Open Letter Regarding USA Curling/GNCC Vote at the USA Curling Member's Assembly
If you are a USA Curler, particularly if you are a board member of a curling club or a regional association in the USA, I need 15 minutes of your time. Please share this message far and wide. Action needs to be taken by October 6th so please don’t delay.
Many of you know me as a fervent fan of curling. Formerly the co-owner of TESN and currently the President of the Rochester Curling Club in Rochester, New York, these opinions are my own, and my opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Rochester Curling Club board or membership. I am NOT a board member of either the GNCC or USA Curling. But I'm invested in the result of the member’s assembly vote that would ratify a decision made by USA’s Curling’s board to remove the GNCC as a member of USA Curling, and I believe you as a leader of a club in the US, should be invested also.
USA Curling looks to the letter of the law as justification for the GNCC's removal. They look to previous revisions to bylaws and try to point the finger at GNCC leadership for removal.
The truth is that bylaws, policies, and procedures, when shown to be ineffective, outdated, or wrong can be changed. Bylaws have been changed before and will be again. But the USA Curling Board chose not to resolve this issue at a negotiating table, even after:
1) The GNCC provided them with alternatives (see Solutions section of this email)
2) An attempt at bringing in an independent mediator was made but was rejected.
1) The GNCC provided them with alternatives (see Solutions section of this email)
2) An attempt at bringing in an independent mediator was made but was rejected.
Instead, by following through on a heavy-handed approach the USA Curling Board is showing both a lack of long-term thinking and a lack of understanding of their role within the organization.
Let me make my point 100% clear…. USA Curling should be working for their members, NOT the other way around.
And that is at the heart of the problem.
What USA Curling's board looks to as reasons for the GNCC's removal are their policies/bylaws which state that regions are obligated to enforce USA Curling membership for clubs that are not interested in what USA Curling offers (don’t want to join USA Curling, but see value in joining a regional association). That by not removing the clubs USA Curling sees as delinquent (even if they have resigned from USA Curling altogether) from their regional roster, they are not being compliant with USA Curling bylaws and policies. USA Curling sees this as an “obligation” of regional associations.
The GNCC believes GNCC member clubs should be able to join any organization they like and not affect their GNCC membership. The GNCC sees a club's decision to join USA Curling as their own, based on their own club’s needs and wants, including their independent financial situation. And the GNCC feels they should not have to enforce or sell USA Curling’s membership proposition.
USA Curling’s membership proposition has been a hard sell.
I have used this phrase when describing issues with USA Curling's membership model, "When is being a member not really a membership?"
1) WHEN YOU CAN BE STRIPPED OF MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS THROUGH NO FAULT OF YOUR OWN.
In preparation for the USA Curling member’s assembly, club presidents were recently sent a list of clubs/regions invited to the assembly and the number of votes each club/region will receive at the assembly. Clubs in good standing should be able to vote according to the number of individuals on their roster. But rules state that unless dues are paid by January 31st, that club gets no votes in a meeting happening more than nine months later. That leaves clubs who paid their dues late without a say at the member's assembly.
So, as an individual, you pay your USA Curling dues to your club and because a volunteer on your club's board may not pay the club’s dues by an artificial deadline, you don't get representation at the member’s assembly, even when the dues are paid months before the assembly.
2) WHEN YOUR ABILITY TO ENJOY FULL MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS CAN BE IMPACTED BY SOMEONE ELSE'S DECISIONS.
Did you know that you can be an individual member of USA Curling, but unless you are also a member of a club in good standing, you cannot enjoy the full benefits of membership? Individual members who are not part of clubs that are also USA Curling members cannot participate in many USA Curling championship events or playdowns.
So, USA Curling will take your individual membership money, but not allow you to enjoy the same benefits as a member who pays the same amount of membership dues, because your club’s board doesn’t see the value of a USA Curling membership.
3) WHEN THE ORGANIZATION SEES MEMBERS AS WORKING FOR THEM AND NOT WORKING FOR YOU
The idea that USA Curling sees region members as arms of their organization, whose role is to ensure USA Curling is paid their membership dues from local curling clubs, without adequate support and information to do it is an arrogant thought process. Why is it a region's duty to do this when they aren't collecting or have the resources to collect revenue from the clubs themselves? It is inserting a middleman into a relationship that when working correctly, doesn’t need one. But it is done for a simple reason... follow the money.
USA Curling makes it impossible for individuals to be real members without belonging to a club because the sole UNIQUE benefit of being a member is participating in USA Curling championship events. Everything else (training, background checks, videos, newsletter) could be either received by non-members or gotten through another means.
That sole unique value is meaningless to the vast majority of curlers who participate in a league a week or curl on arena ice intermittently. But those curlers who want to participate in USA Curling events (like myself mind you) effectively force the rest of their club's membership to join USA Curling. It is unfair and supports a system that caters to those athletes and not to the general membership, the ones paying the majority of dues.
If USA Curling allowed for a true individual model, the fear is that the small percentage of athletes that compete in USA Curling sanctioned events would be able to, and clubs who may not need the rest of what USA Curling offers, would leave. If 80% of curlers (my estimate) don’t play in these events and don’t see the value of paying dues for other “benefits”, USA Curling clearly would have significantly less revenue.
I understand that argument. I've heard USA Curling in defense of the Board’s decision say something to the effect of, "What would happen if we didn't enforce this rule and not kick out the GNCC? Clubs would leave USA Curling in droves if there was no consequence." But that’s a false question, that doesn’t get to the heart of their problem (the unique value-add of a USA Curling membership beyond event registration). What USA Curling should be asking is, "Why are curling clubs leaving USA Curling in the first place?"
But to answer that question means taking responsibility for the faults of the organization, something this administration has taken some steps in doing, but in my opinion, still needs to take significantly more steps to address. The email I referenced with the vote totals for the member's assembly meeting showed a loss of over 7,600 real votes from 2020 to 2022 (Facebook post where I summarized this chart). A real vote represents an individual curler registered with a club and USA Curling.
There is a phrase in business, "The customer is always right." If that's true, customers (curling clubs) leaving in droves should tell you something. You aren't providing what the customer wants for the price you are charging.
USA Curling has made it clear that it cares less about providing value for members than it does about collecting membership dues. But you can change that. WE ARE, at the end of the day (at least those of us with votes) USA Curling.
That's why I am asking for you to vote against the removal of the GNCC. It would send a message that something in the membership model needs to change. And then we can get to work together to make it happen.
I know that the Orlando Curling Club has put in a set of bylaws changes that would support a different model, and that's worth looking at. I prefer a model more like USA Fencing, but what Orlando has done is thought about what they believe is in the best interest of curlers and that's what we should hope our National Governing Body will do as well.
If you are a region representative, I ask that you please make your intentions clear to your member clubs through emails or social media (time is of the essence). Give clubs in your region the opportunity to know where you stand.
If you are a club president, I ask that you make your intentions to vote independently from your region clear to USA Curling by October 6th, or else your vote will revert to whatever your region decides. And remember you still have to attend the meeting virtually on October 21st.
Regardless of your view on this issue and how your club decides to vote, thank you for all you do for curling. If you need further clarity on the situation, please refer to the GNCC FAQ, which outlines what is known to date about the issue, reach out to a GNCC representative, or myself. I’m happy to answer from my perspective any questions you may have.
Joe Calabrese
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