Changes to National Events

The eleven District Presidents have agreed on some exciting changes to national events at their annual meeting.

Summary: A number of changes affecting the allocation and format of national events were approved by the District Presidents at their annual midyear meeting on 5 July 2013.  The key changes affect the format of Senior Nationals (to be implemented from 2014) and the way national events are allocated (to be implemented from 2015).  

1.       Rotation of National Events

• At present expressions of interest are called for from clubs to host national events.
• From 2015 all national events will be rotated annually, so that each District regularly hosts each national event (with the exception of North and South Island events, which will stay within their respective islands).
• An eleven year rolling schedule will be devised and published to clearly signal where events will be held in future.
• Districts will work with Squash NZ and clubs to find suitable hosts for their scheduled events.
• If a District is unable to host a specific event, expressions of interest will be sought from the rest of the country.
• The initial allocation of events (for the 2015 season) will be drawn at the 2013 Squash NZ AGM.  The roster for the following eleven years will then be made public.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Q: If a District is unable to host a particular event, how will expressions of interest be asked for?

A: The same way they are now, with letters emailed to all clubs, and website articles outlining how to go about expressing interest in hosting an event.

Q: How will the hosting roster be decided?

A: Squash NZ will create a full eleven year ‘rotation cycle’, and randomly draw which allocation to begin with.  This allocation of events will be used in 2015, with the ten other years to follow in order.

Q: What are the requirements to host national events?

A: The requirements and criteria vary for each national event.  For more information visit the Events > Hosting Events section of our website.

Q: When it is our District’s turn, how will the host Club(s) be decided?

A: This process will vary from District to District.  Squash NZ will recommend an engaged approach with plenty of communication, and consideration of appropriate venues.

2.     National Event Hosting Fees and Grants

• At present Squash NZ does not make financial contributions to the hosts of national events, nor does it charge hosting fees. 
• As a result ‘attractive’ events such as Superchamps (which do not require prize money and are often good income generators for clubs) attract many potential hosts, while ‘unattractive’ events such as Senior Nationals (with prize money requirements) do not often attract potential hosts.
• To rectify this imbalance, from 2015 Squash NZ will charge hosting fees for ‘attractive events’.  This revenue will then be used as grants to support the hosts of ‘unattractive’ events.
• Hosting fees will apply to the following ‘attractive’ events:

• The hosting fees collected will be used to support hosts of the following ‘unattractive’ events (which are currently difficult to find hosts for):

• This change will take effect from the 2015 season onwards.  National events for the 2014 season (which have already started to be allocated) will not be affected by these changes.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Q: Our Club has applied to host an event in 2014, will we need to pay a hosting fee or receive a grant?

A: No.  This scheme will begin from 2015 events onwards.

Q: Does the District or the Club pay the hosting fee?

A: This process will vary from District to District.  Squash NZ recommends that the host club pays the hosting fee – as they will be the ones to benefit from hosting the event.

Q: If an event with a hosting fee is opened up to expressions of interest because the District scheduled to host it is unable to do so, does the hosting fee still apply?

A: Yes.

Q: Why will some events have hosting fees and not others?

A: Some events will have hosting fees because of the significant amounts of revenue they can generate for host clubs (through bar, kitchen and entertainment), and the high level of interest expressed to host them.  Other events have been selected as needing support because of the significant prize money requirements and lack of interest expressed to host them.

Q: Will smaller clubs that are not in the District’s main centre still be able to host events?

A: Yes.  While the process to decide which club(s) will host an event will vary from District to District, all clubs will have a chance to host.

Q: Will the entry fee for some events change as a result of these changes?

A: No.  Squash NZ will still set the entry fee for national events to ensure that national events remain accessible to all players.

3.     Senior Nationals Dates/Format

• Currently the Individual Senior National Championships run from Friday to Sunday, with the Inter-District Teams Championships following from Monday to Tuesday.
• From 2014 this will change: the Individuals will be played from Wednesday to Friday, and the Inter-District Teams Championships on Saturday and Sunday.
• Each team will be permitted to include one player who has not played in the individual event.
• The rationale behind this is to rejuvenate the Inter-District Teams Championships by boosting its atmosphere and making it accessible to spectators.  Major matches in the individuals will be played in the evening so they remain accessible to spectators.
• This change is to take effect from 2014.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Q: What is the objective of making this change?

A: The rationale behind changing the format of Senior Nationals is to boost the level of atmosphere and prestige around the Inter-District Teams Championships.  By playing it over a weekend, it is expected that the event should attract more spectators and interest.

Q: Won’t this result in fewer people playing the individuals?

A: The change to dates will mean that players playing in the Individual Championships only may need to have more time off work than before.  This was taken into account in the decision making process, and it was decided that the potential benefits of greater exposure for our National Championships outweigh this cost.

These changes (along with various other options) were outlined in a discussion paper in June for public consumption: http://www.squashnz.co.nz/news/index.cfm?content_id=884.