Share The Wealth.
By David Kjeldsen

With the political season thankfully coming to an end, I started to think about Barack Obama's recent comment about "spreading the wealth" and how it relates to platform tennis.

Have you ever thought about why league members pay lower APTA dues than non-league members? Why does a member of the Long Island platform tennis league pay $25 a year dues to the APTA, yet a person residing in Toledo pays $50? They both receive Platform Tennis Magazine. They are both eligible to play APTA sanctioned tournaments and both can receive national rankings. They both have the same access and privileges to use the APTA website. Why the difference in dues?

Why does a member of the APTA Board of Directors from California where there are no leagues pay higher dues than directors from New York who are league members? Doesn't seem quite fair does it?

Okay, okay, I know there are in theory economies of scale in processing bulk league memberships versus single memberships, but in today's world of online transactions, does the economy of scale really exist or is the reality just the opposite? Individual memberships can be processed electronically online by the player and if designed correctly the database should be updated automatically, whereas bulk renewals must be processed and cross checked by hand by the APTA staff.

I understand the argument that leagues supply "bulk" members to the APTA and therefore are entitled to a "quantity" discount. Discounts based on quantity are a fixture of everyday life thus the proliferation of Sam's Clubs, BJ Wholesale, Costco, and the like. But, if the goods and services provided by the APTA are the same to all members, why shouldn't all players pay the same dues? It’s not as if full dues paying members are getting two copies of the magazine each issue or more beer at tournaments; all members get the exact same benefits. Clearly, individual league members currently pay a lesser portion of the APTA overhead than individual non-league members. And why? The “why” is from another era. Let it be said it has nothing to do with the cost to provide services or the amount of services provided today.

Is it time to offer "full paying" APTA members more services than members receiving league discounts? It could be so and there is a very simple solution to start making memberships fairer.  Any adult player playing in an APTA sanctioned tournament outside their region or playing in any National Championship must be a "full" APTA member. Lest I be naïve, this solution would entail some minor extra administrative effort to check tournament registrations for membership status, but this should be being done currently for all APTA sanctioned events anyway. Think of the extra dues that the APTA will obtain and how much fairer this is to all.

I know at the club where I play platform there are two types of membership: social and full. Only the members paying for full membership are entitled to vote. Something for the APTA to consider although I bet many a current board member might not get voting privileges going forward.

Of course, the APTA could just make all the dues the same irrespective of league status. What a radical concept! All members paying the same dues for the same services.

what do you think? let me know! info@platformtennisnews.com

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