VOLUME 8, NUMBER 12 December 2000

From Brandi Deemer, National Special Projects Coordinator- On December 3, I became the newest member of the AVA headquarters staff. As your Special Projects Coordinator, I will now handle all New Balance Athletic Shoe Sponsorship Requests and Event Kit Order forms previously handled by Rob Gale. The new updated New Balance Sponsorship Request forms and Event Kit Order forms are enclosed in this month’s Checkpoint. I have witnessed a great deal of enthusiasm among our members and I am looking forward to helping each club successfully execute this year’s walks. There are only a few guidelines I would like to reiterate for the new year. Due to the heavy volume of sponsorship request forms, all forms must be received at least eight weeks prior to the event by mail. If they are received after the eight week deadline or received via fax they will not be filled. Also New Balance Sponsorship Request forms and Event Kit Order forms are two separate forms and must be filled out accordingly. Please do not send more than one request form per sanctioned event. If you have not received a confirmation by mail at least three weeks before your event you may contact us by E-mail or phone. If you have not received your NBAS gift certificate please contact us within five days of your event. Also please do not attempt to contact New Balance headquarters directly. As the AVA contact for New Balance you may direct all questions and concerns to me.

In addition, please continue to include the New Balance logo on your walk brochures and newsletters. As our official sponsor, it is important that our clubs acknowledge their continued support and involvement in our sport. Like many of you, our vision for the AVA includes increasing awareness about our organization and its many benefits. While, the AVA is not a new organization, it is fair to say that there are many people today who are unaware of its existence. Many of our clubs actively promote their events but their are those who continue to keep this wonderful secret to themselves. I would like to thank those of you who have contacted the AVA about public opportunities to share the good news about volkssporting. Distance does not have to be a hindrance, please allow me to share in your progress.

An Overview of AVA-Girl Scout Program, from Tim Miner National Youth Coordinator--This fall, AVA President Nancy Stenger hosted a President's Walk in Northern New Jersey where the Memorandum of Agreement between the AVA and the Girl Scouts of the USA was formally signed. While we have been working under the rules of the agreement for some time, it is wonderful to have the signed document. This gives us wonderful opportunities.

This is the second year we've been working in an organized fashion with the councils of the GSUSA. Because each council is its own separate entity, the headquarters of the GSUSA was not able to put hard rules on how our clubs will work with the councils. Each club and each council must come to an agreement for itself about the relationship they wish to have. As a club, you are a non-profit business responsible for marketing and administering your own events. There have been three ways to have the Girl Scouts participate on the trail with you. There have also been four different economic relationships so far in the program. You, the club, must work with the council to negotiate the combination that meets everyone's needs.

As I said, there are three ways to have the Girl Scouts come to your events. First, you can invite councils to select one of your regular events as its official "Walk-Together." Girl Scouts, family members, and leaders attend the regular event along with other volkssporters. Second, some clubs are hosting their year-round events for the council when scheduling is a problem. Third, some clubs are adding new events to their calendar at the request of the council. In all three methods, the clubs do the sanctioning, trail marking and clean-up, and much of the work including marketing to the Volkssport community. The Girl Scout program will handle the marketing to the Girl Scout community and many will handle pre-registration. I should mention a fourth method to possibly get Girl Scouts to your events. One AVA club has had the council print the whole event schedule for the year into the GS newsletter, and the individual troops attend the event of their choice.

One of the biggest marketing tools we have is that Girl Scouts love patches. When we add this to the fact that the GSUSA program wants the girls to do sporting activities, then the AVA program is a natural partnership. You can offer the scouts who walk for credit in your events your own "A" award. You can create your own patch for the event. Or, finally, you can use the very low cost generic patch that the AVA Youth Program has available to use. The generic patch is called the AVA Participation Patch for Girl Scouts. It can be your "A" award for any council-sponsored event. It can also be an alternate award for any Girl Scout who does any AVA-sanctioned event for credit anywhere in the country. The cost of the generic patch is about $1 depending on how we handle postage and the size of your order. The generic patch must be offered for sale for no more than your cost to the scouting program. The generic patch is changed every September with the new Girl Scout year. You can order the patches directly from the AVA National Youth Coordinator (avamaster@aol.com), and you can return the extras that aren't used. Girl Scouts love that we have patches to offer them.

This leads to the kinds of economic relationships that have occurred. As I said, there are four different ways to handle this. First, most clubs offer the award for credit fee plus the cost of the award, and free walkers are welcome. Second, one club buys the awards and fees for the scouts so that everyone comes free. Third, one council wants everyone to pay to attend and splits the profits with the club--both the club and council make money this way. Finally, one club has invoiced the council for two-hundred credit walkers in advance and its up to the council to get the people there. Not every club handles the credit fees the same way. Some are charging $2 and some clubs rebate a part of the fee back. Again, you must negotiate what is best for you. No club is under any obligation to do anything that doesn't meet their needs financially or for scheduling.

Here are some other important facts about this program.

Sometimes the councils have girls who want to work the event as a community service project. Hopefully you will welcome their help.

Ninety percent (90) of the Girl Scouts and leaders are doing 5 kilometer walks as their first event. Plan to have a short trail. Credit stamps are part of the program. Scouts are getting two insert cards with their awards. Each club should have a display of the IW individual achievement awards and other program patches that will make collecting the stamps exciting for the girls. While we are not pushing "New Walker" packages, many scout families are buying them after tasting volkssporting.

To get started, you need to contact the Girl Scout Council's "GirlSport" Director in your area. She is the person who can make this relationship happen.

Girl Scout councils plan far in advance. You need to be ready to set a date in May for the fall of the year, and in November for the spring. Some clubs are doing events in the summer, but for the most part the fall and spring are the most active times.

The Headquarters of the GSUSA has designed a patch for the Girl Scout uniform for any scout who completes the AVA's Master Youth Program. There will be brochures available to explain the whole youth program printed this month. Watch for them.

So, hopefully, you can see that there is great potential from our relationship with the largest girl's organization in the world. There are over 2.5 million Girl Scouts and over 880,000 leaders in the United States. If every one of them just did one AVA event every year....

By the way, the GSUSA isn't the only youth organization to recognize the benefit of the AVA's program. Next issue we will discuss the Big Brothers and Big Sisters Programs, and how some clubs are working with the Boy Scouts in their area.

Again, please direct all questions to the AVA National Youth Coordinator at avamaster@aol.com .

IMPORTANT NOTICE!--Enclosed you will find a sheet of information pertaining to the new Ted Ballman Memorial Award. Please read and act on it quickly. The deadline is February 1.

Additions--You will find the latest copy of the IVV World Report, along with changes to the AVA Policy Manual enclosed with your Checkpoints.