share
Posted using ShareThis
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Getting Back Up To Date - Commissions and the Cities
Welcome back everyone to Ringfight.com, new and improved! Ringfight took a small hiatus, as my partner and I were busy with life, and the Combat Sports World. Or, as we like to say when working with Municipalities and the Province, "Regulated Sports". A lot has been going on out there, especially with MMA. In our city, MMA is slowly moving closer to being legally recognized, both in the City Of North Vancouver and of course, in the City Of Vancouver itself. I'm sure most "regulated sports" persons, whether you're a fan, competitor, trainer, club or regulatory person living in the Lower Mainland, in BC, are aware of what's been happening within the two previously mentioned cities. I thought that before getting into the news, and goings on out there, I'd try and give everyone a brief update to what's happening.
In the City Of North Vancouver, the CNV Council approved the new Athletic Commission and appointed it's three new Commissioners. This occurred back in the summer of '09. But, as of yet we have not seen a "City sanctioned" event there. This is because although the Mayor and Council have agreed to the Commission, and they understood the purpose of it and agreed that it was needed for the regulation of the sport and the safety of the competitors, there has been some updating required. The original bylaw that was put into place, approximately back in '85 / '86, was of course out of date. Especially when dealing with today's immeasurable rise of the combat sports, especially MMA. So, working with City staff, the Bylaw itself had to be re-written, along with the Terms Of Reference. For those of you who aren't 100% sure of what the difference is between them, here's a definition. A Bylaw, very simply, are the laws or rules that govern an organization. So, a City bylaw that pertains to an individual group, or law would set out all the rules for that particular item. Terms Of Reference are not as formal. What they do are describe the purpose and structure of a project, committee, meeting, negotiation, etc... They will usually describe he scope of the committees responsibilities. They are different from each other, but work with each other. So, as I explained, both of these documents had to be updated to better reflect the Athletic Commission and it's role that it holds in the City. One thing that I would like to reiterate is the role or purpose of the Commission. There have been regulated sport "haters", and they've used the commissions as a firing point. Commissions and the commissioners are not promoters. They are there to regulate the industry. To make sure that the competitors are competing in the correct events, that they're in the right weight classes, that the rules of the competition are being followed, and, most importantly, to ensure the safety of the competitors. What does this all mean to a City? Mitigating liability. The best thing that any City can do, if they're having a problem with combat sports is to put an Athletic Commission into effect. It doesn't work to try and ban them, as they will continue to happen. Regulate them with rules ensuring the safety of all. The CBF, (Canadian Boxing Federation), is Canada's national regulatory body for regulated sports. They are the biggest supporters of Commissions, and in turn, the commissions, once established, join the CBF and work together with other commissions. It's a system that works, and the more Municipalities that join, the better the system will work. Of course, Municipal Athletic Commissions regulate "Pro" sports, and not amateur ones. Along with the Municipal commissions, we also need a Provincial or Municipal body that will do the same thing for the amateurs. Boxing has this in place, but unfortunately, this isn't the case for most of the other combat sports. Yes, there are a number of small amateur sanctioning bodies, but, what we need is one that works with say Sport BC. I know that this is in the works, and I whole heartedly support this, and hope that they emerge sooner rather than later.
Getting back to what the Municipalities are doing, Vancouver is in the same boat at the moment. I know Paul Lazenby, professional competitor and announcer has commented on the status of the upcoming UFC event coming to Vancouver in June, as he was at the Vancouver Athletic Committee meeting along with a few other guests. What he said was absolutely true, but, with what I know about working with Municipalities and updating current bylaws, I truly believe that Vancouver will get all their paperwork up to date, in the needed time frame. This is too big of a benefit to Vancouver, both to the local promoters, and to the city itself. I've been told that the approximate influx of money that is being predicted to run into the City that weekend is in the range of $40 million. Yes, I said 40 million! This is an estimate of course, but after participating in events, and seeing the amount of money that is involved with putting on an event, and speaking with Commissioners from Montreal, I think it's possible. I recently watched a program that talked to the AGM of a Hotel Association, and he confirmed that during UFC events, the rate of hotels bookings is extremely higher than during other events. And, that's just the hotels. Think about restaurants, retail stores, transportation just to name a few. The Pay Per View on UFC events has been proven to be consistently higher than every major boxing event, with the exception of two, in the past few years. I believe that the event will come to fruition, and will do everything I can to help in whatever way I can. I believe that the UFC and the City of Vancouver will work together and make this a monumental event, and I know there are a number of persons and organizations that will happily give any assistance that they can. So, getting off these heavier topics, let's get back to the news of the current months, and what's happening and what's happened out there! Watch the next blog for the current events and what's been happening out there. Thanks, and we'll be back with more.
In the City Of North Vancouver, the CNV Council approved the new Athletic Commission and appointed it's three new Commissioners. This occurred back in the summer of '09. But, as of yet we have not seen a "City sanctioned" event there. This is because although the Mayor and Council have agreed to the Commission, and they understood the purpose of it and agreed that it was needed for the regulation of the sport and the safety of the competitors, there has been some updating required. The original bylaw that was put into place, approximately back in '85 / '86, was of course out of date. Especially when dealing with today's immeasurable rise of the combat sports, especially MMA. So, working with City staff, the Bylaw itself had to be re-written, along with the Terms Of Reference. For those of you who aren't 100% sure of what the difference is between them, here's a definition. A Bylaw, very simply, are the laws or rules that govern an organization. So, a City bylaw that pertains to an individual group, or law would set out all the rules for that particular item. Terms Of Reference are not as formal. What they do are describe the purpose and structure of a project, committee, meeting, negotiation, etc... They will usually describe he scope of the committees responsibilities. They are different from each other, but work with each other. So, as I explained, both of these documents had to be updated to better reflect the Athletic Commission and it's role that it holds in the City. One thing that I would like to reiterate is the role or purpose of the Commission. There have been regulated sport "haters", and they've used the commissions as a firing point. Commissions and the commissioners are not promoters. They are there to regulate the industry. To make sure that the competitors are competing in the correct events, that they're in the right weight classes, that the rules of the competition are being followed, and, most importantly, to ensure the safety of the competitors. What does this all mean to a City? Mitigating liability. The best thing that any City can do, if they're having a problem with combat sports is to put an Athletic Commission into effect. It doesn't work to try and ban them, as they will continue to happen. Regulate them with rules ensuring the safety of all. The CBF, (Canadian Boxing Federation), is Canada's national regulatory body for regulated sports. They are the biggest supporters of Commissions, and in turn, the commissions, once established, join the CBF and work together with other commissions. It's a system that works, and the more Municipalities that join, the better the system will work. Of course, Municipal Athletic Commissions regulate "Pro" sports, and not amateur ones. Along with the Municipal commissions, we also need a Provincial or Municipal body that will do the same thing for the amateurs. Boxing has this in place, but unfortunately, this isn't the case for most of the other combat sports. Yes, there are a number of small amateur sanctioning bodies, but, what we need is one that works with say Sport BC. I know that this is in the works, and I whole heartedly support this, and hope that they emerge sooner rather than later.
Getting back to what the Municipalities are doing, Vancouver is in the same boat at the moment. I know Paul Lazenby, professional competitor and announcer has commented on the status of the upcoming UFC event coming to Vancouver in June, as he was at the Vancouver Athletic Committee meeting along with a few other guests. What he said was absolutely true, but, with what I know about working with Municipalities and updating current bylaws, I truly believe that Vancouver will get all their paperwork up to date, in the needed time frame. This is too big of a benefit to Vancouver, both to the local promoters, and to the city itself. I've been told that the approximate influx of money that is being predicted to run into the City that weekend is in the range of $40 million. Yes, I said 40 million! This is an estimate of course, but after participating in events, and seeing the amount of money that is involved with putting on an event, and speaking with Commissioners from Montreal, I think it's possible. I recently watched a program that talked to the AGM of a Hotel Association, and he confirmed that during UFC events, the rate of hotels bookings is extremely higher than during other events. And, that's just the hotels. Think about restaurants, retail stores, transportation just to name a few. The Pay Per View on UFC events has been proven to be consistently higher than every major boxing event, with the exception of two, in the past few years. I believe that the event will come to fruition, and will do everything I can to help in whatever way I can. I believe that the UFC and the City of Vancouver will work together and make this a monumental event, and I know there are a number of persons and organizations that will happily give any assistance that they can. So, getting off these heavier topics, let's get back to the news of the current months, and what's happening and what's happened out there! Watch the next blog for the current events and what's been happening out there. Thanks, and we'll be back with more.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
