Chester & District Bowling League – Annual General Meeting
Wednesday, 18 January 2012 at 7.30 pm –
Upton British Legion
Minutes
1. Chairman : Opens meeting.
Chairman opened the meeting by asking members to stand for a few moments in memory of those members no longer with us.
2. Apologies for Absence. John Evans, Gary Smith, Roy Jackson (Hoole); Joyce Duffy (Cuddington); Mark Fleet (Parciau); Mark Lamb (Hawkesbury);Ron Wing (Upton).
3. Chairman's Statement. (Combined with Secretary’s Report and County Representative Report)
The League progressed smoothly again, with only minor weather interruptions. The Cup, Round Robin and Merit Final were also successful ...Lesley (Comp Sec) will comment on these later.
In response to the circular sent to all clubs concerning possible alterations to the League format, I was aware of quite a bit of discussion round the greens, but only two notes sent to me on this. A Council meeting on the subject was disappointing, in that Members preferred to echo the views of their own clubs rather than discuss from the League perspective. More on this later.
This year I had a sponsorship offer from a company representing with Boughton Residential Homes. Last year the hoped for sponsorship fell through, but this year 's is progressing. Hence the new link on the web site – also an ad will appear in the Handbook for the first time.
Now to the future -
I like to think our website is as good as any for Bowls. To keep it this way I intend to put individual game scores for each match as some leagues do. This makes it even more important that results cards are posted promptly. Or sent by email with full player results.
Emails are now the favoured method of contacting clubs. Obviously this has been forced on us to some extent by the massive increase in postage especially for larger envelopes. I have 3 teams without an email contact. Gladstone, Upton and Westminster Park. I reckon with Simon joining the Committee, Gladstone will be OK. Also, Upton and Westminster Park have now provided email contacts, so we are now almost independent of the Post Office mail system.
Handbooks etc will be distributed from Cherry pavilion as last year, date and time to be announced when we have the handbooks. A Sunday morning seems to be the preferred day.
Cheshire County and similar matters.
I withdrew as you know from the Reps job, but this year “re-
I attended the AGM on behalf of the League and did point out the pitfall of including ALL one day comps. But the motion was passed. I don't believe that those voting for it fully realised the implications.
BUT the wording was luckily suspect, so I was able to argue for an interpretation that DID NOT included one day comps. However, final days of multiple day comps will be affected. Worse, the County put a motion to BCG on this. We'll see if it gets accepted on 21 Jan.
The County Centenary handbooks (separate from the normal ones) are printed and each Directly affiliated Club will get three free. Extras available at £5.
British Crown Green. Most of you, I hope, will have rec'd emails from me with forms from the BCG, They are doing a sort of census. All details to be with them by the end of June. Unfortunately laborious, but sadly necessary.
4. Minutes of previous meeting. Meeting accepted these, which had been distributed in the Spring of last year.
5. Matters arising. There were no matters arising.
6. Secretary's Report Covered above under item 3
7. Matters arising. None
8. Treasurer's Report Ann Wilson, our Treasurer, reported that our finances were in good order. She also noted that all the cheques listed as uncleared on the distributed accounts had now been cleared.
9. Matters arising In response to a question from the floor the Chairman replied that the word “honoraria” indicated payments to the main officers as gratuities for work undertaken through he year.
10. Competition Secretary's Report Lesley noted that the Eldridge Cup had gone extremely well. After an excellent final, the marginal favourites, Parciau Young Guns, were undone by the persistent display of the eventual winners, Hawkesbury Red Hawks. She thanked Tarvin BC, the Final hosts, for a well prepared green and for their generous hospitality on the night.
Turning to the League Merit, she complimented the winner, Mike Riley of Pen&Pen for the excellence of his play through the day; but offered commiserations to Matthew Roberts of Broughton & Bretton as he was denied a League Merit for the second year running, having also reached final last year. She made special mention of the outstanding contribution of the hosts Gladstone to the Final Day, a thoroughly excellent and enjoyable day in every respect. Many, many thanks to all those who assisted.
Lesley went on to observe that the changes made to the Round Robin had been well received. (The home/away on the same night format had been abandoned along with tying the fixtures to within Divisions). The three finals were held on the same night at Broughton, Cherry Grove and Farndon, all who proved well prepared greens and the friendly hospitality we've come to take for. She thanked these clubs, and indeed all those who had made the various competitions so enjoyable and successful this year.
Finally, Lesley asked that anyone with a grumble or a complaint about anything to do with competitions should NOT direct these to her at a match in which she was involved. She rightly pointed out that she turned up on match nights to enjoy her match rather than to field complaints. If there were any complaints, these could and should be made privately by phone or through the League in the proper way.
11. Matters arising None
12. County delegate. Covered above under item 3
12a. Open discussion on the measure suggested through the season for alleviating League Shrinkage
i) adoption of the starring system
ii) reduce teams to 10 players.
This produced a lively discussion, the main points aired were as below.
Reduction to 10 players. There was little support for this, although some members
did point out that they knew of Leagues who had been forced to reduce as far as 8
players. However, we have a number of teams with substantial membership, even though
it was accepted that one or two teams seem to be struggling. It was suggested that
unless the situation became really serious (See later) then the idea was retrogressive
in that it would reduce player-
Starring system . The Chairman noted that a large number of Leagues did use this system as a means of allowing players to swap between teams in the same club on a controlled basis, as most players understood it
To the members, this seemed to be the only advantage (in principle).
This was outweighed by the following main points:
a. many clubs found resentment from the B team who faced regular demands for players from the A team at short notice;
b. this led on to the observation that some players would not develop a “team loyalty” if they were continually changing team members thought the system could be abused by a club not starring the best players.
c. Some members related individual anecdotes on the sort of dissatisfaction (as above) that they had observed in friends or relatives who played under the starring system.
d. One club referred to the fact that the structure of the club in terms of its catchment for different teams meant that such a system would be “impossible to implement”. Another stated categorically that if the League adopted this rule they would simply fail to implement it. (This is actually possible without breaking League rules provided a starring list was be submitted (chairman))
e. A final option was mentioned by the Chairman which had been heard around the greens, that if a team was a player light, then a player from the opposition cold be drawn to play again. The meeting was implacably against this idea for two reasons....too easy to abuse, and it was wryly observed that many players simply could not mange two games in an evening,.
The Chairman ended the discussion by stating that he had offered these suggestions because it would be serious for the League of we did lose another team or more. He said he was looking to the future rather than change the League simply for the sake of it. As Secretary dealing with weekly match cards, he noted that there were just a few more shortages this year than in the past, although in response to a query, he admitted that he had not collected statistics on player absentees in the past. He promised to do this in the coming season.
The Chairman thanked the members for their interest in the matter through the season and for the fact that obviously quite few discussions actually had taken place. However, he concluded from the discussion tonight, that at this stage it was clear the League did not wish to change. We would therefore continue “as we are”. He promised to keep the situation under review.
13. Election of officers 2012.
a. Peter Smeaton withdrew as Chairman, but said he will continue in his post as Secretary.
b. Peter Smeaton proposed Mr Simon Walker as Chairman.
Mr Walker is seconded by Mr Grahame Beer (Gladstone) and Mrs Lesley Williams (Mancot).
There being no other nominations prior to 1 Nov 2011, Mr Walker was duly elected as our new Chairman.
14. The following proposal has been received from Cuddington BC, seconded by Burton & Puddington BC :
that the 2011 Council and officers be elected en-
Mr Brian Whitlow had indicated to the Secretary that he would withdraw form the Vice Chair and from the League Council for family reasons.
The Secretary advised the meeting that he had a paper proposal from Chris Allen (Tower BC) nominating Mrs Liz Thornelow of Tower BC as Vice Chairman. This has been seconded by Mark Fleet (Parciau) and by Peter Smeaton (Sec). In the absence of any other nominations Liz Thornelow was confirmed as Vice Chairman.
Finally, Peter Smeaton has agreed to resume his position as County Rep on the Cheshire County Management Committee.
******** New Items. **********
15. Proposal from Broughton & Bretton, seconded by Sychdyn. To alter Rule 7.4 of the Competition Rules regarding the League Merit Final.
The proposal was introduced by Tom Roberts (Broughton & Bretton)
The handicap allocated to a B or C division player shall not apply if a player is an established A Team player in another League.
The meeting discussed this proposal favourably, but suggested that the wording be more flexible. An amendment was put by Mr Simon Walker, seconded by Lesley Williams, that the League Council should be give the authority to amend handicaps where appropriate. The Chair man put the amendment to the meeting and it was carried with 1 dissenting vote, otherwise nem con..
The Alteration to Rule 7.4 will now read as follows:
The handicap allocated to B and/or C Division may be adjusted by the League Council if the Council feels it appropriate; for example, taking into account the status of the player in any other League(s).
16. Proposal from Parciau BC seconded by Farndon BC.
Extension of dress code rules for League Finals.
The BCGBA dress code shall apply in all Final Days of our competitions – i.e. League Merit, and All Round Robin Finals. (The rule for the Eldridge cup which specifies semi finals and finals (Competition Rule 2.15) will remain unaltered.
Accepted nem con.
17. Proposal from Competition Secretary (Lesley Williams), seconded by the Secretary (Peter Smeaton)
Alteration to Competition Rule 7 – League merit.
The League Merit will be held on the 1st Sunday in September.
This proposal was presented to fix the date of our Merit Final, in order to clarify our position with respect to other local Leagues.
Accepted nem con.
**********************
18. The announcement of the League Winners etc and Trophies 2011 followed as in the Agenda.
(Prize money already distributed)
The Divisional Cups were presented to representatives of the A, B, C Division winners.
A Div. The Weston Championship Cup to Broughton & Bretton A
2ndHoole Alex, 3rdParciau A
B Div The Cayzer Awarded to Mancot
2ndHoole Vics, 3rdPen & Pen
C Div The Division C Championship Cup to Deva
2ndWhitby Sports, 3rdUpton.
Eldridge Cup Winners : Hawkesbury Red Hawks
Runners up : Parciau Young Guns
League Merit (Ron Dawson Trophy)
Winner : Mike Riley (Pen & Pen)
Runner up : Matthew Roberts (Broughton and Bretton)
Individual Divisional Merit Winners:
Div A : Des Hey ( Broughton and Bretton A)
Div B : Mike Riley (Pen & Pen)/Adam Penlington(Hoole Vics)
Div C : Alan Vickers (Deva)
Junior Player of the year : Adam Penlington (Hoole Vics)
Round Robin Winners : Mancot, Whitby Sports, Rossett Celts.
19. League Merit Venue 2012 : Cuddington ; 2013 Mancot.
Each to be held on the 1stSunday in Sept.
These venues were confirmed; the Chairman asked for nominations for 2014 to be made at the next AGM
20. The entry into Cheshire County InterLeague Competition -
21. Chairman's closing remarks.
The Chairman thanked members for attending, and wished everyone successful bowling
for the coming season. He closed the meeting at 8-
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