Cycling SA has finally released its licensing platform for 2010. We are all aware of the fiasco at the beginning of the year with respect to the online system, and although the system had its teething problems, the true test would be in year two, when renewals would be a simple case of verification. The new license system, on the face of it, gives to a knee-jerk reaction that it is now becoming too expensive for certain riders to participate – i.e. first time entrants, riders in the elite category and riders older than the elite category – sub-vet, vets and masters who still want to achieve provincial and national recognition.

The good of the 2010 system is:

• Any rider up to the age of 18 on the 31 December 2010 will only pay R35 for a racing license which entitles he/she to be seeded and be awarded provincial/national colours in any of/or all of/or a combination of the various cycling disciplines.
•  All riders require cyclosport licenses – I agree with this, but would like to have seen the cost of a cyclosport reduced somewhat to R50 per license – easier on the wallet, encouraging to those who have had past licenses and not too much of a stretch to those who only had membership status in 2009;
• All license classes are multidisciplinary – that is with your full/cyclosport/Junior – you can ride in any of the disciplines you choose and be seeded in each;

The bad:

• The full license increases to R300 – a full license entitles a rider to earn provincial and national colours and be selected for World Champs – both in Elite and Masters. I do not know if Road and Track rulings have changed – but only those with full licenses are able to enter National Championships. In MTB, one can still enter and participate in nationals with a cyclosport licenses – you just cannot earn colours/selection
• Full license fee of R300 is expensive and I feel taxing our sports “banners” is not conducive to expanding the number of participants in this category of rider;
• Not every “Elite rider” has a full sponsorship, and yes it is stated that these guys ride expensive bikes – but should we not be encouraging MASS licensing?
• Multidisciplinary licenses – I find this to be detracting in terms of apportionment income to grow and develop the various disciplines. One only needs to look at the growth of MTB numbers and events, yet the MTB spend with CSA was a mere R212K versus R728,000 for road – this is where lines become blurred; but in the same breath the closer we move to a singular license system the better;

The ugly

• Allowing license applications direct with Cycling SA – under the current Cycling SA constitution, it talks to affiliates and members, there is no mention of members licensing direct with the federation
• Without clubs there is no ground level community – if we do without clubs – how does a province function? No provincial structure – no province – who determines provincial awards to our younger generation where it matters most? Who selects provincial teams? Who manages and controls the calendars and sanctioning? The result is anarchy – I have a genuine concern that this will be detrimental to the sport as a whole
• Cycling SA have a fantasy around that riders will choose if they want to join a club – often the decision maker may not reflect the wishes of the actual licensee – many will not choose a club due to apathy, but when riding areas get closed down, when fewer groups form to ride – where is our sport headed?
• Allowing direct licensing detracts from the basis of having clubs to foster/grow and generate new riders for the future
• How do we distinguish between road, track, BMX, paracycling and MTB when it comes to voting at annual congress? But then again, having a license is one thing – being part of deciding who should run the sport, is nothing less than a schlep.

Licensing though is integral to our sport, and having run the MTB federation for the past 4 years, that income has helped to really explode our sport into the realm of fastest growing sports in SA. And lets face it, we all like beinjg part of something special and this is the way to be part of that.

What I would like to see is an overall reduction in the fee of license as follows:

Scholar: R30

Cyclosport R50

Elite: R150

And see more contribution from event organizers who are the real money-spinners in our sport. They all claim to be doing this to make money for non-cycling related charities or some other organization, they profit from the event but put no real income back into the sport that helps them generate the income in the first place. They are forced to pay levies, failure to comply means loss of insurance – and in MTB that means landowners close down their event.

So imagine that having a business where there is very little investment to secure the future of your income, big return/reward, a trivial “tax” rate and a bunch of crazy MTB’ers who thrive to be there!

Applications will now only supposedly go live on the 24 December 2009 and your 2009 license will be valid till end Feb 2010.

For the full details of the proposed structure go to www.cyclingsa.com.