One of the advantages of being a Member of a 'National' Union is that if members wish to travel overseas to compete in international championships they may represent the ESSU in doing so. The Article entitled 'Representative Teams' clearly states the conditions under which this can be done and should be referred to for guidance
Many international competitions are not 'Open Meetings' as such, and the Organisers will only accept entries via a governing body such as ours. We naturally wish to be held in high esteem by the Organisers and do not want to spoil our reputation by entering individuals in the name of the ESSU if there are likely to be any problems on any of those excursions. For Members under the age of 18 we have a moral and legal duty of care to ensure that they are chaperoned by a responsible adult. Furthermore, where there is a large group, consisting of about 10 or more individuals, (not a fixed figure), the Committee have decided that a Team Manager should be appointed to accompany the Party. This is particularly important if there are inexperienced athletes or Juniors attending such a competition for the first time. The Organisers naturally require every large group to have a single point of contact to ensure that incidentals such as travelling, accomodation, or any emergency situations are taken care of. That person might be a volunteer such as a parent or possibly a Discipline Coach, and it would be unreasonable of us to expect them to fully pay for their own travelling and accommodation costs as well as performing that important role.
The ESSU does not have sufficent funds to pay for a travelling Team Manager on each of the trips where one is appointed, so each of the athletes must contribute towards their expenses. The suggested maximum is £20.00 per head, but this is variable dependent on the numbers travelling and other savings that are made. It is not intended to appoint a Team Manager for trips that involve a small group of experienced members who are competant to make their own arrangements.
If the Academy Head Coaches, or their Assistant Coaches, wish to travel with a group of their athletes to such competitions then their expenses must be covered from within their respective budgets.
The Team Manager has the authority to enter an England Team if there are any international competition on the programme. We have strict conditions that apply to anyone being included in an England team, the main one being that they must have achieved a MCS in the specific event to qualify. The applicable MCS's will be displayed on this website. If there are an insufficient number of qualified individuals to form an England Team, then a team could be entered as 'ESSU-England' if the Organisers allow it, but Members of that Team would not qualify for England international honours. Current members of TENS, (not the Academies), qualify automatically.
It must be understood by all those wishing to travel on one of these excursions, that they are fully responsible for paying their own costs in respect of travelling, accommodation and entry-fees, PLUS a contribution towards the Team Manager's expenses, as described above. By arranging group bookings for accommodation, or by organising travelling together to reduce the number of vehicles, these costs could be considerably reduced.
Members are required to complete an 'Expression of interest' form if they would like to be included in the travelling party. These Eoi forms will be available for each of the relevant competitions that members have asked to attend.