For those of you who wanted a more detailed explanation of this year's changes – basically the league fee and being sponsored by Community Initiatives – here you go.
As I mentioned in the email blast, the fee has gone up this year from $80 to $95. I am SO sorry, but it had to happen. The fee has been about the same for a long time now, and I purposefully avoided raising it. Let me explain why it's happening now.
1. The biggest reason is the new S.F. Rec & Park rules governing who pays the "non-profit rate" for fields in the City. In the past, they let us pay that amount because, well, we are a non-prof. Then suddenly last year, they instituted an arbitrary new rule requiring non-prof leagues have 90% of their participants LIVE (not work mind you, but actually live) in San Francisco. It's actually been a huge sore point with many club leagues that simply cannot meet that number. There is no way the SF Winter League can at all – nor should we try. As such, Park & Rec requires us to pay the normal rate, which is 2 1/2 times the non-profit rate. The end result has been to drop Wednesday Night Pickup and to raise the league fee. It hurts to do so, but I just don't know any other way.
However, I will say this: We will make a concerted effort to pursue corporate sponsorships of the league in an effort to help reduce the league fee. It's been hard, nay impossible, to find any in this economy, but that won't stop us in the future. In fact, if any of you are able to help with that, please let me know!
Also, being on the turf at Crocker virtually eliminates rainouts, which as many of you know came in droves at times at Jackson Field. Our season is typically 17 weeks long, and if you break it down, $6/week isn't too bad.
Still, I'm really, REALLY sorry about the fee increase, and thank you so much for being so understanding about it. I really appreciate it! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me.
2. The second, but lesser, reason is the new format that we are trying. As you all know, in the past we reserved one pitch and had two fields. We played an early and a late game. This year, in an effort to bring back a bigger sense of community, we are renting two pitches and setting up four fields. Everyone will be playing at the same time, and games will be to 15! Any time left over before 10PM will be used for pickup. Once games are done, however, everyone can go out and eat and drink and hang out TOGETHER. I floated this idea around to a lot of people, and it’s gotten universally rave reviews.
Of course, there is a slight cost increase for the second pitch, but we felt the benefits of eliminating the late game, lengthening play time, and having everyone out together ultimately outweighed the negative. Again, feel free to let me know what you think.
As part of Bay Area Disc Association, the SF Winter League operates under the non-profit sponsorship of Community Initiatives! As such, our insurance is from them – NOT the UPA – and we don’t have to worry about UPA payments for the next calendar year anymore! Yes, we still have waivers for you to sign – that will be part of the registration process – but a lot of the stress of all that UPA stuff is no longer.
Specifics. Before, anyone who just wanted to play and not become a full-time UPA member still had to pay a "One-Time Event Fee" of $10 along with the league fee. Not anymore! Now it’s just the league fee. The rest of you are probably UPA members and will need to pay your dues for the new calendar year. But that is now between you and the UPA, and the league doesn’t have to act as a go-between. I don't know about you, but personally I am thrilled about that.
(For more information about our fiscal sponsorship arrangement with Community Initiatives, and how it affects our waiver processing, please see the Revised Liability Waiver General FAQ. You will be provided detailed instructions for submitting your waivers to us after the Winter League draft.)
Well, there you go. I hope this "Director’s Cut" of an explanation gives you a little more insight into the league fee and the new fiscal sponsorship. As far as the increase, I would like to apologize one final time. Again, thank you for your all your support and understanding!
Take care and we’ll see you out on the fields!
- H.