Society Membership

[Wilko]

Hi All

I have just been drafted on to my society's committee as I have recently taken over looking after our kit. We only supply a match shirt and socks along with a society tie for afterwards and the option to purchase a rain jacket.

Recently I have met some referees from other societies and they seem to have much more kit (shirts, blazers, shorts, kitbags etc) all with their society crest on them.

I was wondering what each society provides as standard and what items if any were available as an individual purchase. Also if kit is provided as standard issue are the membership fees at these societies considerably higher than ours to cover this cost.

 

[upnunder]

When I joined last year I was given a couple of shirts, and a tie.

I had to buy shorts and socks.

We can also buy
Referee Shirt £22.00
Polo Shirt £10.00
Shorts £10.00
Socks £5.00
Society Ties £10.00
Kit Bags £20.00
Sweatshirts £15.00
Rain Tops £20.00
Fleeces £20.00
Towels £20.00
Badges £5.00
Umbrellas £20.00

Membership to the society is £20 per year, but if you are a newly qualified ELRA referee, you get your first season free.

 

[TheBFG]

We were given a new shirt this year, but after the weekend can't get the mud out of it!

last year we were given:

Shirt
Shorts
Socks
Track suit

All sponsered though!

Kit bags and Tshirts for Dev squad

have to buy ties etc....

£25.00 subs

 

[Greg Collins]

subs £10 pa
kit sub £15 per two seasons which gets you 1 pr shorts, 2 shirts, 1 pr socks

other items available for purchase at subsidised prices are oxford shirt, polo shirts, rugby shirts, track suits, rain top (shower proof)

This season we may be allowed to purchase additional shorts/socks (at my suggestion) to keep the laundry bills down if you do more than one game a week.

 

[stuart3826]

Subs £10.00 pa. No kit subs, all society kit is available at own cost.

 

[Adam]

Manchester:

Originally:
2x Socks
1x Shorts
2x Shirts

New shirt each season free.

Subs: £27.50

Extra kit to purchase here.

 

[Simon Thomas]

Hampshire subsidise cost of each seasons shirts and we have a £20 pa sub - worth £2,500 pa to us, which doesn't go far in running a Society ! Societies handle their finances in different ways and some can afford to pay for kit.

We do log'ed shorts, socks and Society tracksuit at cost. Tie, dress shirts etc at cost.

Deeps (our kitmaster) drives a hard bargain with suppliers to keep costs down.

As and when we get a new sponsor, we would consider changing things and give out a freebie or two.

With 100 plus members we cannot afford to kit them out, and we have to keep our match fees low to clubs (covers travel and Society admin overheads).

Berkshire are renowned for their stash and kit - no idea how they fund it all. They give out blazers (very nice ones too !) on doing 10 matches (I think).

If you get to Southern Federation Squad you get a free shirt from them !

 

[ckuxmann]

For our $35 membership we get a law book, and meetings.


Cody

 

[Lee Lifeson-Peart]

£10 pa

Last season we got 2 shirts, one shorts, one socks (all canterbury) and canterbury 4 compartment bag for £20

This was subsidised/sponsored stuff and when it wears out I'm not sure what happens then. I assume we'll be back to buying our own kit and stuff as before - prices similar to AJ's

 

[DrSTU]

For our $35 membership we get a law book, and meetings.


Cody

Don't forget the all important insurance coverage too:swet:

 

[DrSTU]

£10 pa

Last season we got 2 shirts, one shorts, one socks (all canterbury) and canterbury 4 compartment bag for £20

This was subsidised/sponsored stuff and when it wears out I'm not sure what happens then. I assume we'll be back to buying our own kit and stuff as before - prices similar to AJ's

My beautiful orange and blue shirts and bag are currently doing the rounds as my back up shirts. No one here wears orange, even orange county:wow:

 

[Dixie]

Bit embarrassed about ours, really. Introduced £10 subs this season, due apparently to our having trouble spending the financial surplus from previous years. I'm not sure I've fully grasped the economics.

Stash so far includes:
3 logo'd shirts (Blue, Red, Yellow, one in each of the last three seasons)
2 pairs of shorts (this season)
1 logo'd Gilbert tracksuit (last season)
1 logo'd Gilbert waterproof warm-up jacket (last season)
3 pairs socks (matching the shirts, except the yellow, which has black socks)
1 logo'd sports bag (last season, 50 game award, Saturday games only)
Society tie.

 

[FlipFlop]

We get nothing except a tie. There is no kit to purchase either.

No subs, but we do get 40 - 70 CHFs (£25-£40 or $40-$70 per game) + travel expenses (0.5 CHF per km = $0.8 per mile or £0.5 per mile)

There is a rumour (well it is happening) that we will get kit towards the end of this season.

 

[Simon Thomas]

Bit embarrassed about ours, really. Introduced £10 subs this season, due apparently to our having trouble spending the financial surplus from previous years. I'm not sure I've fully grasped the economics.

Stash so far includes:
3 logo'd shirts (Blue, Red, Yellow, one in each of the last three seasons)
2 pairs of shorts (this season)
1 logo'd Gilbert tracksuit (last season)
1 logo'd Gilbert waterproof warm-up jacket (last season)
3 pairs socks (matching the shirts, except the yellow, which has black socks)
1 logo'd sports bag (last season, 50 game award, Saturday games only)
Society tie.

Hurrumph - I get regular comments from my guys as to why can't we as neighbours and fellow Southern Federation Society give Berkshire level stash out for free ! Where does the money come from - been a mystery for some years to me.

 

[Simon Thomas]

Don't forget the all important insurance coverage too:swet:

All English Societies referees are covered by a RFU centrally paid insurance policy with Marsh. We do not pay RFU any affiliation fees.

Clubs (players, coaches, and referees) are covered if they are affiliated to their County and thru them to RFU for a small annual sub.

 

[Dixie]

Where does the money come from - been a mystery for some years to me.

Looking at the accounts, we could cover travel expenses, stash, committee overheads (postage, phone etc) and the costs of Society meetings entirely from match fees paid by the clubs. Sponsorship has helped fund bigger items such as comms devices. Now that these are in place, it's a mystery what to do with the additional funds generated by charging membership fees this season. Better minds than mine are working on that.

 

[Wilko]

A big thank you to all who have replied.

It looks like you all pay slightly more per year than we do for subs, ours is £20 for the first year and then £5 per year therafter. Interesting to see that at least 1 society don't charge for newly qualified refs in the first year but that most societies subs are around the £20 per annum mark.

For this we do get the match shirts and socks but have to buy our own shorts, tracksuits, warm up gear etc. We do occasionally get things like touch flags and ref's wallets (we got new ones of these this year but no new shirts) as it was decided that we needed to keep charges down due to the economic situation.

For those societies that provide extra kit (shorts, oxford shirts, track suits, kitbags etc) do you keep these in stock or do you have to order as and when required. I assume that there is a minimum number required by each supplier before an order will be processed.

 

[Simon Thomas]

Wilko - have a chat with Deeps (Hampshire's Kitmaster) who runs a very efficient service for our members.

His details can be found on our Society web site under Haberdashery at

www.hantsrefs.org.uk/committee.htm

 

[ex-lucy]

Herts = £20 per season.
free stash = green shirt, yellow shirt, blue shorts, blue sox. Beginners get TJ flags too.
can purchase a wardrobe of other kit with logos on them e.g. blazer, pink dress shirts, grey match shirts etc.
Herts has a surplus too.
Sponsorhip and a lot of refs with company cars who dont put in for expenses help financial matters.

 

[Phil E]

We were given a new shirt this year, but after the weekend can't get the mud out of it!

Try using a washing machine instead of beating it on a rock down at the river :biggrin: :bday:


Warwickshire subs £15 per year. New refs joining mid season don't pay until the next season.

Our kit model has changed this season due to holding too much stock in previous seasons.

Every ref gets a new shirt each season.
If you completed 20+ games last season you get a free kit bag. 30+ you get a free pair of socks, 40+ you get presented with a trophy at the Society dinner Next season instead of a kit bag you will get a track suit.

Whole wardrobe of kit available with society logo on, but all to order, we are no longer holding kit in stock, this included shirts.

Kit is sponsored by "Webb Ellis", from whom we but it all, which gives us a discount on costs. Not sure what the exact deal is though.

Blazers, blazer badges and dress shirts are available to order and come from Ireland. Depending on exchange rate its about £80 for a blazer with badge, £10 for a badge only.

I think everyone gets a free tie as well, but not 100% sure on that.