We are aware and understand some of the frustration among our membership with regards to the launch of the new membership system devised by a Sports Governing Body licencing database company called Sport:80.
The reason for the change was due to the old system coming to the end of its shelf life having been in place for 10 years. We recognised that the transition to a new system was always going to be a considerable project, but it was needed if the ACU were to modernise as the old system was becoming business critical to the core operation of the ACU.
One of our goals with the introduction of the new system was to give the members access to self-service tools which will give members greater control over their profile and the records relevant to themselves. This has been one of the biggest changes for everyone and will continue to be a learning curve for us all, as we have introduced lots of new processes. We are convinced that once everyone has developed a base knowledge of the new system and is comfortable using it, this approach will come into its own. We are also working closely with Sport:80 to adjust certain areas of the system to simplify processes, following valued feedback. The new platform provides greater flexibility including the ability to make tweaks and additions as we progress, which is something the ACU will be taking advantage of.
This is also the case with the additional Club functionality launched as part of the project to allow Clubs to set up their own website and sell their own memberships. It is recognised there have been some teething issues with this and are working to fix some of the issues experienced.
From the outset, Sport:80 has provided a number of video tutorial libraries for individual members, clubs, and event organisers to help the ACU community in using the new system:
Member tutorials - https://vimeo.com/showcase/10007221
Club tutorials - https://vimeo.com/showcase/9985077
Event organisers - https://vimeo.com/showcase/10021994
There is also a suite of FAQs available within the ‘Contact Support’ section of the ACU platform for additional assistance.
One of the major aspects of this project was migrating all the data held within the old system. This was an incredibly complex process given the amount of information that had been built up over the 10 years of using the previous system. The data also wasn’t in particularly great health with lots of duplicate records, missing information, etc. Having cleansed as much data as possible there were always going to be instances that slipped through the net. As a result, some will have experienced the information in their accounts being incorrect and this is being worked on to remedy every instance that is reported.
We appreciate that the new processes introduced, challenges experienced with the data migration, and communication not being as clear as possible, has resulted in confusion among members. The ACU will endeavour to do more to ensure Centres/Clubs and members are kept in the loop as the new system continues to develop. A number of Zoom Calls and Microsoft Teams calls have taken place with Clubs to help Clubs get to grips with the new system and also a lot of One-to-One calls have taken place across all our sporting activities. These of course will continue.
We recognise this is a time of significant change for everyone connected to the ACU and apologise for the frustration this may have caused. Be assured we are continuing to work closely with Sport:80 on a daily basis to overcome the challenges experienced as quickly as possible. We will endeavour to improve our communication as things progress and appreciate your on-going patience and understanding.
To finish on a positive note, over 11,000 competition licences have been applied for and distributed thus far across all disciplines which represents over 50% of the membership. 324 Clubs have successfully affiliated to the ACU through the Sport80 system for 2023 along with 27 Recognised Promoters and 209 permits have been issued through the system to allow events to take place.