NEWMARKET BADMINTON
FEDERATION
MINUTES OF ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING
HELD ON TUESDAY 31st
AUGUST 2004
AT SCALTBACK MIDDLE
SCHOOL, NEWMARKET
(followed by fixtures
meeting)
1. Apologies
for absence were received from:
1 club - Borders with a further 1 other
club not represented: Diamonds (no team entered)
Clubs
Represented:
15 (out of 17) clubs – Abbeygate,
Burwell, Con Club, Crossways, Ely Victoria, Haverhill, Howard, Hurst,
Impington, Linton, Littleport, Newmarket, St. Edmunds, St. Phillips, Soham.
Attendance was much improved compared to last year’s 8 out of 18 (Risby having withdrawn since last year’s AGM) so combining the AGM with the fixtures meeting seems to have been a success.
2. Minutes of
the 2003/04 AGM:
The minutes of the previous Annual
General Meeting held on 19th August 2003 were approved and signed by the
Chairman, Anita Jones.
3. Matters
Arising:
No matters arising.
4. Chairman’s
Report:
The Chairman had no formal report as
any issues were to be raised in the course of this meeting.
5. Treasurer’s
Report:
The Treasurer presented the accounts to
the meeting, showing a net profit for the year of £350, increasing current
balances held from £1,037 to £1,386.
This was up from last year’s £234, mainly due to cost savings on the
International Tournament - £200 by not employing the Red Cross and £200 due to
holding the event at just the one venue, Littleport on 14th and 15th
Feb 2004. There are still the costs of
trophies and engraving, estimated at £35 and charges for the last two year’s
Rushworth Finals and AGMs to be charged plus some of the trophies will need
replacing at an estimated cost of £400 so the adjusted position is more likely
to be a balance of approximately £800-£900.
For the second year, other than the International, tournaments were not
held which used to make losses and eat into the balances in any year. There was
no income or spend for the annual dinner and dance which was not held for the
third year (see later regarding a planned event for 2005).
The committee, on behalf of the
Treasurer, proposed, and the meeting accepted, that league affiliation fees
should be the same as last year i.e. for each club £5 and for each team
£3. As there is no proposal to hold
future tournaments (apart from the International) no tournament fees were set.
6. Election of
Officers:
In the absence of any other nominations
and the willingness of the existing committee members to continue, the meeting
re-elected the following committee members en bloc:
Anita Jones (Chairman), Angela Bowman
(Vice-Chairman), Dawn Butterfield (Treasurer), Sandra Arnold (Secretary), Gerry
Widger, Belinda Drummond and Trish Thorpe.
7. Amendment to
Rules:
None.
8. Leagues for
2003/04 season:
The meeting approved the league
proposal which took into account the one-up promotions (apologies to Haverhill
who lost their projected promotion place to Newmarket B who finished top as
their final missing results were matches conceded to them) and one-down
relegations. There was also some restructuring for some teams, which sought to
balance the leagues following teams withdrawn and new entries.
Teams withdrawn from the leagues are, in the Mixed: Impington (during last season), in the ladies: St. Phillips B (Ely Victoria B and Crossways B during the season) and in the men’s: Newmarket C (Diamonds and Impington during the season).
New entries are, in the Men’s:
Impington (returning, again) and in the Ladies: Abbeygate and Haverhill.
One major restructuring was the Ladies’
Leagues where the proposal was to combine the current two divisions into one
league, with teams playing against each other only once – either home or away,
then for next season the home and away advantage will swap against each
team. There was much discussion around
the disadvantages and advantages, including those summarised below. The meeting approved the proposal by a vote
of 7-4 (3 abstentions).
|
Disadvantages |
Advantages |
|
No incentive to play for promotion
from the second division |
Currently, due to the jump in
standard, teams are not keen to be promoted into the first division anyway |
|
Lack of incentive for teams at the
top and bottom to play each other given the difference in standard |
They only have to play each other
once and at least the bottom teams get to play against a higher standard |
|
Abbeygate may decide to field better
players than they had anticipated if the league includes top players which
may be tougher for the lower teams |
Can be absorbed within the combined
league and will make it more competitive for the top teams |
|
Littleport miss out on a real
promotion, having earned it last year |
They will have a weaker side and now
will get games against a broader range of standards |
|
Some teams will have home advantage |
Will swap next year plus can be
flexible about venue (for example if the planned home side needs to
rearrange). |
|
|
Teams get to play a wider range of
standards and not against the “same old faces” so should be more enjoyable |
9. Tournaments:
Unfortunately, apart from the
International Tournament, no other tournaments were held and only the
International will be held next year.
10.
Any Other Business:
International
Tournament:
The committee is pursuing registering the tournament so that the Badminton Association of England can be asked to try to avoid arranging County matches on these dates which are likely to involve local players.
Club
Contact Details:
Please can clubs notify Sandra of an Email contact so that these can be added to the Secretary list, which should assist future communication.
10. Any Other Business continued:-
Newmarket
Badminton Federation’s Thirtieth Birthday Party:
The Committee is planning to hold an event at the end of the 2004/05 season, around May 2005, to celebrate this occasion. This is likely to be a meal and music at a venue such as the Bedford Lodge, with tickets offered at a subsidize rate. The intention is to invite some of the “golden oldies” including league founders (eg. Colin Lucas, Dudley White, Angela French) and prepare an historic picture collage. Details will be sent to clubs and it is hoped that clubs and players will support this exciting event.
Rushworth Knockout Trophy:
The draw was made so that clubs could
arrange these fixtures along with the others after the AGM on the same evening.
Clubs are again asked to nominate their
players as best they can and notify the committee of any changes, which would
significantly affect their team’s strength, with notifications ideally coming
from the club secretaries rather than the team captains.
Trophy
Presentation for Leagues and Tournaments 2003/04:
Due to an oversight trophies were not
available for awarding to winners of leagues and tournaments, so they will be
distributed during the season.
Dates
for your diaries:
International - Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th February 2005
(Littleport
plus possibly Scaltback)
Rushworth Final - Tuesday 19th
April 2005
Signed
................................................. Chairman