Helllooooo ...... is there anybody out there??

C'mon there must be someone out there with something to say ... I can sense the tumbleweed collecting in here. We all wanted a forum yet no sooner do we get it then we all shut up tighter than a Yorkshire mon's wallet.

I accept I am possibly a little to blame as I seem to have apparently closed several threads dead by giving the facts rather than blindly just going along with hearsay but, to me, that says that the original arguments had no foundation to start with anyway as no counter argument ever came back.

Let's get some topics going .....

Yorkshiremen may be tight but are all Lancastrians so easy to buy - The exodus to Rugby Union came from the West of the Pennines and it’s looking like the main areas that are turning their backs on BARLA are also from that side of the hill as well.

As a Yorkshireman with kids and wife I have to point out its extremely difficult to be tight with your wallet when there's nowt in it.

Marauder wrote:....and it’s looking like the main areas that are turning their backs on BARLA are also from that side of the hill as well.

No-one has turned their back Marauder but, rather than following blindly, many of us in the North West (and more and more so, nationally too) have started to question what the Association does for our youth/junior age-groups and the answers we have received hardly bode well for the future.

Do the Yorkshire Leagues somehow believe that everything is tickety boo for their youngsters? If they do then I'm glad I'm on this "side of the hills" but, whilst I may be more vocal expressing opinions, I do not, based on previous meetings with those Leagues and Representatives, think that everyone to the East of the Pennines thinks everything is ok at all!!

As I keep repeating, everyone respects the role the Association played in development of the Amateur game but you cannot rest on those laurels forever or the rest of the sporting world is going to very quickly pass us by whilst we still cling to the "them and us" philosophy with the sport's National Governing Body.

It has been mentioned before that there appears to be no long term strategy for the players under 18 just a simple misconception that they'll come to BARLA as there's no alternative .... and they offer cheaper insurance/tours.

It's time to wake up and smell the coffee ... there are now alternatives both for insurance and representative honours and, whilst we sit here whinging about alleged bullying by ""Big Brother RFL, players and clubs are moving to them seemingly in droves. Ask why none of the "development leagues" have bothered becoming Full Members ... there are now more clubs outside than inside and that, unless addressed, may be terminal for the Association as we knew it. To me, that is a tragedy.

Paul Stephenson wrote:As a Yorkshireman with kids and wife I have to point out its extremely difficult to be tight with your wallet when there's nowt in it.

Don't tell me she has worked out the lock combination, drugged the dogs, bypassed the alarm and camera systems only to find it empty???


Poor woman.

Nope, just waited for me to come home drunk I suspect.

Marauder wrote:Yorkshiremen may be tight but are all Lancastrians so easy to buy - The exodus to Rugby Union came from the West of the Pennines and it’s looking like the main areas that are turning their backs on BARLA are also from that side of the hill as well.

Yorkshire Juniors were the first to leave Barla and survived very well outside the FAMILY.
They came back as associate members to play outside their county because the board stopped the rest of the regional leagues from playing them.

They had and still have issues with the Board regarding junior issues,this post is by no means an attack on the excellent administrators of the Yorkshire Juniors .
Its a reply to remind the blinkered that it is not just a NWC PROBLEM.

Marauder, I have come clean and stated who I am and where I am from, elsewhere on this forum. Quite apart from which, every serious poster on the NWC forums knows who I am. So I'm not hiding under a pseudonym.

Almost every mesage you have posted has been a criticism of those who have first hand and genuine problems with BARLA and have expressed them. So don't you think that it is time you come clean, stop hiding behind the pseudonym, tell us who you are and reveal your agenda?

Incidentally, can you name this vast number of RU converts? Or is it just rhetoric?

Because BARLA is a democratic organisation would it no be more appropriate to take control of the Junior game from within so instead of splitting the Association you could build and improve it.

Dangerous word ' Democratic' . What do you mean by it? Should Doncaster (3 clubs on Barla website ) or Carlisle (1 club) be able to outvote North west Counties Open Age between them?
What is the best ' unit ' of democracy? District Leagues (some say largely dormant) Playing Leagues ( where weekly fixtures are organised) , Clubs(however big) or just teams?

I don't know but it's clearly one of the main reasons why major playing leagues at all age groups are voting with their feet. With two thirds of all players and less than 25% of the vote at Barla I'm not surprised that Junior's organisers are turning to new forums .And be gentle when using Barla and Democratic in the same sentence !!!

Marauder, I guess then that the answers to my previous questions are "no, I won't tell you who I am", "no, I won't reveal my agenda", "no, I can't name the players I was spouting about" and "yes, it is just rhetoric".

Under normal circumstances I would agree with you about making changes from within, but as Peter points out, the allocation of votes is severely skewed so that the junior/youth, despite providing the greatest number of teams and players has a disproportionately small number of votes.

What is your definition of democracy?

Marauder wrote:.... would it no be more appropriate to take control of the Junior game from within so instead of splitting the Association you could build and improve it.

Since we have, to all intents and purposes, been completely removed from the "democracy" by being barred from meetings and having not received any correspondence whatsoever from the Association since September, doing anything "from within" has been nigh on impossible!!! You seem to have difficulty grasping that concept Marauder ... do you not realise that could we have done something "from within" we most definitely would????

However, having said that, from a discussion this week with Spen it would appear that the Board (well the majority of) have finally come to their senses and decided that we, and hopefully all other "Associates" will soon be able to be once again involved and have some input from a grassroots level in the decision making processes which affect our many players ... though we have, sadly, yet to receive anything other than a verbal assurance and do not know whether other Leagues have been notified too.

We very begrudgingly accept, as Associate Members, that we no longer have any voting rights within the Association as these were removed when our cheque was declined and our status downgraded. However, as has already been highlighted, we believe that our actual vote was and would continue to be relatively worthless anyway in it's present format via the Association.

It is no longer of any great use to us to have a disproportionately small voting right in BARLA when it simply means that we are just there to be regularly outvoted by much much smaller parties and Leagues. Many of these, sadly, seem to serve little purpose other than to meet once a month and collect their cheques when players sign professionally or run a very simple 3 or 4 team annual local cup competition and are therefore not interested or directly involved in the day to day regular organisation of junior/youth league fixtures, multi-area Cup competitions, player registrations, transfer issues, discipline, referee appointments etc for players and clubs.

We will, as a League Management Committee be seeking, through our clubs, to be allowed/mandated to register our vote via the RFL's Community Board "Other League's" platform where we strongly feel we will have a more equal and worthwhile vote for our clubs/players in matters directly affecting them.

At least you are recieving some form of communication Sam.
Apart from an open age issue ,I have had no contact at all from the board on any Junior matters no surprise there.

If the Board are planning a radical structural overhaul that's got to be good news. But I somehow doubt it just yet... If I were at Barla,Sam , on seeing the damage caused by that disasterous SGM I would do my best to revert to the status quo ante that meeting, and possibly give associates a vote as well! That would remove the need to vote at the RFL forums for a Community Board member. Don't be brought back cheaply. If the current situation hasn't shaken them to their foundations they really are in big trouble. Going back to the way things were,even with promises as to future reform, is probably not now enough. Actions speak louder than words . And if they need a blueprint for a way forward, they can always start by reading again that Genesis report ,endorsed on 01/08/2004 by full Council and therefore still official policy as I understand it......

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