AU Surplus Sits down :: Wessex Scene Online

AU Surplus Sits down

12th November 2008
Tim Clancy

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Nov 08 - AU Surplus Sits Down to Ł90,000
Oct 08 - Sport For Everyone
Jan 09 - A Day In The Life Of AU President
Oct 09 - The Annual SUSU Bunfight
Oct 09 - A Word from your AU President

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Oct 09 - KMPG and AU in Sponsorship Deal
May 09 - Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition
May 09 - The New Boss: Same As The Old Boss?
May 09 - Where Theres a Will...

Despite the testing financial situation, the AU office have been working hard to minimise the implications to clubs. Both general and coaching club budgets have increased.

On the 14th of October, Athletic Union clubs were made aware of their budget for the coming year. The Athletics Union provides as much funding as possible to clubs to cover week to week costs, from hiring out training facilities and coaches, to joining a league. The task of allocating cash to clubs falls to the AU President, elected last year as Henry Potter. Over the past few months Potter has been going through every club’s budget requests and financial spending from the past year to ensure that every pound is put to good use.

It is easy to assume that this is just a case of dividing up the Athletic Union pie so every club gets their fair portion. However this, as Potter is often more than willing to explain, is not so simple.

Back before the millennium, in 1999, the Athletic Union was operating with a surplus of Ł90,000. This means that there was Ł90,000 of Athletic Union money that was not needed for club budgets at the start of the year. Today, less than ten years on, that surplus is all but extinguished.

This is not, however, the catastrophe that it seems. This money has not been idly frittered away on Rugby shirts, pretty sails or tennis balls. Instead there has been an aggressive investment in sport at the University of Southampton, one that sees the University in the top 20 sporting universities in the country.

Additionally, the last nine budgets produced by previous AU Presidents have become increasingly accurate in terms of the total cost it takes to run a sports club. This has seen a percentage of that Ł90,000 surplus being absorbed into the budget, ensuring that money in being put in the correct place from the outset.

Despite this, the Athletic Union is still in a period of scarcity. The accounts are currently reeling from a Ł10,000 cut in funding from the Students’ Union, a knock-on effect of other debts incurred by the Union. Changes in the membership structure lost Ł22,000 last year, however that loss will be reduced to Ł10,000 within the next two years. In order to deal with these losses, a Ł20,000 loan has been taken out.

It will be Potter’s job for the next year to ensure that the Athletic Union books stay balanced. He has started well, with only two clubs seeing a budget reduction of more than Ł500, and a bunfight sponsor bringing Ł1500. Sponsorship will be an increasingly prominent component of the Athletics Union desperate to create extra revenue.

Clubs must also be realistic about their expenditure, by not expecting the Athletic Union to bail them out when the money has run out in May or June. Be it Hockey or Hung Leng Kuen Kung Fu, everyone is part of the Athletic Union and needs to find ways to fundraise, cut costs, and be more self sufficient. The ‘AU ATM’ attitude adopted by some clubs must come to an end.