14 Jan '16: T&E Update

 
Membership Fees - WPTA AGM - Office Times

NEWS:

ATC Membership Fees
You may have noticed that we have not yet implemented our membership fees increase, which was approved at the AGM held in April 2015.  New Membership fees normally come into effect on the 1st of January of each year.  This year, instead of an increase in membership fees, we would like to introduce ATC Assist, an initiative that will give members the choice to either:
 
·         Help out with club activities on two occasions during the year.
·         Pay a “volunteer’s levy”, which will enable the club to hire casual workers for some of the activities members normally provide on a voluntary basis.
 
We first employed this concept a couple of years ago when WP Athletics offered clubs financial reward for hosting a water table at the Cape Town Marathon.  Since then we have established a base of unemployed, or partially employed, casual workers who get paid to help out with club activities whilst gaining experience with marshalling as well as other non-sport related tasks.  The past year, in particular, we spent a substantial amount on casual labour with the container renovation project, at our Sunset Team Time Trial events and providing marshals for the WTS Cape Town event.
 
We certainly don’t want to discourage voluntary help from our members as the club simply cannot function without this myriad of skills and services provided voluntarily.  However, we understand that our members do this sport(s) for recreation and everyone’s time is limited.  We also live in a country with a high rate of unemployment and millions of people desperate to earn a living and develop skills that they can sell elsewhere.  Whilst we cannot employ a million, our activities now warrant regular casual labour throughout the year.  With the proposed fee we will be able to grow this base and establish a pool of resources that perhaps other clubs can use a well.
 
With our two track sessions and canal swim happening every week and bi-annual Sunset Team Time Trial, there are certainly enough opportunities for members to volunteer assistance on two occasions per year.  So the fee will only be compulsory for members who cannot or prefer not to assist otherwise.  The levy will be set once approved at the AGM, to be held in February or March this year.  The levy will not apply to Scholar or Student memberships. 
 
ATC Office
A reminder that the ATC Office and shop will be open before and after all the Tuesday (05:30 – 07:30) and Wednesday (17:00 – 20:00) Track Sessions for gear and license collection.  You can also request that we bring your gear to the Canal Swim on a Friday mornings.  During January, the ATC Office will remain open later after the Wednesday evening track session for members to collect licenses and purchase gear.
 
Fund Raiser – ATC Development Transport
Since the fund-raiser, held at our pub run in December, to assist Coach Barry Goliath with repairs to his vehicle, more members have donated funds and we are grateful for this.  In particular, we would like to mention the Amex Blue Rider Team, who donated the balance of their Double Century funds and Howard Markham, who donated very generously.
 
WP Triathlon AGM
The Western Province Triathlon Association (WPTA) Annual General Meeting will take place on this coming Tuesday, 19 January 2016, at the Green Point Cricket Club.  The meeting will start at 19:00.  Please make every effort to attend as a new interim Western Cape committee will be voted in at the meeting.  By now, licensed members would have received the Agenda and Nomination form from WPTA.  If not, you can view or download this from our EVENTS and NEWS Pages.   
 
TSA Licenses for Ironman 70.3 EL
Please note that we will submit the last batch of TSA License applications to WP Triathlon tomorrow morning.  If your application and payment does not reach us by the end of today, the license will not be processed in time for 70.3 East London next week.  We will publish a list of all ATC members who have applied for TSA Licenses on our NEWS Page tomorrow, along with the status of each application.

 

RESULTS:

The Spur Cape Summer Trail Series started last night (Wednesday) with the first event held in the Tygerberg Nature Reserve.  The ATC Running team started the Short Course Series well with a 3rd in the Senior category for Dawood Goeiman, a 2nd and 3rd in the Junior category for Daniel Arendse and Bruzano Britz and a third for veteran Barry Goliath.
 
 

TRAINING THIS WEEK:  Details here...

SWIM:  The Canal Swim will be on Friday morning at 06:00.  Please note that there will be NO swim NEXT Friday, 22 January, as we will be in East London for the Half Ironman.
 
BIKE:  We will do an easy ride on Saturday morning at 06:00 from the Point Virgin Active.  We will ride to Black Hill and back (about three hours).
 
RUN:  Our track sessions will take place on Tuesday mornings at 06:00 and Wednesday evenings at 18:00.  The ATC office will also be open before and after the sessions.

 

EVENTS:  Details here...

This weekend there are a couple of trail runs, staring with the Extreme Lights Night Run on the Uitkyk Wine Estate on Friday.  On Saturday there is the Run the Vines on the Druk My Niet Wine Estate and on Sunday the Resolution Trail Run on the Delvera Farm.  The second event in the Spur Cape Summer Trail Series is on Sunday in the Lebanon Forest, Elgin Valley.
 
The Hohenort 15 K Road Run takes place on Saturday in Constantia.
 
The Attekwas Extreme Mountain Bike race takes place on Saturday in Oudtshoorn.  On Sunday is the PPA Olympic Cycles Journey for Site and Service Fun Ride in Fish Hoek.
 
The third WP Aquatics Open Water Challenge takes place in the Eikenhof Dam in Grabouw on Sunday.
 

FUTURE EVENTS:

Bat Run
Entries for the Bat Run, a night run to Devil’s Peak, Maclear’s Beacon and Lions Head, open on Tuesday 19 January. The field is limited and entries will sell out quickly.

Two Oceans

Substitutions for the Two Oceans runs have opened and will close on 23 February.  Organisers have warned that runners have been scammed by people offering non-exiting entries up for substitution.  You are advised to make sure the entry you are purchasing is real before paying the seller.

 
Enjoy the Weekend!
ATC