As a result of this feedback it became crystal clear to me that the association needs to do a much better job at super-serving the needs of our customers which are you, our members. The only way we can super-serve our members is not only by listening but most importantly by doing.

Over the past few months our team has had several meetings and discussions regarding how we, as an association, can be better servants to our members and what we can do to create more value to our membership.

These discussions and meetings involved doing deep dives into what our members have been telling us, going on a fact finding mission to get answers to your questions, and ensuring that we conduct a reality check to what is going on within the industry across the nation.

The focus can be very easily blurred and somewhat rose-coloured when you sit too long in an office at 2150 Meadowvale Boulevard, Mississauga.

Our perception regarding the industry can be drastically different from those wearing the boots on the ground in a stable in Fredericton, New Brunswick or any other in this country. So, a reality check coupled with taking the blinders off to see where our industry is, and most importantly, is heading, is paramount to be able to understand how Standardbred Canada can better serve our members and the industry.

To ensure that, we did a full 360 review. We went full circle by talking with our members, stakeholders, employees and working with our colleagues south of the border, including the USTA.

As a matter of fact, we conducted a full review of the services being offered by the two associations to ensure that Standardbred Canada was, at a minimum, offering the same value that our counterpart was offering. As a result of this review we recognized there were some areas in which need addressing but on the whole, we were pleasantly surprised regarding how well we performed in areas of fees, insurance coverage, and services.

Standardbred Canada’s last fee increase was in 2013, and with the Consumer Price Index increasing each and every year, I truly commend the Board of Directors and SC team for their commitment in keeping costs down for our membership.

During our fee review, we didn’t identify many opportunities to lower fees, however we did see opportunities in offering better value for our members in response to some of the concerns we heard.

These value-adds include making available a Multi-Year Option for membership and licensing, enhancing and promoting the TrackIT program, effectively communicating the insurance coverage that is provided and available to our membership, launching a Lifetime Eligibility program and a Late Start Eligibility program.

It is the latter, Late Start Eligibility, which we will launch in the month of December.

Eligibility Fees came up quite often in feedback from our members. I remember having a very robust conversation at Rideau Carleton Raceway in Ottawa regarding this. There they expressed concern in two main areas including having to pay eligibility fees when having a start late in the year, and the option of a Lifetime Eligibility fee.

To address the Late Start Eligibility concern we are announcing that effective immediately for any first start after November 30th of each year, the eligibility fee paid will be good for 13 months.

Details of the Lifetime Eligibility program and other value add enhancements will be communicated in the upcoming months.

There is a lot of good work being done to improve our service commitment to you, our members, and we are very excited about bringing this and more to fruition in a timely fashion. But like everything good in life, it takes time, energy and thought to ensure that we get it right for you.

It has been our commitment to help move our industry forward, but to do this we must fully understand the problems, and most importantly, understand the solutions.

So we will be working towards this throughout the next several months and will communicate program changes to you in an effective and timely manner.

We always value your feedback, and most importantly your thoughts, because at the end of the day we want to be an organization that you believe is working for you, and making a difference.

Dan Gall
President & CEO, Standardbred Canada
[email protected]