ASPA Agreement

In September 2011, the International Committee negotiated the following agreement with ASPA.

Agreement Text

We would like to have an agreement to extend some of the benefits of membership to each other’s members. In particular, this would mean that current members in good standing of ASPA would be exempt from the requirement to purchase a NASPA membership in order to take part in a sanctioned tournament in Canada or the US. In return, we would expect that current members in good standing of NASPA would be granted exemption from the tournament levy at Australian tournaments as are members of ASPA. It is possible that there other membership benefits that could also be considered for this agreement, but the tournament entry requirements/costs are the most important.

If ASPA is willing to make this agreement we would request the following:

1) That there be a contact person/email that would allow a tournament director in Canada or the US to be able to get timely confirmation that an entrant in their tournament is a current, paid-up member of ASPA. (NASPA would provide ASPA with the same).

2) The agreement would be limited to people who are members of the association where they are resident. We will be proposing this Reciprocal Membership Benefit to all affiliates of WESPA, and we don’t want to create a situation where someone could shop around globally for the cheapest available membership instead of becoming a member in their home country.

Contacts

NASPA Tournament Directors wishing to verify an ASPA member’s status should contact the appropriate Australian State Membership Officer listed at the ASPA website.

ASPA Tournament Directors wishing to verify a NASPA member’s status may either use the membership resources available at this website, or email membership@scrabbleplayers.org.

Procedures

NASPA Tournament Directors who intend to submit rating data for tournaments including ASPA members qualifying under the terms of this agreement should:

1. Use the regular membership tools to enter an ASPA member’s contact information into the membership system and charge a membership (or renewal) to their NASPA account.
2. Contact John Chew to have the fee for that membership waived under the terms of this agreement.
3. Submit their tournament rating data normally.