Club managers, club secretaries and other professionals involved in club management now have the opportunity of joining the Club Managers Association of Europe (CMAE) through its newly incorporated Scottish Region.
The CMAE is a non-profit professional association for managers of membership clubs and is based on the model of the widely recognised Club Managers Association of America (CMAA). The American Association has over 7,000 members from 3,000 clubs, 85% of whom are involved in the golf industry.
At the Gleneagles launch last Thursday James B Singerling, chief executive of the CMAA, gave details of the American Association and its aims, to a gathering of founder members of the Scottish Region. Ireland was the first market to adopt the CMAA template and since the start of their region in 2003 have signed up over 80 managers.
Niall Flanagan, Golf Services Manager at St Andrews Links, is the president of the newly constituted Scottish Region of the CMAE. “I am delighted to be involved in the launch of the Scottish Region of the CMAE and am in no doubt that the Association will benefit every member who joins,” he said. “For some time now, America has taken the lead in club management training and accreditation but with an increasing number of members‘ clubs now operating throughout Europe, it is time for us to catch up.
“Clubs are big business and cannot be run on outdated systems and practices. The Club Managers Association of Europe are therefore aiming to bring the best of management techniques, which have been shown to be successful and of wide ranging benefit in America, to clubs throughout Europe.”
The objectives of the CMAE are:
- To encourage the education and professional development of its members.
- To provide assistance to club officers and members through their secretary/general manager.
- To advance professional relationships between and among persons connected with the management of clubs and other similar associations.
- To promote best practices in products, services and innovative programmes for the successful management of clubs.
As part of on-going professional development, the CMAE will offer education programmes throughout Europe, which will result in the Certified Club Manager (CCM) and British Management Institute (BMI) awards becoming benchmarks for the club industry’s formal development programme.
Further information is available from Niall Flanagan, President, Scottish Region, Club Managers Association of Europe, Tel: 01334 466666 enquiries@standrews.org.uk