PRESIDENTS MEMO
Dear Members,
I am writing to provide clarity around a complaint that was lodged with the Equal Opportunity Division of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) in October 2023 by the parent of a cadet member under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW) against Coffs Harbour Golf Club. Ref: c-2023-0735 and the subsequent events.
By-law 3.1.5
Cadets, Head Teaching Professional may make application to the Board, for additional playing rights regarding Cadet players who have a GA of 25 or less, and in the opinion of the Head Professional, a high level of skill. Those playing rights would be restricted to structured Junior/Cadets 9-hole events and weekly competitions as follows:
Boys – Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
Girls – Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday
Cadet members can place their names on the time sheet through the Pro Shop, Office or through the Club Captains, and must be accompanied by at least one adult member being responsible for the cadets in the group.
These provisions include visiting cadets.
All decisions are to be determined by the Board and reviewed on an annual basis.
Cadets in general had no rights within their membership category to play in members competitions, so the Board, through recommendations of the Junior Committee, decided to introduce By-law 3.1.5 which would formally provide a pathway for talented Cadets, and the By-Law was developed to accomplish that goal. The Board has historically had the discretion to elevate the playing rights of talented Cadet golfers on an individual basis, which many of our current members have had that privilege over the years. Prior to the rescinding of the By-Law there were some Cadets playing in competitions with Board permission.
The perception by the Board and the Junior Committee was that it would not only benefit talented Cadets, but it would give all cadets a goal to strive for. However, the complaint that was lodged with the Equal Opportunity Division of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) around the introduction of By-law 3.1.5 questioned whether it breached the Anti-Discrimination Act in regard to discriminating against Cadets that didn’t meet the criteria of the By-Law. This concerned the Board in regard to its exposure to the provisions of the Anti-Discrimination Act so the Board decided, based on legal advice to revoke the By-law and return the rights of Cadets to those that existed previously, and had existed since the inception of the Club, a position which was ratified by Senior Legal Counsel during the NCAT hearing process.
The playing rights for Cadets which had returned to those prior to the introduction of By-law 3.1.5 were then conveyed to all members to ensure clarity via an email Friday 3rd of May 2024, what the email lacked was the background on the history of the complaint and why the email was provided.
The Board did not create or change any other rule in regard to Cadets or Juniors, which it has been falsely accused of.
There has been a lot of misinformation received by some members on social media about the email that was sent out on Friday regarding junior and cadet playing rights and the Board would like to provide some clarification in relation to some of those statements.
Some of the allegations are simply not true and have only been stated to incite support for a misconception of expected rights pertaining to Cadets playing in member competitions.
Exerts of a few of the allegations:
“The Club have now banned all kids from playing any competition at all (no matter their handicap).”
“This Board has decided they no longer want kids playing.”
“They (the Board) made the choice to ban kids for no reason”
These statements are simply not true, they are sensational statements without any basis of truth.
Cadets have lost only the additional playing opportunities provided to them within what was By-law 3.1.5.
To be clear the Club’s constitution defines membership categories, the Bylaws define the playing rights of those categories.
Membership Categories and playing rights:
Cadet Members
A Cadet member is a member who is up to the age of 14 years. Cadets can play any time on the course outside full playing members competitions and play in the Junior Competitions held by the Professional Staff, which start on Sunday the 8th of June. There has been a gap in this offering due to lack of volunteer support, and time to modernize the structure in accordance with US Kids golf. Current Annual Fee $105.00
Junior Members
Junior members are 15 -17 years and have full competition playing rights in accordance with the Clubs By-laws.
3.1.4 Junior Members may place their names on the time sheet when released. In a group of two, three or four players, one of the group must be an adult member. In the absence of an adult member, Junior members may play together at the discretion of the Captain and or Match Committee. Junior members are eligible for all “Honour Board events”.
3.1.4.1 The Club President, Captain, General Manager or Pro Shop may allot a time slot to any Junior, outside of the parameters of the above conditions
Current Annual Fee $335.00
Full Playing Members
3.1.2 Full Members are eligible to play all member and mixed competitions, subject to the relevant Match By-laws.
Current Annual Fee $1300.00
NCAT Hearing Process
The Club engaged in the mediation process through NCAT trying to protect the opportunity of talented cadets to progress into member playing competitions by retaining By-law 3.1.5, and the Board accepts that it should have better communicated to members at that time. The Club has not introduced any new laws or rules other than to rescind By-law 3.1.5 which was subject to the NCAT Tribunal process.
The Board is committed to fostering golfing programs for young people. The Club currently has up to 70 Cadet aged participants in programs within the Club, as well as the reintroduction of the Sub-Junior program. There is a lot to be positive about regarding the future generation of golfers.
I would like to point out that the Board and Committees are made up of dedicated members who are all volunteers.
The Board’s role is to administer the rules and regulations of the Club, not to make wholesale changes to its structure, which has been purported by some members and non-members regarding this issue.
The Board is the conduit to administer the Constitution and Rules and Regulations of the Club on behalf of all members, and it is the members that determine the direction of change. The process for this is clearly set out in the Constitution, and I would advise anyone that wishes to consider proposing change to ensure that they are familiar with these requirements.
We are all part of Coffs Harbour Golf Club with a long history of member support including Junior and Cadets members and will continue to support all membership categories into the future.
Mark Dodd
Club President