Dear jammers and fans of freestyle disc,
the new year is here and that means it is time to join or renew your FPA membership for 2019.
But first let me review the past year briefly. It is my pleasure to say that in 2018 we have reached the largest number of members since the statistics have been kept (since 2007) and for the first time since then we crossed 200 mark with 212 members from 26 countries and 5 continents (missing only Africa but the goal is to change that this year). I believe this increase is the result of changing the membership structure two years ago allowing people join the FPA more easily than ever before. Also, a big part of this increase is due to our awesome jambassadors who are promoting FPA across the world. One outstanding example – thanks to Daniel O’Neill Japan is now the fourth biggest freestyle country on the map with 19 FPA members. How great is that? For more statistics check out the graphs at the end of this post.
Of course, there are still some things to improve. For example “only” 113 of 165 members from 2017 renewed their membership for 2018. Our goal is to improve the renewal rate and show the jammers that it is worth being continuous member, not only because it allows you to participate in the FPA sponsored tournaments.
Talking about improvements, this year we are going to test out the…
DISCOUNTED GROUP MEMBERSHIP
As there are national or city-bound freestyle organizations across the world, we would like to make it easier and more advantageous for them to sign all their members to the FPA at once. Sometimes these communities consist of few competitive players who renew their membership every year and whole bunch of jammers who don’t compete too much and they don’t really “need” to be FPA members. With the group membership we would like to change that as the goal is to sign all the members of the community at once. So what are the advantages and requirements of the group membership?
- available for groups of minimum 10 people (exceptions possible)
- the membership price will be 15 USD per person
- first time members and juniors are still for free
Example: group of 12, consisting of 6 regular players (who have been FPA members before), 4 first-time FPA members and 2 juniors. The cost for 2019 will be 90 USD (6 x 15). If the group remains unchanged for 2020, they will pay 150 USD (10 x 15 USD) and still saving 50 USD compared to getting the membership each for themselves.
How to get the Group membership?
The group / club / association leader should contact the FPA Membership director (me = Jakub Kostel 🙂 ) directly, gather the required information from his/her group and fills it into the spreadsheet I will send him/her. Then ideally the group / club / association leader will send a bulk payment for the whole group to the FPA. And that’s it. Easy!
RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP FOR 2019
And now it is time to ask you to go and get your membership for 2019. Be aware that the FPA membership is bound to the calendar year and the 2019 membership is valid until December 31st, no matter if you join in January or October. So to take maximum advantage of membership, join right away! Oh, and what are those advantages?
- you will be able to compete at FPA sponsored tournaments (this year it is FPA Worlds in Seattle, the World Urban Games in LA and AFO (still to be determined))
- you will get great discounts for freestyle discs and other merchandise (if you are US based, shop at Wrightlife.com; if you are in Europe, contact Jakub Kostel directly)
- you will get discounts for the delicious and healthy Rickaroons
- you can vote in FPA surveys and elections and have an real influence to the sport (from the age of 18)
- you will get a permanent FPA member number if you do not have one already.
If you tend to forget stuff, this year you should consider using the auto renewal option for payment which will save you from having to remember or renew manually each year.
Also, don’t forget that you can check your membership number and current status on the following page: http://freestyledisc.org/fpa-members
And please, do not panic if you don’t get the confirmation email right away. I’m sending those to you manually and sometimes it can take me a day or two until I find the time for it. I’m sure you understand.
Ok, and now finally go and renew your membership 🙂
Thank you for supporting the FPA!
Yours,
Jakub Kostel
FPA Membership director
fpamembership@freestyledisc.org
