Splash News Item...
Posted: 2007-04-10
Most new members to K W Water Polo and many older members as well have little idea of the wide range of activities carried out by the club in order to pay our bills. For that matter many members have little idea of where the revenues we generate get spent. I thought it might be of interest to give everyone a broad view of just what we are doing based on our last year’s financial statement.
Revenues
The Club’s fiscal year end is April 30th and for the last year of operation the Club had total revenues of $235,179.89. For the purposes of the chart below I have taken out the bingo revenues and the training camp revenues because these are in and out entries that have no actual impact on the club’s finances.
Player Registration -- $38,885
This is probably the source of revenue most familiar to club members as we all pay our registration fees in order to be members of the club. This amount also includes the fundraising commitment portion of your fees. We try to set the fees at a level to cover our pool rentals and the fee we send to the Ontario Water Polo Association to be members of the provincial association.
Players Cost Sharing -- $46,867.14
When we participate in tournaments, there are always fees and costs involved. These range from tournament entry fees, hotel accommodations, transportation costs, coach’s meal allowances etc. We feel that the players who participate should cover most of these costs and players cost sharing represents the money that you pay to participate in tournaments.
Bathing Suits etc. -- $7567.50
Most of you are aware of our suit store run by Sue Nagy. We sell bathing suits, t-shirts, goggles and numerous other items. Sue’s mandate is to sell the suits at cost and to mark up all the other items so that we break even each year. The main “cost” that the store incurs is unsold items and hence the necessity to mark up the novelty items.
Grants and Donations -- $15,231.80
We receive funds from a number of different organizations. These include the Cities of Kitchener, and Waterloo, the Lions Club, the Kitchener Sports Association and donations from club members and other private individuals.
The City of Kitchener gives us a much larger grant than the City of Waterloo, however Kitchener charges a much higher user fee for the rental of Cameron Heights pool. The rental at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Centre is heavily discounted so when we work it out the financial support from the two cities is approximately the same.
The Lion’s Club grant is specifically to help the club send teams to National or International tournaments both of which can be extremely costly. Likewise the KSA has given us money for specific tournaments and activities.
Members of our club that help teach City of Kitchener learn to play and league programs are given a small honorarium from the club for this work but we receive a grant from the City to offset this cost.
Fund Raising -- $19,968.77
This is revenue from our numerous activities which include chicken sales, flower sales, barbecues etc. Revenue here is offset by the costs of purchasing the products.
Host Tournament Fees -- $11,215
These are the amount we charge to other clubs who come to the invitational tournaments that we host. Historically these has been the Bantam and Cadet Winter Classic Tournaments. The fees help cover the costs of the extra pool rentals, amounts we pay to the referees, food, licenses etc. The goal of the club when putting on tournaments is to cover all costs and while we are not motivated to make a profit we do try to err on the positive side.
Lottery -- $2,728.80
The club runs a Nevada Lottery through tickets sold at the Millenium Convenience store in Kitchener. Offsetting this revenue is the cost of licensing, and fees charged by the third party marketing company that administers the operation on our behalf.
Bingo Revenue -- $60,555.16
When we operate a bingo we take in all the receipts for the bingo hall for that session. We then pay all the money back to the hall. This money looks large but it is strictly an in and out entry offset by “Bingo Costs” on the expense side.
Bingo Profit Share -- $14,588.40
This is our real earnings from the Bingo operation. All bingo profits from the hall are pooled and split up amongst all the participating clubs based on their level of participation.
Those of you who have participated in bingos know how much work is involved. The club makes a profit of approximately $600 each session. We have decided to return approximately half of this profit to the club participants in the form of credits and the club retains the other half.
This is a great way for club members to cover their $175 fundraising commitment and even make extra credits to help offset the considerable cost of participating in tournaments, training camps and other club activities.
Miscellaneous -- $3,386.80
Every set of books needs a miscellaneous account to put those items that don’t seem to fall into any other category so this represents all those bits of extra funds that don’t fit anywhere else.
Interest -- $405.52
Funds paid to us by the banks on our bank balances. The bulk of this comes from ING Bank on the club’s reserve funds.
Training Camp -- $13,780.00
On behalf of the OWPA we collected funds from players participating in the Ontario Youth program. The funds were paid right back to the OWPA.
So that is the plus side of the ledger. There is a lot of revenue there but as a club we have a huge amount of bills!!
Expenses
As with the revenues above I have taken out the Bingo expenses and the Youth team expenses.
Pool Rental -- $32,602.75
This is one of our largest costs. We rent pool space from the City of Kitchener (Cameron), the City of Waterloo (Rec Centre) and Wilfrid Laurier University. Each institution charges us a different amount. The cheapest is Waterloo and the most expensive is the City of Kitchener. Most of your registration fees go towards covering this bill.
Pool Rental for Tournaments -- $6,028.59
This is extra pool costs for our hosted tournaments and is offset by the host tournament fees. We pay much higher rental rates for these tournaments. Typically the cost of renting the Rec Centre or Laurier for a weekend runs us over $3,000.
Fund Raising Costs -- $13,323.66
Those boxes of chicken and the flowers don’t come for free. Our revenues in this category were $19,968.77 less these costs of $13,323.66 for a profit of $6,645.11. This represents one heck of a lot of work on the part of the fundraising co-ordinators!
Away Team Costs -- $68,520.25
This is what all those tournaments and camps cost us. It would appear that we suffered a huge loss in this category last year however it is a factor of when the year end fell. We were in the middle of putting together the Hawaii tournament and some of the large bills had been paid in April prior to collecting all the fees from parents in May.
Bathing Suits etc. -- $6,871.42
This is what it cost to purchase the bathing suits, t-shirts and other items sold at the “water polo store”.
Miscellaneous -- $4,471.36
This covers all the expenses not recorded elsewhere. Advertising costs in Kitchener and Waterloo Leisure Guides are included here along with costs of the annual Christmas Party and AGM. Also included are the cost of year end awards along with postage, stationary and other sundry items.
OWPA -- $4,384
Every player in the club is registered with the OWPA and this is the cost of those registrations. Being a member of the OWPA allows us to take part in provincial tournaments and also provides the club with liability insurance.
Coach’s Honoraria -- $8,419.60
The club does not pay our coaches a salary but we do thank them with a modest honorarium at the end of each year. We also pay the young men and women an honorarium for helping with the Kitchener learn to play program and the city league teams. Kitchener fully reimburses us for payments associated with those programs
Host Team Costs -- $4,652.50
We host a number of tournaments each year. Over and above the cost of pool rentals there are costs which include paying the referees, providing food etc.
Equipment Purchases -- $1,304.91
Luckily for us water polo does not need a lot of equipment but balls and caps have to be replaced or repaired. We have not needed new nets for several years but when we do they can be expensive.
Coaching Courses -- Nil
If our coaches go on courses to upgrade their skills the club pays their expenses.
Lottery Costs -- $1,768.64
In order to run the lotteries we must purchase a license for each batch of tickets from the city plus pay a fee to the third party firm that administers this for us.
Bingo Costs -- $59,825.30
Please refer to bingo revenue above. We take all the cash in at the session and immediately write cheques to pay it all back to the bingo hall.
Player Subsidies -- $200
As a club we try to promote the sport of water polo. One of the best ways of doing that is to assist our players to improve their skills. The OWPA runs a Bantam age program at Camp Olympia in Huntsville each summer and a Youth training camp in an international water polo centre each summer. These are very expensive programs and the club tries to assist the players by providing a modest subsidy. Last year the bulk of the subsidies were paid out in May after the club’s year end.
Player’s Share of Fundraising -- $7,789.93
Once you have met your $175 fundraising commitment your additional fundraising efforts belong to you. Last year we paid out a substantial amount to families, who could use the funds to help offset the costs of going to tournaments, camps etc.
Service Charges -- $334.15
The bank always wants to get its share. This is the cost of the bank charges.
Training Camp -- $16,050
Last year we collected funds from our players to take part in the Ontario Youth program and then passed the money on to the OWPA. We were simply handling funds on behalf of the OWPA and their was no financial impact on the club.
General Comments
KW Water Polo has always operated as a club and not as a group of teams. As an executive we strive to be fair in our financial policies to benefit all our members while providing our athletes with the very best opportunities to improve their skill and participation in the sport of water polo.
Practice times are established with player’s age and ability in mind. Atom and Bantam players begin with fewer hours of pool practice time run at earlier time slots. Those players showing advanced skill and ability will be given, at the discretion of the coach, the opportunity to practice and play with the Cadet and Youth players. The number of practices available to Cadet and Youth during the week are divided into both co-ed practices as well as those set aside for girls or boys only. These practices give high school aged players some flexibility in their schedules but, like the skilled players at the Bantam level, can also provide more practice times to those wishing to advance their water polo skills.
Opportunity for tournament and league play varies from year to year but is generally higher for Bantam and Atoms. For the Cadet and Youth players, however, there are senior, provincial and even national teams outside the club to compete for.
As a general rule we try to do things as economically as possible so that families do not have to miss events because they become too costly. When we can afford to do so the club tries to subsidize the various activities available in order to reduce the costs as much as possible. This may include providing funds to reduce the cost of out of town tournaments such as the Titan’s Cup in Ottawa or paying direct subsidies to players going to camp Olympia, the Ontario Youth program or participating in out of province National Championships. Some of these expensive programs are subsidized by the fundraising efforts of the club but also in part by grants and subsidies we receive from other organizations such as the Lion’s Club, the Kitchener Sports Association, the City of Kitchener and corporate and private donations.
A great deal of the money for these subsidies comes from our fundraising activities. So far this fiscal year club members have earned $3,347 in credits over and above their compulsory commitments. Breaking that participation down by age group we have the following very interesting results;
It is probably a fair observation to say that as our children become more involved in the opportunities the club has to offer parents become more involved as well. As your child progresses through the levels of the club, from Atom to Bantam to Cadet to Youth you are going to find that opportunities change. Some years your child will have more opportunities than others. It will depend on what opportunities present themselves and how much your child wants to apply herself or himself in order to take advantage of those opportunities.
I think you will find that Water Polo provides advantages that few other sports offer. We have a great club that is far more affordable than most other minor sports.
Compare our costs to diving, the swim club, figure skating, etc. and I think you will find that for the amount of time your child spends in physical activity that this club provides the best value that you are going to find.
This is only possible due to the incredible amount of time and effort put forth by our dedicated and UNPAID coaches and the time and effort put forth by parents and the executive.
Prepared by
Peter Welsman
Treasurer
treasurer@kwwaterpolo.com