Membership application process

New applicants for membership of BAFRA need to complete a membership application form (MS-Word format / PDF format), sign it and send it by post to the General Secretary. The appropriate forms will be issued by the Director of Recruitment or one of his/her team.

The precise process is as follows:

1. Applicant sends form by post to the General Secretary (GS) along with the appropriate payment of £30 (or £15 for those only wishing to be flag/5-a-side members or £5 for those only wishing to become affiliate members). There is no payment required from those only applying for Restricted Overseas membership..
2. GS checks that:
1. the form has been completed fully - if not, GS refers back to applicant
2. the correct payment accompanies the form
3. applicant is not on any blacklist (e.g. banned from the sport)
3. GS shares the application with the Membership Sub-committee (GS and the President or another Director) and they decide whether the applicant meets the membership requirements
4. If there are no issues with the application, the application will be accepted - it is expected that the vast majority of applications will be accepted at this stage of the process
5. If the applicant does not meet the membership requirements or any issues arise (Regulations 1.11, 1.12, 1.13), the applicant will be rejected.
6. If an application is rejected, GS will inform the applicant and notify them of the appeals procedure (Regulation 1.12).
7. If the applicant appeals, GS sends the application plus a confidential report on the reasons for the original rejection and any further statement provided by the applicant to the Membership Appeals Sub-committee (the other directors) and they make the final decision.
8. If an application is rejected, any payment made will be refunded provided that any training material that has been issued is returned in good condition to the GS.
9. If/when an application is successful, GS will inform:
1. the applicant
2. the Administration Team (so that access to the website can be provided)
3. the Director of Training
4. the Director of Recruitment
5. the Director of Finance
10. An applicant who is rejected (including after appeal), may apply again no sooner than 6 months after the submission of the original application.
11. Normally, applicants will be notified of the result of their application within 7 days. Appeal decisions will normally be notified within 14 days. Either may take longer if further information or checking is required, or key personnel are unavailable.
12. For people who have already completed a BAFRA approved course in flag and/or 5-on-5 football and hold a BAFRA Certificate of Competency for those disciplines, it is possible to join BAFRA as a 5-on-5/Flag only official. The application forms for this may be found here MS-Word Format and here PDF Format
13. People aged 16 or 17 wishing to join BAFRA need to complete this membership application MS-Word Format / PDF format