Please work with me

The PDGA Board recently amended the Bylaws to remove the right of the membership to elect all of the Board members, and instead allowing it (the Board) to appoint some of its own members.

I need volunteers who would be willing to circulate petitions among local PDGA members. The petition requests that the membership be allowed to vote on the amendment.

The membership should be consulted because:
1) The administration made no effective case that the amendment is necessary, and there are very good reasons to believe that it is ill-founded. You can review this discussion on the "Picking and Packing the Board" thread on the "Other PDGA Topics" Forum of the PDGA Discussion Board.
2) The Board should not remove such important and fundamental membership rights without the full "advice and consent" of the membership.
3) The Board acted with deliberate haste and stealth in forcing the amendment. It was all over in five days, and few PDGA members were even aware that it was being done.
4) If the Board can get away with this, they could easily remove other important membership rights. Next year, for example, they could vote to appoint all Board members.

At this point a petition is our only recourse. We need about 2000 signatures. If I could get about 100 volunteers from different parts of the country, each one would need only 20-30 signatures. If you would be willing to do this, please contact me ([e-mail]).

Thanks,
Peter

[david k. reisner]

sounds like another case of the tail wagging the dog !

[Fred Vegas]

Your only recourse is to resign your membership.

 

I never joined because it seemed pointless. I was never going to play as a pro or play enough Am tourneys to amass any points. So it was a waste of money to me. Now if you want to play as an AM in most tourneys there is a penalty fee for all non PDGA members so I won't be playing in any tournaments.

 

When ever a controlling interest takes over any enterprise and limits the membership on how the group is run it usually means that there is some major changes that some want to make and need to stack the controlling interests in their favor.

It seems that the PDGA is going to make some changes that a lot of members are not going to like....

 

[Larry Mann I am]

You can play tournaments still, even without the pdga. We are so far away from any influence the pdga has we would be idiots to join. I ran for regional coordinator yrs. ago and got beat by someone who wasn't a pro and didn't tell me he wanted the job. He ran a stealth campaign in Kansas with his club voting for him. No one in austin bothered to vote cause I was the only one on the ballot. I talked to the election board member and nothing could be done. This happened in the early 90's. Thats the last I ever had to do with the pdga. They don't want a sensible tour anyway. So, make sure you don't act like a skateboarder when you play the "tour" we know they never get on TV. Seriously, hold your own tournaments, thats how we got started yrs ago.

[James Burton]

I say play Southern National events. All the money that is collected in fees goes to the championships at the end of each season. Now that's giving back to the players.

[Chuck Kennedy]

Of course, this "selfish" player-centric view means no compensation for the organizers, stats people, webmasters, course preparers, sponsorship acquirers and TDs of the events who actually do all the work...

[James Burton]

I hope you are not referring to what I posted Chuck cause I have ran many of these SN events,designed and installed courses, prepared them for tournaments, aquired sponsorships for tournaments and courses, and whatever else i could do to help all for the love of the game. If you are looking to get paid for running events and such I would suggest not running them.

[Chuck Kennedy]

That's a point of view that's holding back the sport. You want better courses and professionally run events, then those people who do it regularly and do it well should get compensated. Players have been taking advantage of those volunteering for years even knowing that those who volunteer mostly do it willingly. I have around 8000 hours of volunteer work in the sport since 1989 so I've done more than most. But I also now get paid for several activities, too.

When the sport started, most players volunteered sort of like everyone in the community volunteering for barn raising when each neighbor needed the help. It's not that way any more and hasn't been that way for a while now. Only a few do the volunteering while everyone else benefits from that effort. It's not like everyone is taking turns running the event each year or doing the brush clearing on a new course. 

Think of any other organized sport run by your Parks Depts. Those people get paid. (Yes, the parents still volunteer as coaches.) Wonder why Parks Depts don't run disc golf leagues and events and disc golf gets less respect and budget support from Park & Rec than other sports? Our current financial model doesn't provide support for compensation for those who do the work. If you keep giving everything you do away free, that's what value society will place on the sport. Not much.

[Chuck Kennedy]

It's not an all or none decision to volunteer for everything or get paid for everything you do. It's case by case. We seem to have no problem paying the disc manufacturers for their products and the target manufacturers for baskets. But they also donate a fair amount where people can't afford it or for a good cause. Why is your time any less valuable for professional tasks that require experience such as running events or designing courses? There are still tasks where volunteering might still be needed because the community can't afford it (clearing brush, installing baskets) or it wouldn't get done so you don't need your hand out to get paid for everything.

[Justin]

Chuck, for the love of Darwin, stop being so reasonable.

[Peter Shive]

Chuck has argued that we are well served by the Board's decision to partially disenfranchise us without consultation because we voted for the Bylaws that allowed them to do it.  By his logic we'd be well served by anything the Board did.  They could vote to appoint all Board members and pay themselves fat salaries and Chuck would still be saying, "Why should you object?  You gave them the power. Where's the downside?"

 

 

[Chuck Kennedy]

Yes and what's the problem in that? Most Boards have the power to do these dastardly things and yet they mostly stay in line. Again, fear of the future versus expanding possibilities...

[Larry Mann I am]

These expanding possibilities have been talked about for a long time with no results. I've got Disc Golf World News articles that sound just like your hollow promises from the early 90's.The pdga leadership has always been dominated by a small group of "no national tour" specialists. If disc golf pros had more brains they would start their own tour without the corp. pdga. Just like the way people think of the corp. usa. If you think it is a legit gov. you're screwed.