Updated on
This ‘Chain Link’ article is going to be a short “Hello” from me to let you all know what has been happening at BDGA HQ and what to look out for in the coming weeks and months as the days start to get longer.
To start off did you see the last Newsletter (found HERE) which covered all the news from the 2023 AGM, one of our best ever :) The main takes from this are the new BDGA Team members (listed below), the 2024 BDGA Tour and the BDGA Full Membership offer.
THE 2024 BDGA TEAM so far…. Please join me in welcoming the new members, promoted members (and old-timers cause I need some love too). Please excuse the broken record message but, the BDGA Team is made up entirely of volunteers like nearly all aspects of disc golf, certainly in the UK anyway, and as such, we are very grateful for your support, understanding, patience and assistance where possible. The last AGM saw some wonderful constructive conversations take place with a lot of passionate and engaging members and we are very keen to nurture these ideas and offers over the coming year so you can expect to be invited along to more discussions at some point. Executive roles: National Director - Iain McDougall (2nd year) Secretary - Liam Pitt (New) Treasurer - Michael Varrow (was previously Membership Secretary) Director of Competitions - Harry Messenger (was previously Assistant Director of Competitions) Director of Communications - Paul Stoddart (too long ;)
Non-Executive roles:
Membership Secretary - Jaimie Cross (New)
Assistant Director of Communications - Andrew Douse (New)
Assistant Director of Competitions - TBC
BDGA Outreach Lead - vacant
BDGA Tour Correspondent - Adam Mackrory
Things of note about above. Firstly, a couple of years ago we launched a succession plan to help our members who wanted to contribute but were not quite sure about what was involved or required and I'm happy to report that we are now seeing the fruit of this with both Michael and Harry taking on Executive roles. Secondly, Jaimie and Andrew have joined us and with that bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in both roles. Thirdly we have added the role of a correspondent which you can read more about below in the Tour section. I'm sure that we will do a more in-depth interview with the Team at various points throughout the year to help you get to know everyone. If you would like to join us in any capacity to help grow the sport and improve the Association then please do get in touch.
THE 2024 BDGA TOUR
Again this was covered in the previous Newsletter (found HERE) or you can view the PDF HERE. The main points of note are that after the success of last year's BDGA AM Tour, it has been agreed that Harry's relationship with MVP Disc Sports, Ace Disc Golf and Launch Disc Golf should be continued this year allowing him to once again bring these amazing sponsors onboard helping take the 2024 BDGA Tour to another level. A recurring request from our Membership is to have more frequent communications about Tour News such as upcoming events, results and standings plus more. To help with this as part of the sponsorship agreement Adam Mackrory has volunteered to be the official BDGA Tour Correspondent and will release dedicated Tour News aimed at keeping everyone engaged. Also for those of you interested Harry has launched a dedicated 2024 Facebook Group which can be found HERE.
THE 2024 BDGA FULL MEMBERSHIP As you might expect this was discussed at length at the AGM with some great ideas offered up. As there is going to be a very large change to the Association, later this year hopefully, it was agreed and voted through to only raise the cost of Full Membership to £15 which is required to cover our costs and potential investments. However, this does not mean that we are going to ‘sit on our laurels’, along with the upcoming launch of the new website with members’ login we are planning and working on what might be our best offer EVER! so watch this space.
As always my short hello has got away from me so I’ll leave it for now. As ever my door is always open to one and all :)
Paul Stoddart Director of Communications | BDGA