Welsh Padel Centre WSA Membership Testimonial
David Cornwell, who heads up the Welsh Padel Centre in Cwmbran, has revealed why he signed his company up to be members of the Welsh Sports Association, and the benefits that his organisation has felt through WSA membership so far:
The Welsh Padel Centre is a new enterprise, and it was actually Tennis Wales who put us in touch with the WSA. It just seemed that joining as members was a good thing to do because of the benefits available; the WSA know their way around the sporting arena in Wales.
We’re basically a new start-up club, run by people who have never been involved in running a club before! I’m a businessman, overseeing a Padel club purely as a product of my passion for the sport, but I don’t know anything about running a sports club. So, getting resources from the Welsh Sports Association is very useful, in terms of getting that sort of expertise and being able to ask questions.
David continued to detail what benefits the Welsh Padel Centre has taken advantage of as members:
So far, membership has had the effect of assisting us greatly in getting competitive insurance and understanding the legislation pertaining to the sports sector.
When we were initially casting around for insurance, our standard broker who gave us usual business insurance was not a specialist in the sports industry, and was therefore struggling to come up with sports insurance.
So, we contacted the WSA who put us in touch with their partners Watkin Davies, who are specialists in that particular field, and we subsequently got insurance very effectively. So, our use of the WSA in that instance worked very well for us!
The other main use we’ve had for the WSA for has been the whole COVID-19 position in respect to sport. A huge benefit has been legislative interpretation given to WSA members.
To be blunt, I’m not interested in politics, so having an organisation that liaises with politicians and does what the WSA does is a big plus.
Looking at the Welsh Government legislation can be fairly mind-numbing, so being provided with an interpretation of that legislation which pertains precisely to sporting activities has been extremely useful.
David went on to give an example of what he is looking forward to using in the future:
The other thing that I will probably be using the WSA for is putting more of our content in Welsh. At the moment our website is purely in English but we’re aware of the need to have some of that in Welsh because, after all, we are the Welsh Padel Centre! So, we’ll avail ourselves of the WSA’s services for that issue, too.
Asked if he’d refer prospective members to the WSA, David stated:
I’d certainly recommend the WSA; if somebody asked me if I regret signing up, I’d respond absolutely not – it’s been hugely useful.
As a businessman running a sporting company, it’s a valuable resource for information to support you with the knowledge and expertise that you may not have yourself. In the same way that you’d talk to an accountant to understand the finer workings of accountancy, the WSA provides you with expertise of the sports sector!
For more information about the benefits of WSA membership, click here.
To discover how to become a member, click here.
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