board member responsibility

[mary]

Has anyone ever served on their club's board and what were/are your responsibilities? I've never served on a board of anything before and wonder if I can handle it. Any advice?

[Mrs Redboots]

Attend meetings whenever they are held - if you find that they are always held when you can't go, then resign, as it's not fair on the others. If you hate politics and rows, resign anyway.

(No prizes for guessing who is heartily sick of club politics!!!).

Seriously, though, at the moment your main responsibility is to attend the meetings and learn how things are done. As time goes on, you may be able to volunteer for jobs you will find easy and enjoyable, or you may be able to make suggestions for improving things (but be prepared for everyone, but everyone, to jump down your throat if you do!), but to start with, watch, listen and learn.

[brown]

Volunteering is essential to most sports. I highly recommend it.

For some great resources, our section (Western Ontario) has good information located at:

http://www.skating-wos.on.ca/member/memnov02.htm

You can read all of the monthly updates.

[Moto Guzzi]

Excellent advice about attending all meetings. Several years ago, a person who was elected to our club's board rarely came to meetings because she was "too busy" which made everybody wonder why she had bothered to run for the board in the first place. When she did come to the meetings, she spent most of her time complaining about former board members, other parents, and adult skaters and did little to help with the running of the club. She finally resigned, to everyone's relief. One of the officers said she was the most useless board member they'd ever had.

Our club has various committees (i.e., membership, awards, newsletter, ice monitors, etc.), and board members will head up each one with any volunteers that are interested in helping. I agree that volunteering is essential, and it can be very rewarding. Not all club members are willing to help out, but the ones that do are worth their weight in gold! If you become an officer, you will have more responsibilities but the other board members will be there to help you.

Keep an open mind and don't be too quick to jump in with criticisms about how things are done. There may very well be a good reason for why things are the way they are. Be prepared to be accosted by a few complaining parents. A good way to handle them is always to be polite and to ask if they would be interested in volunteering to head up a committee to resolve whatever it is they are "concerned" about. They will usually tell you they are too busy.

Most of the people you will meet will be very nice, and you'll have an opportunity to make new friends.

[plinko]

I joined the board because, well, something was broken and it was affecting my child and I wanted to fix it. I did. I created a new position to fix the problem and chaired the committee.

All I can say that if you join a board, treat it as a JOB. Get a job description, an idea of how many hours might be involved, who you will report to, or report to you, and whether you have a budget.

Otherwise, you will end up doing what many new volunteers do, and that is to try to do everything and become disillusioned quickly.

The politics are the same as any big business. There are always people who are nasty just because that's they way they are, who don't do their job, and, particular to volunteerism, figure that if they didn't get something done, no one will notice, because they're just "helping out".

I don't want to scare you off, but don't just blindly sign up for something, find out ahead of time what the committments are and consider your time and energy. It's just as helpful to be Test Assistant as it is to be Test Chair.

[GoldieMedal]

Well if any parent of a skater wants things to be fair for all steams and skating programs, then get on a club or area executive. Sometimes if it is the same people all the time, things get to stagent and one sided and some cases only the skaters of the board get all the extras.

I enjoy volunteering and we are creating a TEAM ATTITUDE with the clubs in our area.Fairness rules for all levels and so far so good.If all the excutives and board members did things by the rules and for fair play, then there will be no bickering anytime, it is only when a member/s wants it all for their child skater that bickering happens.

So go for a club or board position with a postive attitude and you will have a great experience.

[mary]

Thanks everyone for some helpful advice, and thank you "Brown" for the useful website reference.:D

[Figureskates]

Volunteering is essential to the success of any club, plus it really is a lot of fun.

My club hosts a lot of big events and I have had the opportunity to volunteer at many of them. I was at registration for the 2002 national Synchro, the Junior Nationals last December and the free skate competition last month. And I have signed up for the eastern sectionals this November and the Adult Nationals next April. Besides being fun, it is also satisfying to hear the compliments we get from the both the skaters and coaches. They all recognize the work that is done by the volunteers to make such large competitions run smoothly.

[BittyBug]

First, should you decide to proceed, don't expect anything in return for your efforts other than your own personal satisfaction. No matter what you do, someone is going to be unhappy about it. However, serving on your club's board is a wonderful opportunity to contribute to your club, learn about all of the effort required to operate a club, and get to know your fellow club members better. And given that most clubs are volunteer organizations, someone has to serve on the board, so if you have the interest and the time, why not?

Should you find yourself on your club's board, you should be aware that you have certain fiduciary obligations as a board member -you need to be make sure that you are familiar with all of your club's rules, and that you always act in the best interests of the club overall (as opposed to your own personal agenda, should you have one). The USFSA has some excellent resources on club governance, including their Club Leadership and Business Management class - you should ask your club to sponsor your attendance.

There is also an organization called BoardSource that you may have seen referenced in Skating Magazine. You may be able to obtain some materials from the USFSA, but you can also check their website which is www.boardsource.org.

Finally, with your fiduciary obligations comes liability, so you should find out how much liability insurance is provided for you by your club and also consider obtaining an umbrella policy under your homeowners to increase your coverage.

My personal experience serving on my club's board was very positive overall, and I wish you the same.