Why membership is important to you and to the sport
Last month, a new membership season began which is always an exciting time for schools, clubs, and provinces across the country. As we look ahead to this season, it is timely to consider the ways in which your membership fee contributes to supporting the delivery of services for you during this season. In this article, we will examine exactly what your fee goes towards.
When you join FHC, the membership goes to several key areas:
- Insurance — All sport liability insurance for registered participants is covered by your Field Hockey Canada insurance.
- National events, programs and pathways — From youth to masters, Field Hockey Canada offers programs, teams, courses and events for everyone.
- National pathways, education and support for coaching and officials.
- F-RED – All member provinces as well as clubs across Canada have free access to the national database. This creates cost and safety efficiencies within the system which benefit all members and participants. Fully customizable for your province or club, F-RED offers seamless integration and a system which serves centralization and local needs alike.
- Community sport, Schools program, Stick Together — Over the past three years, Field Hockey Canada, in collaboration with the Canadian Government, has driven over $1M of funding directly into communities across Canada to make the sport inclusive and accessible.
- Member services — In our current structure, the members of Field Hockey Canada are the provinces. Everyone else is captured under the term ‘registered participant.’ Field Hockey Canada offers monthly member meetings where staff and leaders from across Canada meet to discuss strategic direction, key services and to share knowledge.
- National Teams — A portion of your membership fee goes to fund national teams. With costs of travel and touring ever increasing, it takes our whole community to deliver successful national teams to the international stage. Your annual portion of the membership which goes to Field Hockey Canada is a vital and well-received contribution.
In this coming membership season, Field Hockey Canada is undertaking a governance review to align the bylaws closer to Canadian Governance Code. FHC is targeting delivery of this by January 2026. In parallel, consideration will also be given to a new fee structure. The fees for membership and participation have not risen in over a decade and it is vital to revisit this as we look to generate more support for all areas, particularly our national teams.
CEO Susan Ahrens said the membership structure and participant’s formal connection into Field Hockey Canada is an important driver of both community and high-performance hockey across the country.
“Field Hockey Canada as the governing body of the sport in Canada, is responsible for leading the national direction of the sport. It achieves this through delivering strategies that guide decision-making to ensure sustainable growth and long-term success. With clear pathways for athletes, coaches, officials and national events from youth to university and masters, Field Hockey Canada as the national sport organization plays a crucial role in sport leadership at local, national and international level.” Ahrens said. “Of course, jurisdiction for delivery of many elements including coach education and local level events lies with the provincial members rather than FHC, so through our monthly member meetings, we look to foster clarity in these roles and responsibilities to support delivery and serve all communities while simultaneously building our larger national vision.”
As we move into this season, we are in a particularly exciting time. You’ll see the updated governance elements coming into effect, a new strategic plan and the new national competition structure, which we will be launching shortly. Keep up to date with all FHC news by following us across our channels.
