Minutes of AGM held on 24th September 2012 at the Talbot

Present:  John Clarke, Dave Cooper, Neil Davies, Craig Lamb, Ray Lamb, John Lea, John Pritchard (minutes), Ted Randles, Barry Tipton, Gordon Vickers, Margaret Walker, Nigel Walker, Pat Wallace, Dale Williams.

Apologies: Billy Williams.

The Chairman opened the meeting at 8.10pm, welcomed all those present and thanked everyone for attending. A brief resume of the Agenda was given to those present.

1. Election of Officials

The first item on the agenda was the Election of Officials and the following people were nominated / elected:-
 

Mike Turner, Brian Welch and Billy Williams could not make the meeting tonight, but were nominated for the Committee again and were duly elected.

2. Statement of Accounts

The Treasurer presented the Statement of Accounts for 2011-12 and copies were made available for those present.   During the discussion of financial matters, it was felt that the league fees should be raised for the forthcoming season due to the anticipated reduction of donations received.    Ted Randles proposed fees should be raised to £50, this was seconded by John Lea and carried unanimously.

The amount spent on trophies was also discussed, and the question was raised "Do we really need runner-up trophies?".   After discussion, the majority felt runner-up recognition should be retained, and the Treasurer undertook to see if medals might be a cheaper option for runner-up prizes.        John Clarke then proposed that the Accounts be accepted as a true record of the league's financial situation, this was seconded by Nigel Walker and carried unanimously by all present.

3. Any Other Business

One formal written proposal was received from John Clarke, also a letter commenting on the proposals from Dave Jones, but before these were discussed, the Chairman gave a quick summary of news to the meeting.

First, (and depending on outcome of John Clarke's 2nd proposal) the Winter League will start on Wednesday, 24th October 2012, and the format will be the same, ie. minimum of 6 players to play, up to two lowest scorers can play again, if required.    There are 10 confirmed teams so far:-  Bawn Lodge,  Railway,  Royal Oak, St. Theresa's Club, St. Werburgh's Club,  Spital Vaults,  The Talbot,  Union Vaults,  United Services Club and  Ye Olde Cottage.  

The Egerton Arms are struggling for a team and we think they have 5 players at present.  It is hoped they will be able to enter a team, Secretary to check in next few days.   The Royal Oak 'B' team have moved to the Railway for the forthcoming season.   In addition, there is the possibility of a ladies team from the Railway if they can get enough players.

Second, Singles and Doubles entry forms will be distributed shortly, with the league fixtures.

Third, Mark Williams and Abbey Taxis have agreed to continue their sponsorship of the league, and the Abbey Taxi logo will appear on all sheets.  Thank you Mark!

Fourth, the Open Knockout will be held again in 2013, same prize money as this year, but it will probably be the last year for it.   The competition has been funded every year since 2007 and we owe a huge debt of gratitude to the sponsor, Mr J. Dodd.

John Clarke then took the floor and introduced each of his four proposals in turn for discussion / voting.   Copies were given to all present, plus the letter of comments from Dave Jones.

John's first proposal was to introduce a new rule on the subject of coaching / supporting.    The new rule would state that team-mates are allowed to support / encourage a player, but cannot offer any comment that could be considered advice.    Some discussion took place and examples of comments were discussed.   John Clarke then formally proposed the new rule, Ted Randles seconded, and it was carried unanimously.   The Committee will work on the exact wording to be introduced to the rules at the next meeting.

John's second proposal was to suggest that all league and cup games be played on a Wednesday night, effectively ending the Summer League.   This produced some lengthy discussion, the advantages of the idea was that Wednesday would become 'bagatelle night', and it would leave people free for pool / dominoes on a Thursday.   The disadvantages were that if a team was knocked out of the various cups in the first round they could have a lot of free Wednesdays which might cause people to lose interest.   Also the fixtures would need some careful thought on how cup games would fit in with committee meetings and how cup draws would be made.      After discussion, it became clear that the changes needed more consideration, so the proposal was amended by John and seconded by Nigel Walker, that the Committee should think about how the changes might be implemented for the following year (2013/14).    The voting on the amended proposal was carried 11-4 (including 'for' vote in Dave Jones letter) and the committee will consider how the changes could be implemented.

John's third item was to propose changing the 5-a-side competition to a 351 'exact finish' format, rather than total team score.   It quickly became apparent that the majority present wanted to keep the 5-a-side competition in its traditional format, but everyone agreed that a new competition in this format was well worth trying.   After further discussion, it was proposed that a new 4-a-side competition be introduced, with teams playing to a 351 exact finish.   Players would play alternatively, one stick at a time, and the winning team would be the one who reached an exact score of 351 in the least number of balls.   Entry would be £4 per team.    This amended proposal was put to the meeting and carried unanimously in favour of a new 4-a-side '351 competition'.

John's fourth suggestion was to re-introduce a Presentation Night at the end of the season, to be held on a Wednesday night with "Killer Bagatelle" being played.   It was felt a biggish venue should be chosen so that everyone could see the table when killer was being played.   The United Services was suggested as an example of a good option.    This proposal was voted on and carried 13-1.  

 After the formal proposals, the floor was thrown open, and Ted Randles asked about the website hosting.    The Chairman confirmed that formal notification had recently been received from BT that the free web space was being withdrawn soon, and a new hosting would cost £2.49 a month, or £30 a year.   Barry Tipton kindly offered to sponsor the website for the forthcoming year.

The Chairman raised an idea for a Handicap Cup to see what people thought of the suggestion.   Basically, teams would be handicapped, based on their position in the league the previous year, as follows:-

1st place 0 points, 2nd place 10 points, 3rd place 20 points, 4th place 30 points, 5th place 40 points, 6th place 50 points etc down to the team in 11th place who would receive 100 points.      This, if the team that was 3rd played the team that was 6th, the team that was 6th would have 30 points added to their score.    In theory, the idea seemed to be acceptable, so it may be proposed next year.

During the meeting, Talbot landlord Pat Wallace served hot dogs which were superb.  Thanks Pat!

END OF MINUTES