How it all works

In this article we will try to give you an insight how the association is structured, what’s available, who to ask, and how problems are dealt with.

It’s often heard ‘The BRCA do nothing for me’, this can normally be translated into two area’s:-

1)     I don’t know what the BRCA does for me.

2)     I don’t know how to get the BRCA to do something for me.

The first point to remember is that there isn’t any great big organisation anywhere playing god, we don’t have plush offices, company cars or expense accounts, what we do have is a collection of unpaid volunteers who give up their time to ensure that our sport continues to grow and be run in as co-ordinated a manner as possible for us all to enjoy.

Making it work for you:

• This is really simple, all you need to know is;- who to contact about what, outlined below is the information you need,

• Firstly ask yourself a question – Is my problem directly to do with the class of car I’m racing or planning to race?

• If the answer to that question is a ‘Yes’ then start your request for information with the Section Secretary that deals with your class.

• If the answer’s ‘No’ then read down the list of officials in the handbook and aim your question at the one who’s tasks seem closest to your problem, if its not them they will know who to ask.

The Committee Structure 

The association is constructed around 2 distinct committee structures:- 

Firstly we have:-  Sectional Committee’s

These deal with the running of the national competitions and the managing of all the rules for the class they represent. e.g. the 1/10 Electric Circuit Committee run the national championships for that class and manage the sectional annual general meeting where YOU the members propose and vote in both the rules and the people you want to manage them for you.

If you have a question about a particular class of racing the best course of action is to find the section secretary for your class and give them a call. Please note that it is section officials who deal with all aspects of the racing conducted within that section, if you have a complaint or wish to appeal against a decision you must start with the section secretary, and the matter will be discussed at their next committee meeting. If they feel unable to deal with it or you are not satisfied with their response then it can be referred to the executive to deal with.

The BRCA Executive Committee

The executive committee is made up of 2 people from each section (normally the section Chairman & Secretary plus the people outlined below, it meet’s about 6 times a year to discuss how each of the sections are progressing, to discuss any problems they would like assistance with, and to discuss the progress of the executive officials.

The Chairman  -  Chris Hardisty

Chris will deal with any query that one of the other committee members hasn’t been able to deal with or has referred to him, don’t start here unless you feel the issue is very complicated or very delicate.

The Vice Chairman  -   John Russell.

John is essentially the chairman’s right hand man; his role is to assist the chairman as necessary, so problems for him should be delegated by the Chairman.

Secretary   -   Mick Hill

Mick is the person to whom all correspondence, other than membership information, should be sent, if you have an item for discussion at an executive meeting send it here.

Treasurer   -   Jim Spencer

Jim deals with all aspects of the association’s financial arrangements, the administration of the insurance, relationships with the RACMSA and the sports council, if you have questions about these issues call Jim.

Editor -  Andy Nash

Andy compiles and edits all of the publications. He is the person who you should send details of events to, or articles / letters you would like printed, he is constantly after new material and all contributions are welcome.

Public Relations Officer  -  Mike Chilvers

Mike co-ordinates the associations PR activities he represents the sport at several shows a year and ensures that the sport is represented in the best way possible, want some help promoting the sport locally ask him.

Membership Secretary  -  Jacquie Rowcliffe

Jacquie deals with the administration of the membership, if you have a question about your membership card, or want to request info about club affiliation etc, send it here.

Club Liason Officer  - John Whittaker

John deals with the queries from club’s, could be any subject that doesn’t obviously fall under the roles above. As diverse as help with access to grant information, through to problems with a members behaviour and anything inbetween.

Child Protection officer  -   Joanne Williams

Joanne is the contact person for any issues to do with child protection or child safety at clubs and club or other events.

 Events Co-ordinator  -   Gareth Bevens

Gareth organises the major events the association attends, such as stands at the major shows where co-ordination between sections is required.

EFRA / IFMAR Liason  -  Janet Hill

Janet is the focal point for information coming into the Association from EFRA & IFMAR, contact Janet for your EFRA licence, however all EFRA / IFMAR event queries should be made via your sectional EFRA rep.

Electric Board – Secretary – Paul Worsley

 The Electric board is a sub committee organised to ensure parity of equipment between the electric racing classes, check out their published lists of homologated equipment on www.brca.org or contact Paul with any queries the lists don’t clarify.

 Doing your Bit!

Remember that the BRCA is only a collection of volunteers all doing their bit to ensure our sport continues to grow and develop, you should be proud of the fact that this collection of people are recognised as running one of the most respected RC Car Associations world wide. However the most important point is :-

All Officials are just ordinary racers who give their time for the sport they love, they are no different from anyone else, and all members should consider what they are putting back in to the sport. You should all help out in some way, at some level. It doesn’t matter if its putting the track out at the club or organising a world championship, your contribution is at least as important as any of the other people involved in OUR sport.

Ask don’t Guess

One of the wonders of the Internet age is the speed with which information can now be transmitted; this is great if the information is accurate and a major problem when all too often it isn’t.

We don’t know of any official in any section that minds the phone call ‘Can you clarify…’ as that sort of call can save hours of frustration all round, so if you’re not sure (especially if its something you intend to circulate) pick up the phone, if the person you ask doesn’t know they will know someone who does!

Changing a rule.

 First bit is a simple statement:-

• The BRCA doesn’t create rules.

• The Section Committee’s don’t create rules.

The Membership creates the rules & The Officials -you vote in- enforce them.

i.e. Any of us (You, your club mates, an official - any of us) can change or create a rule.

-          Or more accurately we can ‘Propose’ a rule or rule change.

If when your proposed change is raised at the AGM the majority of those present agree with you (After the matter has been explained and quite possibly questioned – even possibly amended) then a changed or new rule we have.   -   Simple as that.

But

You need to know how to make that process work, so here goes:-

Firstly; discuss it with other racers at your club, especially those that might have been to a few other clubs or raced in other classes, they may well come up with an observation that’s of benefit, or let your idea get kicked around on one of the discussion forums on the Internet.

Secondly; is this something that you only need to change to suit your club? All too often a discussion comes up about a club class and ‘the BRCA rules say….’ gets quoted, A couple of pointers here:-

i)             The BRCA general rules (pages 12 & 13 2006 handbook) are the only ones that MUST be adhered to at your club.

ii)            If you want to modify or even create a set of rules for the classes of cars your club wants to race that’s perfectly fine – after all that’s exactly where most new classes come from.

So if you’ve got this far, you have a new rule proposal to make, you’ve not been shot down in flames by your club mates, and it’s something that needs changing for the class nationally or the sport as a whole. To make this change this is what you need to do:-

1)            If it’s a change to the Constitution or the General Rules write to the BRCA secretary – Mr Mick Hill, write your change down clearly, noting the existing rule number (if applicable) and stating your membership number and have it ‘seconded’ by another member who also wants to see the change happen.

2)            If it’s a change to the rules for your class, (or for the Electric Board) it’s exactly the same procedure but write to the section secretary for your class.

3)            Try and get to the AGM, all too often good ideas get buried because the proposer isn’t at the meeting to explain and discuss their idea

4)            Don’t leave any of the above until the last minute, proposals need to be received well before the AGM, at least a month for the Main Association Rules, and you’ll need to check with section secretaries when they want to receive rule proposals by.

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