published January-February Issue 2016

Are You Properly Carded?

A couple of notes about membership, card numbers, medical exemptions

by David Sidles, NHPA Secretary-Treasurer

Once you are issued an NHPA card number, it should never change, unless you move to a different charter. Most charters can issue up to 9,999 unique numbers. We hope that each charter gets that many members someday. The official record of your name and card number is what is on NATSTATS. You are encouraged to check to see if your number and name are correct. If it is not correct, let the NHPA office know and we’ll correct it.

A feature of the new 2016 membership card is a place to designate a granted medical exemption. These exemptions are going to be tracked more closely, particularly at this year’s World Tournament. If your charter has granted you a medical exemption, make sure you are able to provide copies of the NHPA provided exemption forms. (Copies of your acceptance forms are available from your charter secretary.)

For a variety of reasons, we cannot stress enough how important it is for you to have a current membership card when you play in a sanctioned event, whether it is a tournament or a league. We are now checking the NATSTATS complete file of results against the names submitted by your charter officials on their final membership reports. If you are on NATSTATS and not on a membership list, it will appear that you played without paying for a membership, and we will be contacting your charter for more information. More often than not, it is a simple mistake in reporting, like a card number mistyped, either on results submitted or a membership report.

The number of members that are reported determines your charter’s representation and voting power at the annual business meeting. It is vitally important that these reports be complete and timely. Per the NHPA bylaws, these reports are to be submitted at least quarterly with a final report due by November 1 of each year.

Membership dues are the primary source of funding for the NHPA. Show your support of the NHPA by signing up your entire family. The NHPA Council is doing what it can to minimize costs, but at the same time we want your experience as a member of the NHPA to be the best it can be.