CHELMSFORD HOCKEY CLUB
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Chelmsford Hockey Club held at Chelmer Park on Friday 27 June 2014 at 8pm.
1 / Members of the Management Committee Present:Spencer Wilcox (Chairman)
Chris Randall (Treasurer)
Doug Denman (M&S Committee)
Sally Dalton (Acting Hon. Secretary)
Owen Thom (Chair of Playing Committee)
Rebecca Budd (Social Secretary)
Crawford McKee (Facilities Manager)
and 18 members
Bryan Heelis, Ian Hunter, Peter Hollebon, David Carr, James Stock, Adam Hunter, Simon King, Richard Dickenson, Darren Davies, Bob Gotobed, James McCann, Sophie Green, Kirsty Dailly, Jonathan Budd, Robert Nourse, Kat Hales, Hayley Heggie, Gordon Heggie, , Maggie and Poppy Budd!
Apologies: Pater Carter, Anna Smith, Johnny Wilcox, Gill Hickamn, David Kitchener, Nigel King, Bunny King, Nick Bastian, Adrian Tuff, Louise Taylor, Rob Hartley, Will Stock, Sam Wilkinson
A note from Janine Martin was read out in which she thanked the MC for their hard work and explaining why she was stepping down as secretary.
Nigel sends apologies and has asked Spencer to chair on his behalf
2 / Adoption of the minutes of the AGM held on Friday 28 June 2013
The minutes were confirmed and signed as a correct record by the Chairman .
Proposed by: Chris Randall Seconded by: Sally Dalton
3 / Matters arising.
There was a lengthy conversation at the 2013 AGM about sponsorship which will be covered today by Doug Denman
The Chairman noted that 500 club forms were available for all to complete.
No other matters
4 / To receive the Chairman’s report.
A report was circulated by Spencer Wilcox. In addition the following was noted:
· The club was well represented by 9 members played in The Masters tournament in The Hague
· Fantastic progress was made this year in adopting the new kit, especially the Youth section. A plea was made to buy the new kit and to persuade others to do so.
Action: All to encourage others to buy the new kit – all Members
Proposed by: Peter Hollebon Seconded by: Crawford McKee
5 / To receive the report from the Chair of the Playing Committee
Owen read through the presentation on the new playing and coaching structure. He emphasized…
· the appointment of Glen Kirkham to help achieve the long term vision of the club to be the best in the East, in terms of not only coaching but also player recruitment and sponsorship opportunities
· the new coaching structure including revised roles of coaches and captains to filter a coaching ethos throughout the club
· that communication would be vital for the new coaching structure to work
· the additional benefits that Glenn would bring to the club
· Dave Messham will be the new ladies 1s coach
· Tony Cole remains as 2nd team ladies coach with Robert Gotobed as mens 2nd team coach
· The 2nd team/Senior Development coaches will be key to ensuring coaching filters through to the whole club
· Development coaches for rest of the club: James McCann, Paul Goodridge and Chris Devonish
· The vision is for every captain to become at least a level 1 coach and coaches to be level 2 or 3
· James McCann and Becky Budd to stand for chair of selection for men and ladies respectively
· Training night times have changed: Monday: Girls U16/18 followed by ladies 1st and 2nd team, Tuesday: Boys U16/18 followed by Mens 1s and 2s, Wednesday: Club training men and ladies. Thursday: Mens and Ladies 1s joint session
Ros – Pointed out that there was a lack of females in the coaching structure
Spencer – said that there were a lot of ladies involved behind the scenes and that women were better represented in the youth section.
James McCann – we have been talking to various female coaches behind the scenes and the number of ladies attending Backtohockey was noted.
Becky Budd – highlighted that it was a really exciting time with Glenn Kirkham coming to the club and there was an exciting vision
Spencer – the benefit to the whole club that was stressed and the fact that this is the first time that this has happened
Sophie Green questioned whether coaches would be able to choose players based on their attendance at training as well as their ability as this has not happened in the last year.
Spencer responded by saying that hopefully this new structure would attract more players that would enable coaches to do this without sacrificing quality of the team
Proposed: Simon King Seconded: Jonathan Budd
6 / To receive the Treasurer's report and to approve the accounts for the year ending 31 May 2014.
Thanks to Doug for his assistance
Notes
· The reason for the large surplus is due to a phasing difference in the accounts between the income/grant and the cost of the water based pitch
· Therefore the surplus is somewhat misleading and only about £10k is actual cash benefit
· £1,584 is a more accurate representation of the surplus as this is the surplus resulting form subs and fees and fundraising less costs
· We do have cash in bank to pay for the next new pitch and this money has been well invested to earn interest
· We don’t pay anything for pitch hire and costs of maintenance are covered by income from hiring pitch out
· The increase in coaching cost can be funded for 2-3 years through the development fund
· Whilst we have money to pay for pitch next time we do need to save money for pitch number 3
· A few years ago we decreased subs and match fees to see if this would attract members
· It is proposed we increase subs by c. £10 back to these previous levels to help save money for the future
Thank you to everyone that has paid money in on time and to Kat for getting subs in
Thanks to Spencer for generating the pitch hire income
Gordon Heggie - How much surplus do we need to save for a future pitch?
Chris – in the region of £15 to 25k and yes we need additional sponsors to cover ongoing coaching costs if these continue and to help save towards a 3rd pitch.
James McCann – increase in adult members will help drive income such as those from backtohockey
Chris – adult members bring in money but younger members don’t cover their costs so the addition of the 6th team this year will not generate a huge amount of income as it will be largely made up of younger players/U14s
Sophie G – to compete with other clubs are we going to offer players money?
Chris – ladies 1s have some money to help with expenses but not enough to pay a player a significant amount
Spencer – we won’t ever be able to offer the funding that clubs like Holcombe offer but we want to start to build relationships with sponsors that are sustainable rather than relying on one off chunks of money that dry up and leave us in a vulnerable position that we can’t sustain
Owen – the investment in the coaching structure should help to build quality and loyal players that we don’t need to offer money to
Hayley - mentioned that we can also help build a package for new members / players that involves local work. In addition the new coaching plans will offer coaching training and qualifications
Proposed by: David Carr Seconded by: Doug Denman
7 / To set the subscriptions and match fees for the 2013/14 season.
An increase in subs is proposed in the following way
· Adult: Early payment from £130 to £140, Later payment from £140 to £150, V Late payment from £150 to £160, Half season from £90 to £95
· 19-24 in work: from £65, £70, £75 and £45 for half seasons to, £70, £75, £80 and £50 for half season
· Further Education from £46, £52, £55 and £31 moving to £50, £56, £59 and £33
· Associate member (6 games) from £40, £44, £50 moving to £44, £48, £54
· Social to remain at £10
· Youth 9-£13, £43, £51, £54 moving to £46.50, £54.50, £57.50 and £31 for half season
· Yr 5-8 £20, £25, £30, £15 moving to £21.5, £26.50, £31.50 and remain at £15 for half season
· Yr 4 from £16, £18, £21 moving to £17.50, £19.50, 22.50 and keep half year at £13
Match fees to stay the same for all age groups
Training fees to stay the same for the youth
Proposed by: David Carr Seconded by: Crawford McKee
8 / Report from Doug Denman on Marketing and Sponsorship
Sponsorship
1st proposal has recently gone out to target local companies (done by Mark Butterworth)
Aiming at a deal of £10k over 2 years for ladies or mens 1s
Recognition that there is a limit to sponsorship as sponsors unlikely to sponsor lower teams
Advertising
Pitch boards have sold well to schools
Now targeting car garages / dealerships
Board is c.£1k for 5 years.
Space for between 30-50 boards but unlikely to get this many
500 club
Low take up in recent years
Doug suggested that members should put money into the 500 club given that in real terms subs have declined since several years ago
This will be pushed and will be a focus for the committee
Action
Any ideas of who we should target in terms of sponsorship please come forward to the committee – Hayley, James McCann, Doug Denman, Mark Butterworth – All members
Companies targeted to date: car companies, estate agents, lawyers, insurance
Please all consider joining 500 club – All members
9 / To receive a report on the Chelmsford Sports Club
· Gill Hickman’s report was read by Chris Randall.
· Takings and profits up from bar
· Breakdown and damage to the club. CCTV cameras updated
· Thank you to Richard Nourse for organizing the bar for last 2 years
Peter H – pointed out that captains should be more hospitable to the opposition and encourage the team and opposition to stay in the club
Action
Captains to be tasked with encouragement of members and opposition to come into the club house - include in captain’s briefing pack - Sally
Proposed by: Robert Nourse Seconded by: Kat Hales
10 / To receive a report on the Junior Section
Hilary - A question was asked whether the club can challenge the assessment process. This year a junior was not been selected for JRPC that clearly has talent and appears to have been overlooked.
Spencer – the new coaching structure should help address these issues with more communication
Bob Gotobed said he would be happy to take up any issues like this
Chris – youth section is biased in favour of girls and the club is looking to redress this through recruitment of boys at New Hall and Grt Baddow
Sophie G – can more junior girls train with the 1s and 2s?
Owen – U16s and U18s will be coached by the 1st team coaches as part of the new plan
Action
Youth to be invited to train with 1s and 2s - Owen
Proposed by: Matt Gore Seconded by: Crawford McKee
11 / To receive a report on Facilities Management
We are looking to evaluate options for new pitch
Likely to be a different surface given the costs and algae issues
Proposed by: Peter Hollebon Seconded by: Kat Hales
12 / Proposed Rule Change
· Substituting youth for junior in all club rules, documents etc.
Proposed by: Bryan H Seconded by: Matt Gore
13 / Election of Officers
See confirmed list of officers for 2014
Positions still vacant and to be appointed by MC
Action
· Captains 1-6 for ladies and 1-5 for men and mixed captain – Owen to confirm in next month
· Bar manager - MC to discuss
· Welfare Officer– to be discussed by Junior Committee at next JC meeting
· Newsletter – James Stock to discuss with Danny McCamlie re newsletter and confirm
· Webmaster – James Stock offered if website can be changed. MC to discuss
· Job description for captains to be issued and info pack to be updated - Sally
· Follow up with George Speakman re Women’s Essex Indoor captain - Sally
14 / Edmund Carr were appointed as accountants to review the accounts
15 / Any Other Business
None
The meeting was closed at 10:25pm.
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