Minutes of Castleford & District Badminton League AGM – 29th June 2011
1. Minutes of Last Meeting – Copies of minutes were available at the meeting. The minutes were agreed as a true record; proposed Steve Bramfoot, seconded Sue Parker.
2. Matters Arising – There were no matters arising.
3. Secretary’s Report – Rod said that the season had gone well with no major issues. He was however concerned at the number of un-played matches even though there had been a rule change last year to try and restrict the number; he acknowledged that the weather had not helped.
The League insurance was in place but had to be increased to provide increased cover of £5m; previously £2m. This cost the League and extra £326.84. Alison may wish to reflect on this in setting next year’s registration fees.
Rod confirmed that the junior tournament had increased numbers but most were in the U13 group so it would be a while before they came through into the League. Nevertheless it was encouraging as there could have been more if the timing had been better.
Tournament numbers were down which was a concern that George will want to address.
Finally Rod said that he did not intend to provide duplicate scorebooks as most people were submitting scores via the website. He asked people to let him know if they wanted an alternative or were happy to print a score sheet form the website.
4. Treasurers Report - Detailed accounts were presented but have been excluded from the web edition.
5. Match Secretary’s Report – Steve said that there had been un-played matches in 3 out of the 4 division’s. People were using the internet for reporting match results with only 3 being sent by post last year. He asked teams to check the recorded score with the opposition as he often received conflicting results for the same match and it was very time consuming to establish the correct score.
6. Handicap Secretary’s Report – Neil said that delays in playing matches had a knock on effect this year, hence the proposed rule change. He thanked those people who had taken the time to complete the survey and that peoples views would be taken into account when developing the new website, which he would cover later; specifically live results of the tournament will be included.
There was a discussion regarding the accuracy of handicaps, Neil Harrison felt that theirs had been very good this year, Teresa Hobman felt the + 50 or – 50 points was very good. Steve asked for volunteers to come to the handicap meeting to help improve handicaps.
7. Tournaments Secretary’s Report – George said everyone who entered enjoyed the tournaments but the number were significantly down on previous years; 150 in total. There was one night when the courts were not used even though they had to be paid for. He confirmed that a third of the clubs did not enter or show any interest. Delayed League matches, due to the bad weather, was cited as the main reason but it was felt that more could be done within clubs to encourage people to take part. George said that the Super Vets tournaments had to be cancelled. Teresa suggested raising the age groups; a suggestion which had been discussed last year when it was agreed to have separate tournaments for division’s 1&2 and 3&4. Stewart suggested combining the Vets and Super Vets and including a handicap of, say plus 5 to the Super Vets. It was agreed to leave the tournaments as they are next year but look at the timing and for the Committee to consider the points raised for the next years AGM if things did not improve.
8. Election of Officers – Steve advised the meeting that Elaine Hodgson had resigned as Assistant Secretary and that Emma Downing had agreed to take over that role. There being no further nominees he asked the meeting to endorse the nominees. Proposed Neil Musgrove seconded Steve Bramfoot. Names and positions held are shown at the end of the minutes.
9. Divisions for 2011/2012 – Rod said that not all registrations had been received but he knew that Garforth Falcons were resigning, Ossett were struggling because of a lack of women players and Cudworth could not raise a team to play in division 2. He confirmed that there are currently 25 teams and that any further reductions would probably mean moving to 3 divisions of 7/8 teams. He asked that the meeting leave the decision on next year’s divisions be left to the Committee once they had a better idea of the final number of teams registering. The meeting felt it was better to have fewer divisions and play more matches.
10. Rule Changes – Steve outlined the reason for the Committee proposed rule change. The reasons for matches being cancelled and difficulties in rearranging were mainly attributed to the poor weather. For this reason a number of people felt that it was inappropriate to include a mandatory fine and suggested that this should be discretionary. It was confirmed that clubs/teams could opt out of the handicap competition. A modification to the rule change was proposed;
“Matches should be played in the scheduled week, or not later than two weeks prior to the next round of the competition. Failure to do so will result in the defaulting team being knocked out of the competition and fined £15, unless the Committee deem it inappropriate. In the event of there being a dispute the Committee will decide which team defaulted:
The rule change was adopted; proposed Stewart Tyson, seconded Tim Howcroft.
11. New Website – Neil outlined the reasons why the Committee felt that a new website was required and, having seen an outline of the proposed website, had approved its further development. He outlined the many benefits, one of which was that various Committee members could have an input and update their areas of responsibility. He said that it was proposed to move to the new website next season and Neil asked for feedback on what clubs would like to see included.
12. Child Protection – Rod said that the existing child protection policy was out of date and no longer apt. It was designed with coaching in mind and had not been reviewed for sometime. Clubs were now recruiting members who were under 18 and hence the League needed a Child Protection Policy which reflected this change. He confirmed that a small working group had been set up and invited others to join. To date it was felt that CRB checks, Child Protection Training and possibly First Aid Training would be necessary for selected members. In addition a revised Child Protection Policy was required.
13. Dance and Prize Presentation – Rod said that numbers were down but that was understandable as it coincided with Neil’s wedding. He asked for feedback and the only comment was the disco!! It was agreed to hold next years dinner at the same venue.
14. Meeting Close – Steve thanked everyone for coming and closed the meeting.
Committee Members 2011/2012
Position Held | Name of Committee Member |
Chairperson | Steve Sumner (Jets) |
Secretary | Rod Scott (Garforth) |
Assistant Secretary | Emma Downing (Oulton) |
Treasurer | Alison Roberts (Garforth) |
Match Results Secretary | Steve Sumner (Jets) |
Tournament Secretary's | George Astle (Collingham) Sharon Daniel (Jets) |
Handicap Secretary’s | Joe Starkey (Kippax/Templars) Neil Musgrove (Kippax/Templars) |
Press Officer | Mike Wilmore (Corinthians) |
Executive | Susan Parker (Wanderers) |
Committee | Teresa Hobman (Northgate) |
| Stewart Tyson (Garforth) |
| Kate Rowlatt (Tadcaster86) |
League Auditor | Stewart Tyson (Pendas) |
