Letter from the Treasurer:

Canadian Minor Football is easily the most expensive and complex sport to run financially. $685 Rep and $400 House registrations sound like a lot, but the fact is that most new clubs run into the red consistently in their first couple of years - with dramatic consequences to parents.

 

Before opening our doors, the OMFA board went to great lengths to ensure that we didn't get into financial straights by building a 25-page five-year business plan and a sophisticated decision support tool that proves to us that we can afford to run each season before we announce it. Oakville Minor has a registration break-even at around 130 kids. We were fortunate to field 150 kids in our first year - and our registrations ran 100% higher in our second year - until 280 kids played in spring and fall programs. Higher bussing, field and equipment finance costs brought the break even numbers up quite a bit this year - and we didn't capitalize on sponsorship as we might have.

 

In all, we came away from 2010 with the $5k that we needed to advertise for 2011 – and then have a good operating base of funds for our third year.

There are several important confirmations that every parent should be able to get from their minor football club to ensure that their season will run as expected -

Hidden Costs - OMFA doesn't charge hidden costs - others definitely do - plus add-in surprise "field improvement costs" and so on. Whether for insurance, travel days, equipment, or other costs - some clubs hide costs that total up to $750 per house league player; and much more for a rep player. So make sure you understand the true cost of your registration.

 

Field Rights - Don't set yourself up for a very unpleasant surprise... As Oakville's only community Football club, Oakville Minor Football enjoys first field rights to all Oakville Parks & Rec managed fields at subsidized rates. There are few good, affordable football fields in Oakville - and just one with proper lighting and facilities for fall play. The Oakville Police and Bylaw enforcement officials will remove a team from a field if a club hasn't got permission to play there - and you don't want to be on that team.

 

Find a Community-Owned Club. In the GTA, Community Clubs rule in Minor Football - often playing 8 times as many kids as neighbouring owner-operated clubs. You will have a much higher probability of enjoying a successful season in an established community club - and a lower probability of surprise costs and operating hiccups. If you are concerned what sort of a club yours is, an Articles of Incorporation is available from the MGS and we make ours available upon request.

 

Beware of Snow Jobs - Football is no different than hockey in that enthusiastic parents can let dreams of scholarships and "the big leagues" enter into their decisions of where their sons will play football. Where to play to attract "Scouts" may come up so recognize an unscrupulous selling tactic when you see it - and beware the "we are the best" dogma too. Does you club have quality programs? fields? coaches? are referees committed to attend games? The practice of misleading minor football parents about their chances at scholarships was inherited from hockey a couple of years ago - so get to understand minor football a bit. In Ontario, the two biggest leagues that run in the spring/summer - are the OFC (2400 players) and the OVFL - OVFL has more teams but more difficulties as well; OFC has a much wider age range (from 11 to 22) and actually places as many or more kids into scholarships and onto University, Junior, CFL, and even NFL teams because of this.

 

Finances - look at the club's year end statement; preferably audited - or with a Trillium Grant application accepted - because the Province's governance is rigorous now after the emergence of thinly disguised for-profit minor sports companies over the past several years. OMFA have successfully applied and been accepted by Trillium and the Town of Oakville three times in the past 2 years.

Unpaid Debts - you should be able to call the club's equipment vendor to confirm that commitments are being met; call the referees to make sure they will show up to your games and so on. Its not unheard of for an unscrupulous club owner to collect your fees - and then fold your season without recourse. Even if you don't feel that something isn't right, insist on this. The OMFA Titan's primary vendor is T.Litzens company at 905-628-3344 (Matt or Ryan administer our account); our referees are the Lakeshore Referees and the

Refund Policy - once you pay for your season, you won't get a refund from most clubs - ours is about the only club in the GTA with a working Refund Policy. The reason Refunds won't seem fairly handled has to do with the very high cost of running football programs: We cannot arrange field contracts months in advance for a team of kids - to hear that 45 kids can't play because 2 or 3 want to drop out.

 

OMFA gives full, immediate refunds if any of our programs don't run or if your son or daughter get cold feet in the time leading up to first practice. We refunded $5,000 in season 1; and $2,500 in season 2 - and we adhere to, or exceed, a refund policy that is transparently stated on our application form - and here on our website.

 

Other Clubs Don't Give Refunds - and it wouldn't be unprecedented for a club to insist you play your 9 year old against 12 year old players - because they haven't got enough kids - so find a reputable club with a refund policy; and ask for references that have collected refunds in the past from the club as well.

 

Managing the spending of Minor Football is daunting because the number of players is relatively low and the cost per player is very high. To give you an idea, our expenses include:

• Player Equipment - a rep helmet costs $215; Shoulder pads $55 to $85; Game Jersey $75; Practice Jersey $25; Game Pants $48; Practice Pants $30 – and the kids keep their Jersey at the end  of the year. Every three years we have to have each helmet recertified at a cost of $30 per Helmet. Storage is $300 - $400 per month in 2010 (our equipment storage is climate-controlled to ensure maximum lifespan and mould-free equipment) = $4,000
• Field Equipment - $8,000 in Post pads, blocking pads, chain measures, team tents, water buckets, etc
• Referees – there are 4 or 5 per game (at $65 per ref per game) x 8 games; x 3 age groups
• Paint - $100 per game
• Buses – both Coach and School buses  - these cost us $7,000 last year and will cost more this year.
• Fields – cost either $180, $120 or $25 per hour and gym & dome time costs us up to $120 per hour in Oakville – and Oakville has the highest use/lowest availability of available gyms in the country - so competition for facilities is steep. This year, there are just 3 football fields available to us to use from the town.
• League Costs - $3,000 per year
• Insurance - $20 per player, board, coaches, members, etc.
• Coaching gear – Jackets and golf shirts for 20+ coaches cost us $1,200 + last year
• Office & Storage – paper, printing, computer & web costs, etc. $6k
• Advertising $4,200
• Trainers and First-Aid Gear $6,100 - OMFA has certified sport therapists (from Sheridan) at every practice and game - no exceptions - and our safety record is unprecedented amoung all of the contact sports.
• Trophies $900 - $1400
• Mileage – for pace cars and out of town coaches $4k

 

Compared to other football groups:  OMFA doesn’t charge hidden costs - and OMFA doesn’t require fundraising by parents (the Burlington Stamps take a different approach and are very up-front with parents to require that Rep families generate $400 per player in fundraising). Fundraising makes a better experience for the kids – no doubt about it - but we've given our parents the option to run a great, basic program if they strongly prefer not to fund-raise.

Compared to other sports:  Soccer charges $205, has 15,000 players, gives players a $3 ball and $20 uniform, pays $13 per hour for fields, has one referee per game, no trainers. Frankly, a first year university kid could probably make that financial puzzle work, even with their 8 full-time staff included. Rep Hockey - incurs much higher costs than our football programs.

OMFA 2009 Actuals & 2010 Budget (2011 numbers were posted at our AGM but I haven't had time to post them here - shortly though)

Our 5 Year Plan forecasts...

 

 

Add to all of this financial work, a gargantuan logistics and volunteer coordination effort by 35+ community members – and you get a sense of what it takes to run a quality football program for Oakville.

 

If you have any suggestions for improving our financial story, please recommend it  – and savings ideas, and sponsorships, are always welcome.

 

 

Call with any questions - or for more info contact:

 

Ed Tilley

 

VP Finance, OMFA

416-993-8835