20/06/2009 - An Amended Way Forward - Tony Winterton

As treasurer to the National committee and the member responsible for liaison with the FEB it may seem odd that I am the author of THE WAY FORWARD. I will explain this  in due course but first let me deal with Ken Tebbenham’s excellent research on the laws of sport. As he points out the regulating of sport under the law is devolved to the regional governments, in the case of Alicante, the “Generalitat” and in Almeria and Malaga, the “Junta de Andalucia.

The Costa Blanca Bowls Association has been operating in Alicante for nearly 15 years without let or hindrance and whereas the law in Andalucia allows for sporting Associations the law in Valencia does not so that the CBBA has been registered as Club. Hence the assumptions I was working on when developing the Way Forward are not valid. 

There is a possible way forward using the CBBA as a club but we must bear in mind that FBCV, (Fed. de Bolos de la Comunidad Valenciana).

is required to “police” the law. As an example no tournament, championship, league, etc. involving two or more clubs can be carried on without their SPECIFIC CONSENT... Obviously we have obtained this consent for the National Championship and other Federated events but why have there been no repercussions for the many other events?

I can suggest a few reasons:

1. There is no specific penalty for a breach of the law. Obviously it did not occur to the legislators. That some organisers would be prepared to for go the funding.
2. The FBCV’ main activity is ten pin and they have adopted an attitude of  “we don’t know this game that you have brought to Spain, so get on with it”.
3. They are happy with the status quo as they benefit from that part of the licence fee they retain in contrast to the FEB whose funding now approximates 150% of their share.
4. There may also be a slight concern that we already outnumber the other disciplines which have been the mainstay of the federation. This would explain their reaction to my suggestion that introducing the Corporate fee in Valencia would substantially increase numbers, the reply being “who wants more members”.

Now to deal with the reason why I promoted THE WAY FORWARD. Put very simply it is because I detect little enthusiasm to engage with the Federations to enable us take advantage of what the Central and Regional Governments offer in support of sport generally. I realise that language is a problem for many but amongst nearly 3,000 lawn bowlers there must be quite a few with a smattering of Spanish, enough to attend an AGM , agree the accounts for the past year and the budget for the following.

If we are not proceeding with THE WAY FORWARD let us review the bodies that we deal with.

WORLD BOWLS – We are an important component as with 2,747 bowlers registered for 2009. We rank as the 10th. largest group in the world. World Bowls requires us to belong to a recognised National Authority, which is the:-

1. FEB (Federación Española de Bolos) - it is important that we note the differences with what we understand as a ports Association. Such as Bowls England.

a)      It is a quasi government body used to regulate and promote a number of sports loosely associated by a bowl.

b)      Players are not required to federate.

c)      It has no authority over the regional federations (see below).

d)      Its remit is International and Inter-regional events although it requires the regional federation to run these on its behalf. (see below).

e)      Its funding is roughly 20% from licences, 50% from the National Sports Council and 30% from other government bodies. (Full details are available at FEB BUDGET 2009 on the federation page).

Over the last five years we have built up a good relationship with the FEB and as a result of the increase in federated members we now hold four out of 49 seats in the Permanent Assembly that oversees the Federation’s activities.

Of more interest is  that having received  an income of 13,000 Euros for licences in 2009 from Lawn bowlers, the FEB has budgeted to support Inter regional events with 5,000 Euros and the National Sports Council is providing 17,000 Euros for International activities. This will increase as we expand our activities to receive visits from other national teams and start tapping into the funds for training Umpires, coaches, Instructors, etc. 

2. FAB (Federación Andaluza de Bolos) and  FBCV (Fed. de Bolos de la Comunidad Valenciana).

In both areas we have not developed our relationship to the extent that we have with the FEB. A few federated events are supported financially but the main stumbling block is the lack of this activity as most championships, tournaments and leagues are run by other committees. Serious consideration should be given to bringing some of these within the ambit of the Federations in order benefit from our “in house” sponsors and perhaps reduce entry fees to the events in question..

To progress and take advantage of what could be available it is essential that each region prepares a programme and a budget in due time to enable the Federation’s to include this in their budget for the Regional Government. This then has to be followed up after each event has taken place by submitting proper invoices as the Federation will have to justify the use of the money. The procedure is quite simple, we are talking about a budget on one sheet of paper and the Federation officials will help all they can.

Perhaps more important is engaging with the Federation officers and attending the AGM where the budgets for the following year are approved. It is important for at least once a year to “show your face” en mass even if you do not speak Spanish for out of sight is out of mind.  In order to secure attendance travelling expenses are always paid by the Federation. It is also the law that you should receive 15 days notice of any meeting. Failure to do so leaves any resolutions taken at that meeting open to challenge and annulment.

We have just done this successfully in Andalucia when the presidential elections were held earlier this year. Twelve lawn bowlers from Almeria and Malaga travelled to Cadiz for the AGM There were more of us than them and although the Candidate was unopposed we cast our votes, showed our faces and a by product is that we now hold the 1^st. Vice-Presidency and can therefore have a much greater input to future programmes. So lawn bowlers in Alicante, go for it.

Tony Winterton.