/grants opportunities, and the unity of the archery community in the face of the public increasingly important, should we be moving towards one governing body for archery in Australia?

[Marcus]

While I voted yes I would also like to voice some concerns.
ABA was started due to AA's lack of support for bowhunting. I worry that if they merged under AA that may continue again.
Also while AA tends to sit high on their Olympic horse it should also be pointed out that ABA has built a far more succesful magazine than AA and thus looks after it's members better.
On the other hand they can while they take proceeds from every tournament.
So while I agree in pricipal I wonder about how well AA would look after the ABA shooters, especially after some of the sillt decisions they have made in the past with their own.

[Eberbachl]

Hi Marcus,

I'm interested to hear your thoughts on how ABA looks after it's members better than AA. Whilst I don't pretend to know anything of the history of these two associations.....as both an AV and an ABA member, I personally wouldn't say that I feel that I get any more from either one.

You're right that ABA does have a reaonable magazine, but you're also right that ABA takes almost all of the tournament fees away from host clubs, making the AV tournament more profitable for clubs, and therefore more funds available for facilities at the club level at the end of the day. I think in some way this may mean that AV gives more to the members by neglecting to take away the proceeds from tournaments.

Also interesting about the notion of support for the hunting fraternity...I feel that in an ideal world, the one hypothetical organisation which would look after us would be well versed and cater for all disciplines. Was it mentioned that 3DAAA would continue to exist as a sort of a division of AA to do what they do best ....run 3D shoots? Could ABA do the same for the hunting crowd???

What do you think?

[Marcus]

I would think they would have to have it as a sub division. Also I think that many ABA members would feel alot of the give rather than the other way around. At the moment they have their own body with their own system of control. By moving to AA ,any may feel they are giving up those privleges. Just playing Devils advocate here.
I would like to see it happen, however ABA are as string or stringer than AA so it's hard to see them throw that away for what could be seen as little in return.
:cry:

[Eberbachl]

.......mmmmm good points, I do agree that it seems like it would be very difficult for ABA to join with another organisation. And also of course some ABA members could see this as losing their identity, but at the end of the day, if the facilities and opportunities grow because of the three organisations coming together giving a much broader range of access for all archers - shouldn't people be able to see that it would benefit them all?

[Steve B]

Whilst I, as an ABA member see the benefits of one body controlling the sport , at the recent IFAA National it was very noticable that there are a number of "dual" membership people but it was also very noticable that the archers present are very fierce and protective about ABA, and I think thats good, getting both AA and ABA to find common ground and amalgamate is a tall order especially considering that both organisations have thier own special World place ie: FITA for AA and IFAA for ABA and is just an example there would be others, both committees are very profesional in their approach, ABA is all volunteer stuff, my understanding is AA are all paid postions for the Executive ? Please if I am wrong set me right. What am I saying well the crux of it all is I dont think in the near future that ABA would be happy to come under the umbrella of AA and I suppose it should be asked why would'nt AA come under the umbrella of ABA , lets turn the table around abit here....smile......just a thought

[Marcus]

Steve
There is talk of FITA and IFAA joining forces which could mean that IFAA becomes controlled by AA anyway. If this idd happen I would say that an amelgamation of the 2 would become more likely.
The Executive are not paid positions in AA. They did have a paid CEO but that position is vacent, and the National Coach is paid as well.
It's a hard one, and while I agree with Luke that it would give huge benifit to all archers, I can't see egos stepping aside and allowing it to happen.
However with 3DAAA and AA joining, ABA may find more people head to AA based clubs as a more attractive option.

[Eberbachl]

Hi Steve B,

I know many ABA archers, and of course realise that they will be protective of ABA, and quite rightly so. I respect ABA's heritage, and wouldn't ask anyone to forget that. I just think it would be great if everybody could be big enough to realise how great just one association could be.

I wouldn't ever suggest that ABA should be swallowed, by AA - and it was wrong of me to suggest that ABA could just take care of the hunting fraternity. If ABA were so inclined, I would support an amalgamation in many forms. I think we should not think about "who would come under who's banner" or "what the association would be called". At this stage of the game, I would envisage the three entities coming together as one. Nobody is saying that one is bigger or stronger than the other.



Cheers,

Luke.

[Steve B]

The one thing that we all have in common is the abilty to enjoy our sport and respect each others opinions, even though they may differ, this is a great place to air these thoughts and get people thinking about what is likely to happen in the future......just as an aside I shall hopefully catch up with a heap of you guys at Moe on saturday , thought I would have a look seeing ABA's indoor tittles arent till sunday.