10th Nats Bulletin 07 - Entrant Eligibility

[Tailshaft_Tim]

Welcome FE-FC Fans to the 7th Bulletin

The BIG News on Entrant Eligibility

As hosts of the 10th FE-FC Holden Nationals, the FE-HR Holden Owners Club ACT would like to announce that for the first time, 10th Nationals entry will be open and available to all FE-FC Holden owners that are members of ANY car club in Australia (and NZ).  Reaching ten Nationals is reason for a special celebration, so the FE-HR Holden Owners Club ACT would like to encourage as many FE-FC Holden owners to participate as possible.

We plan to promote the event Australia-wide and hope to draw a HUGE gathering, so all clubs can:
•      raise the profile of the FE-FC Holden vehicles that we all love
•      welcome new-comers to the wider FE-FC Holden community
•      encourage all non-club members to join the FE-FC Club in their State
•      promote the upcoming Nationals celebrating the FE & FC 40th Anniversaries.

As per our previous bulletin regarding the “OnLion Convoy”, all entrants from non-FE-FC Clubs will be included in the Official 10th Nats Program & website so that everyone will have an opportunity to introduce themselves and welcome these newcomers to their first Nationals.  We believe the results can only be good for all involved.

The Ancient History
There has always been a lot of discussion about the eligibility of entrants wanting to participate in the FE-FC Holden Nationals.  Traditionally, entry to the FE-FC Nats has only been available to members of the specific FE-FC Holden Car Clubs of Australia.

Since the 1st Nats in 1987, as new interstate Holden clubs catering to FE-FC Holdens have emerged, delegates on the FE-FC Holden Nationals Committee have sent written invitations to these clubs to allow their members to participate.  The FE-FC Nats Committee now has delegates (or atleast invites representatives) from each specific State FE-FC club, so FE-FC Club members can enter from anywhere in Australia, (except Northern Territory).

•      FE-FC Holden Car Club of New South Wales
•      FE-FC Holden Car Club of New South Wales Mid-North Coast
•      FE-FC Holden Car Club of Queensland
•      FE-FC Holden Car Club of South Australia
•      FE-FC Holden Car Club of Victoria
•      FE-FC Holden Car Club of Western Australia
•      FE-HR Holden Owners Club of Australian Capital Territory
•      FE-HR Holden Owners Club of Tasmania

Casting the Net wider to promoting Club Membership
Every FE-FC Club member believes in the benefits of membership and is proud of the efforts that have gone towards preserving the history of FE & FC Holdens.  Infact, we would love to have all FE-FC owners involved in our clubs and participate in the Nationals, regardless of the condition of their vehicles, from unrestored daily drivers to show cars.

Clubs & the Nationals are all about getting people with common interests together.

However, as passionate as we all are about FE-FC Holdens, we must unfortunately admit that our Nationals do not cater for a large part of the FE-FC Holden community, with many owners unaware of the Nationals or worse, aware but not eligible to participate.  Whilst there are several hundred FE-FC Holden owners spread amongst the official FE-FC Clubs of Australia, there must also be an equal amount involved with other clubs that cater to a wider range of classic or modified vehicles.  There are also clubs in regional areas with FE-FC Holden owners that aren’t able to travel to metropolitan areas to attend meetings & events.

Then there are hundreds of FE-FC Holden owners that probably aren’t in any club at all!  When these people express an interest in participating in the 10th Nationals, they can be encouraged to join one of the FE-FC Clubs or at the very least to take up temporary membership of the FE-HR Holden Owners Club ACT.  At our June AGM, our members voted to amend the clubs constitution to allow the Club Committee to offer temporary membership to people wishing to participate in a one-off event being held by the club.

A Positive Step
We hope this doesn’t rock the boat too much and that everyone appreciates that this isn’t intended to undermine the benefits of club membership, on the contrary, it seeks to promote the FE-FC Holden Car Clubs of Australia by giving new-comers a taste of what our clubs can offer.  If you have any questions, please discuss them with the Nationals Delegates in your club, or contact ours:

FE-FC Holden Nationals Committee - ACT Delegates:
Graham Pryce 0412 024 057 or gpryce@hn.ozemail.com.au
Julius Goboly 0407 486 759 or julius_g@optusnet.com

See you in the Snowies
Cheers, Tim

[Sarge]

Tim
Sound's good to me, anything that raise's the profile of the clubs is worth thinking about. This may just be what is needed. As many people out there are not to sure weather to join a club or not. This would give them a little taste to help with their discission.

Regards
Sarge
see you at the snowies

[mcl1959]

Tim, whilst I agree with your sentiments, I must draw your attention to the Nationals constitution which upon entering a nationals event, you agree to abide by (the fact that this document has not been forwarded to entrants at recent nationals does not undermine its integrity)
If you deviate from the constitution and award trophies to a non complying car/entrant, you may find yourself legally challenged and you will find that a meeing of delegates will have to find in order with the constitution.

Hence trophies could be taken from illegal entrants and given to others.

Don't think it cant happen as this was only narrowly averted at the last nationals.

By all means change the nats constitution, but it makes no difference changing your own clubs constitution.

This is not meant to pour cold water on your idea, just to warn of possible consequences.

The original idea of limiting entry to the nats was to stop the show car owners appearing for a day, taking all the trophies and disappearing again.  This does the movement no good whatsoever as grassroots club people put the show together for club members enjoyment and not to give trophies away to one day member wonders.

Ken

[FCwagon]

Tim,
I have to agree with Ken & the reasoning behind the Nationals constitution. It takes a big effort from FE-FC Clubs to create a great event like the Nationals. Those members that manage to score trophies are really chuffed about it because they are normally surrounded by and competing against great cars mostly hand built or restored by other devoted owners.
One would have to ask the question why those other FE-FC owners that you want to encourage choose to join a generic club and not FE-FC where one exists? If they know about the Nationals surely they've gotta know about the host clubs.
In my opinion - one day wonders not welcome
Leigh

[craiga]

Leigh, Ken,

Both RET and I have already had some discussion with the Canbera guys on this topic. Although extremely well intentioned I agree that it could lead to unnecessary and unwanted agro and worse still, to legal action. And don’t think it couldn’t happen, as this type of thing could (and would) attract high dollar sponsored cars, and the serious competition that comes with it.

At this point in time I think it would be prudent for the Nationals delegates from each of the member and affiliated clubs to receive a detailed overview of the changes. The way I read the situation, everything is OK so long as the "temporary" membership and application to enter the Nats is completed within the confines of the Nats constitution, which says that an entrant must be a financial member of one of the member or affiliate clubs and that the entries close 3 months prior to the Nats. So this means that someone who received temporary membership of the ACT FE - HR Club two weeks before the Nats couldn't enter, not because they weren't a "member" of the ACT club, but because they didn't meet the entry conditions as outlined in the Nats constitution. But someone who became a "temporary" member four months out and entered within the timeframe would be OK.

RET and I had presented a plan to allow “on the day” entry by anyone who turned up, they would be eligible for Peoples Choice trophies, but ineligible for judged trophies. This way they could have some level of participation and chance of reward, although admittedly limited, with a view to us proving that club membership is a valuable and worthwhile thing. Inclusion not exclusion.

Hope all this makes sense!!! Maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it should be removed from public view until the Nats delegates have cleared up the issue. This type of thing doesn’t need 100 different viewpoints, as it must be resolved forthwith.

Regards,

Craig.

P.S I have already said this to Tim and some other guys in the ACT Club, but I want to say it in public. The ACT guys are doing some GREAT things in the lead up to this event. Tim's emails and other communication are absolutely first class, so lets get behind these blokes (and ladies) because its not an easy job and they deserve our full support.

[Tailshaft_Tim]

G’day Everyone

Firstly, I’d like to thank all of you for your valid comments.

The 10th Nationals Committee (comprising FE & FC owners that are members of the FE-HR Holden Owners Club ACT) does appreciate the concerns raised by interstate clubs, and respects the principles of the FE-FC Holden Nationals Constitution.  It was certainly not our intention to appear to be operating unilaterally, nor without recognition of the history & grass roots ideals entrenched within the event.

We have a Club Meeting tonight, and the FE-FC Nats Committee is scheduled to meet early next week.  The ACT Nationals Delegates will then discuss an immediate way forward with Nationals Delegates Committee.  This temporary response will be updated next week, and seeks to alleviate concerns raised during this discussion, including:

•     Confirming only 4 out of 80 potential entrants are not FE-FC Club members, but are all members of ‘regional’ Holden/Classic Car Clubs.
•       Regardless of club membership, official 10th Nats entries still close on Mon 31 January 2005.
•       National Delegates will soon discuss trophy eligibility for late & on the day entrants.
•       Information on temporary/onLion membership for the FE-HR ACT Club will be detailed.
•       Nats Delegates have proposed amending judging classes to suit both club level & show level vehicles.
•       The OnLion Convoy on the 10th Nats website’s offers transparency with info on each entrant vehicle.
•       Seeking to change attitude of  “I don’t go to FE-FC Nats coz my car isn’t good enough”.

As Craig suggested, it probably is appropriate that further discussion continues as a new thread in the Nationals Delegates only section.  We hope that a concensus can be reached and that delegates can provide information to everyone else as soon as possible.

I personally apologise if anyone feels that they’ve been put in a difficult position.  We really do hope that we will see as many FE & FC owners & their families in the snowies next Easter.  We are working hard to make this the best Nationals ever and want everyone to feel welcome.  Stay tuned.

See you in the Snowies.

Cheers, Tim

[graham_fuller]

Cheers Tim this clarifies the situation and should be acceptable to all.Keep up the good work we sure are looking forward to the nats.
Cheers,
Graham