Continuity vs. Flexibility

Maintaining a bass club’s heritage while adapting as needed to meet changing needs and preferences of club members can be a balancing act for a club’s leadership.

By Jeff Samsel

We’ve all heard about churches splitting over the issue of hymns vs. choruses—or even something seemingly small, like the color of the carpet. Some members desire change, while others want every detail to remain exactly the same. In some ways, bass clubs are little different from churches. Every bass club is made up of people, and any given club can be subject to the same sorts of challenges.

On one hand, tradition runs deep in many clubs, and an angler often will join a specific club because he likes the format of that club’s tournaments, the lakes it fishes or the general personality of the club. At the same time, faces tend to change from year to year, and members commonly find intrigue in the ways neighboring clubs operate, or they simply desire variety.

For a club’s leadership, the tension between tradition and change causes an ongoing balancing act, and there’s no single, simple answer to finding the proper balance. It’s a question, however, that should not be overlooked by any club that wants to retain its members. Disdain for a club’s history and traditions or a stubborn refusal to listen to new ideas can prove equally problematic.

A well-drafted constitution and bylaws document can aid the balancing task by putting procedures in writing and laying out avenues for change. It spares a club president from being the bad guy and lessens likeliness of club members taking decisions personally when a written document dictate the club’s official purpose and its procedures and when substantial changes occur only through membership or board votes, as dictated by those documents.

A club’s constitution dictates the fundamental principles that govern its operation and usually begin by stating the club’s purpose. The bylaws establish specific rules and procedures. The constitution, although it should be regularly reviewed, ought to require a strong consensus to change and any proposed constitutional amendments should be considered very seriously. The bylaws should be more easily amended as the needs of the club change.

Any club that lacks a constitution and bylaws document and wants to work to establish one finds a great advantage in today’s information age. Quite a few bass clubs’ websites include copies of their constitution and bylaws, which makes it very easy to compare and contrast numerous pertinent examples in a very short time.
Tim Mead, a 20-plus-year bass club member from Charlotte, N.C., drafted his club’s original constitution and bylaws when he was president of the club. Mead, who has chaired or served on countless boards or committees for organizations of many different sizes and types over the years, believes an organization needs to have rules and follow them.

“During the decade-plus I was president, we followed the rules,” he said. “I did not let discussion run on. I insisted on motions and seconds, not ‘it would be a good idea if we…’”

A club’s leadership structure can also help (or hinder) that club’s effectiveness in maintaining the best balance between continuity and change. Term limits for officers and board members can help keep things from becoming static or inflexible; however, it’s important that all the offices don’t turn over so quickly that clubs end up reinventing the wheel and repeating past mistakes or making too many changes for their own good. It’s also a good idea to have a mix of new blood and veterans of the trenches among a club’s leaders. Of course, the ideal officer structure varies enormously with the size of a club and the formality of its operations.

As important as the paperwork and the policies are, simple communication between a club’s leadership and its membership and among members is equally important. Being a good listener and intentionally asking questions are vital for understanding the most important club traditions and for recognizing areas that could be causing discontentment or leaving gaps in contentment levels.  Given good communication within a club, changes proposed at meetings need not be surprises to anyone, and members can intelligently discuss pros and cons that have already been given consideration. Decisions can then be made by vote or by whatever procedures are dictated in the club’s bylaws.

Mead said that tradition is important to his club, which was one of the first half a dozen BASS-affiliated clubs (although the club is no longer BASS affiliated). One important club tradition is that of sharing information, and a rule created 15 years ago strongly encourages free sharing. Club members compete individually. However, they fish two to a boat, and the club awards “boat points” in addition to individual points from each tournament.

“Those points have never decided first place for the year,” Mead noted, “but they do encourage the member catching fish to share nuances about how or lures or…”
It’s very important for any club’s leaders to recognize those functions that are built on tradition or that help define the club’s unique personality and to make extra efforts to protect those things. Be it a family atmosphere, a competitive edge or a focus on sharing information, bass club members typically value those things that make their club distinctive. Any proposed plan or policy change that is inconsistent with a club’s traditions must be considered with gravity.

Mead, who noted himself to be the club’s senior member by far, has seen change in the “culture of the club” as the membership has changed in recent years. For example, the current leadership runs things more casually and without strict adherence to the constitution and bylaws, and a couple years ago decided not to have an annual dinner, which traditionally included spouses and children and recognized the annual champion.

A tension between tradition and change does exist, according to Mead, and he has witnessed tension over subjects such as which lakes the club should fish each year. As an example, for several years the club fished Cane Creek Lake, a small lake in the North Carolina Piedmont that is specially managed with an 18-inch minimum size. It was finally eliminated from the list a few years ago, however, because several members didn’t like catching several fish in a day and not being able to weigh any of them.

Lake choices and tournament dates can rank among the most contentious subjects for a bass club, as some anglers always want to know exactly what to expect while others prefer to explore new waters.  Other areas that might cause tension between advocates of change and those who prefer things remain unchanged range from tournament structures to the extent of a club’s involvement in charitable functional to traditional club events such as an annual banquet.
In some cases, club changes must be considered due to some sort of external change. That could be as simple new management at the restaurant where meetings are traditionally held or as significant as more restrictive limits on a lake, which dictate either moving a tournament or changing event rules to accommodate the new regulation. 

As commonly, winds of change come from shifts in the make-up of the membership or possibly the leadership. Whatever the source, change in itself is not bad. But neither is continuity. Every club must find the best balance for its own membership.

Continuity vs. Flexibility, cutlines

CF-1, CF-2 – A club’s constitution and bylaws can aid with the balance between continuity and flexibility.  Tim Mead of Charlotte, N.C. drafted his clubs constitution and bylaws during his many years as club president.

CF3, CF-4 – Some club members always want to fish the same waters at the same time to maintain tradition and to know what to expect, while others prefer to explore new waters.

CF5, CF-6 – Tournament formats can be an area of contention, especially when a group of members desires a variance from what the club traditionally has done.

CF7, CF8 – Bass club leaders must be aware of club functions that stem from tradition or that  help define the unique personality of the club and should be cautious about significant changes in those functions.