As we leap into another financial year (can you hear the accountant’s party poppers going off???) we again face the dilemma of whether or not to sign up as a member of Triathlon Australia (TA).

As someone who has been a member for a good 15+ years, paying the membership fee each June/July has been a ritual as much about supporting our awesome sport as it has been for obtaining whatever membership benefits have been on offer.

Over the past decade, the introduction of a single day licence has gradually reduced the need for an annual membership in many athletes’ cases. Note I haven’t said it eliminates the need for membership as the insurance cover included in membership covers you 24/7 while racing and training.

Seeing as the TA site currently displays no mention of membership for the 2011-12 period (note that it begins in approximately 2 hours time as I write this), it is natural to question whether you should be signing up simply out of a desire to “support the sport”.

So a couple of points to consider  until we know what membership for 2011-12 will include and cost:

• Where will you be racing? Domestically or overseas at championship races? Do you want to be eligible to win state/national/world titles?
• If you have private health insurance, does it cover you while training AND racing?

I’d love to see TA do a brilliant job of representing and nurturing our sport as they have done so in the past, but I refuse to blindly pay once again if the benefits are questionable. Having said that, nothing would please me more right now than to hand over my dollars and know that TA plan to use them to introduce more people to our sport and provide prompt, professional service.

Bring it on TA, show us what you’ve got to offer.