Hertford League AGM 2009 –  Tuesday 19^th May – held at Unit 50 Nazeing Industrial Park. 

 

Present:  Peter Taylor, Les Edmunds, Faith Frankel, Paul Butler, Terry Smith, Bryon Gates, Malcolm Norris, Terry Burroughs, Tony Manion, Colin Bullworthy, Joanne Swain, Joe Torres, Rita Rowe, Brian Heffernan.

Apologies:  Colin Fell, Chris Day, Ken Gooding & Sue Gillett. 

No representative from County Hall?

2008 Minutes were read and approved:  Proposed by Tony Manion – seconded by Jo Swain.

Chairman’s report:  Joe remarked on how well the season had been played and no arguments had arisen as in previous years.  We had two new teams in the league who were Grundy Park II and Allenbury’s II.  Grundy Park had a very good season and played matches to a high standard.  All matches in the league were played on time.  Good result.

Treasurer Report:  There was a £222 profit made over the year which was an increase of over £100. This was mainly due to Colin Fell kindly printing our handbooks for which we are very grateful.  We believe he is prepared to do them again this year.  The funds did need boosting but now we need to know where to spend the money.  The tournaments were free this year to Juniors but not many adults entered this year.  Maybe they were on difficult dates but feedback would be good to know why the tournaments are not very popular.?  More money was raised through changing our bank account to gain more interest which did help a little. 

Affiliation fees to ETTA were larger this year due to extra teams playing.  Donation was received from tournament refreshments with thanks to Jo Swain for organising and running.  This year we have to pay website registration fee which is paid every 2 years.  There will be less trophies this year as no need to buy youngsters (juniors) as we do not have any. 

Results Secretary:  The season went well and score cards came in on time.

Winners were:  Premier Division  -  Hoddesdon I  (116 pts)  2^nd County Hall (109 pts).

                            Division I   Grundy Park      2^nd Hoddesdon II

                            Division II  Grundy Park      2^nd Lytton.

CUPS:   Premier Cheshunt I.

            Division I  Grundy Park I

           Division II  Lytton 

Handicap Cup   Grundy Park.

All ran very smooth this year.  Cup Representative not present and no report given. !

Colin Bullworthy will put out final result sheet on website and via email as all correspondence is handled in this way now.  Anyone extra can be added to mailing list.  Please let Colin know if any team members would like to be included.  Brian Herrernan asked if we could have list of everyone’s averages.  Colin says he will do so now season is finished.  Please keep WEBSITE updated regularly.

Division Cups were played 20^th April and Handicap the following week.

Tournaments:  Do we still want to play Handicap in November?  Not very well supported.

Closed: held in March  - unfortunately clashed with Herts Open Tournament and we lost some players through this.  We only had 14 entries.  It didn’t make a difference because we didn’t charge this year to enter.  Results will be in TT News. Information was sent to Ann Faraday.   The tournaments are hard work because all players are getting old!!!!  The matches take longer to finish. Brian Heffernan lost to Nigel Gray (VETS)  Brian Day won Competition beating Nigel Gray.

County Rep. Report:  Individual registration may change – will discuss later in AOB.  Juniors have to be under 18 by July.  We only have Bradley Tuttle now.

Colin will put final report on season in Mercury. 

 Jo Swain is our Welfare officer who looks after any problems or issues which occur involving youngsters or vulnerable adults.  She has had no problems this year.

This is a legal requirement by ETTA and County because of Health & Safety.  Jo nominated herself because of her status at work and background knowledge throughout her working life.  Jo is also rep for Cheshunt League and has CRB check which is necessary in this day and age.  Bryon had to give up coaching at Hoddesdon because of this ruling and he received no help from parents and could not find helpers in the league. 

Appointments:  Joe Torres feels he has to cut down on responsibility and does not wish to remain as Chair person through the next season.  He will stay as Treasurer and County Representative providing work shifts allow him to do so which means he can be a committee member.  Do we have anyone wishing to take Chair?  Jo Swain says she will work with Joe to learn what job entails and see us through the next season.     C.Bullworthy proposed  Malcolm Norris Seconded.  All other committee members were voted en bloc:  Rita Rowe, Colin Bullworthy, Colin Fell, Mark Janes.

  Tournaments need extra help to make sure Umpires do their job if they lose, relieve organiser while they play in matches. Some players are in every competition which slows down the rounds.  Maybe we should just have an organiser who doesn’t want to play in matches?  Colin Bullworthy will advertise we need helpers at Tournaments in the newsletter to organise and keep running smoothly. Joe has been on committee for 17 seasons now and has done more than a fair share of all jobs.  Rita came on 2 season ago when Ken Gooding had work commitments and could no longer put time into committee work.  Rita has also been on committee in previous years so it would be good to have new bodies offering help. 

Existing Committee will keep going for this season but things will have to be reviewed next year. 

 

AOB:  ETTA have AGM in June and have put proposal forward for voting regarding Fees.  Whatever is decided we will not be affected until start of September 2010.  The treasurer pays fees for 3 players & one reserve in each team at £4.48 per player.  Plus Insurance of £57.00 per league.   The new proposal is that fees are £1 per player.  If you are registered in more than 1 league you only pay once so you must decide which league you pay your fee to.  ETTA have sent complicated forms to fill in and we may get passes or ID cards to carry and we can play in ANY league.  It is a lot of work to sort out for the Treasurer and could cause complications and confusion.  We will keep you informed after ETTA AGM.

Joe Torres suggested we reduce team fees in the league to £50 from £55 as a gesture in this economic crisis. After discussion people felt it was so small it was best left at £55 and NO CHARGE for competitions & tournaments.  Proposed by Brian Heffernan  seconded by Terry Burroughs. All agreed.

Brian Heffernan suggested we extend league season so we play Tournaments week nights instead of using a Sunday as lots of people find this difficult.  It is done in other leagues around the country. A question was asked about WHERE would we play and extra cost involved for venues.  It might be worth looking into and committee would bear it in mind but it does not seem practical at this present time.

Malcolm Norris has been trying for 2 years to set up a Coaching session for Juniors in the league area and is nearly there with ETTA & Grundy Park to work on Monday’s.  He will need help from all members of league to make this function properly as the “Youngsters today are our future League members!”  The session would possibly be 4.30 – 6.30pm.  There is a possibility of using Hailey Hall School Gym but that is still to be confirmed. 

Question:  Does anyone know about Refurbishment of Tables?  4 are in a bad condition through being handled badly and mistreated.  2 are repairable by Malcolm but Grundy Park have no maintenance for Equipment.  He needs funding for tables and will try the Lottery.  Colin will put note in Newsletter and see if anyone responds. 

Registration forms will be sent out a.s.a.p. via email by Colin Bullworthy.

Cheshunt hope to put 4 teams in league.  -  Grundy Park 2 teams  -  Hoddesdon 4 teams  -  HRC 2 teams  -   Allenbury’s 1 team  (poss. 2)  -  Pramastars 2 teams. 

Lytton will not be joining Hertford League next season. 

 

The meeting closed at 9.45pm.