POTTERS BAR BOWLS CLUB
Minutes of the Gentlemen’s Annual General Meeting
Wednesday 26th November 2014
Number of members present 40
President Brian Burfoot opened the Meeting at 7:33 pm.
- Apologies for Absence were received from Chris Budden, John Berry, Bob Maul, Les Cheeson, Mike Goodin, Arthur Harris, Harry White, Mick Brennan and John Guest.
- Minutes of the Meeting27th November 2013circulated with the Agenda to all (male) members and posted on the Club web site since December 2013.
Proposed by: Roy Tansey: Seconded by: Ron Golden: Carried unanimously.
2.1 All matters discharged/complete.
3. Reports:
3a Men’s CaptainTerry Barker
1In terms of results we had what might be called an average season. Starting with friendlies we won 14 out of 18 men only games and 19 out of 32 mixed games. The disappointment here has been that numbers have been reduced by the other clubs on four occasions in each category, either in terms of rinks to triples or reduced numbers of rinks. This is a shame when we have a sizeable number of members to accommodate. In addition we played a number of mixed games where the opposition had only two or three ladies in their team. On average I get 18 names for every 11 places available so in almost all cases the interest expressed by our men is very encouraging.
I tried as much as possible to spread the games around so that all were given a fair share. This was not always the case, especially, and this is not a criticism, with those who put their names down for almost every game. One problem I did come across was the fact that the ladies names for mixed games were predominantly front end bowlers which in turn lead to men playing three and skip, thereby reducing the opportunities for others.
2Progress in the competitive games was as follows:
Triples League:Won 2 games out of 4, finishing 3rd in our group. My thanks go to Jan for looking after this competition.
Day Cup: Won 4 out of 6 to finish second overall. Thank you Peter Openshaw for taking charge.
Vets League: Ken ran this for me and led the team to a creditable second place, winning 9 games out of 14. A number of the games we lost could have gone either way.
St Albans League: After a shaky start we eventually finished 2nd with 5 wins out of 8. Were it not for some dodgy scoring elsewhere we might have won. Next year!
Prentice Cup:Came third in group after losing to Oak Hill. This was the only game we lost but our downfall came about through loss of individual rinks elsewhere.
County League: Won 5 games out of 6 but sadly lost in the area semi-final.
Knockout Competitions: Lost in semi-finals of both Bob Vise Trophy and Scott Blain. The latter was played on a night when we were involved in several games and congratulations go to Jan and his team for so nearly reaching the final. In most national competitions we lost in the 2nd round. After looking comfortable we unfortunately lost the Jones Cup in the final. We would have won the Jarvis Cup but for a silly rule saying that, given a tie, ends won decide rather than shot difference.
3 My congratulations go to Richard Pearce for his District Finals victories in the singles and champion of champions. Barry, Brian and I are grateful that he took time out to help us win the fours.
4Congratulation to the men won the SADBA "Gordon Ridout trophy"
5Pride of place goes to Pam Rodgers for her magnificent effort in reaching the National Singles Finals at Leamington.
6I would like to thank all those members who played for the Club during the season. Without players there are no games.
7Thanks also to David and his green team who worked so hard to make a difficult green as playable as possible.
8I’m very grateful to all the ladies for preparing after match food for us both during the day and in the evening and to those men who ran the bar on match days.
My thanks go to Rita, Beryl and Jan for their support and I hope you will give your full support next year.
9Finally I thank my wife Pam for helping provide food, being my diary and taking endless messages from all over the county. She did say ‘no more’ and I think she means it this time.
3bMatch Secretary David Salmon
1The 2015 Season will commence with President’s Day on Saturday 18th April, ending with Captains day on Saturday 19th September, subject to any extension by the Green Ranger.
2 Our draft Fixture Programme Book is now close to completion, with just a handful of clubs yet to respond. Berkhamsted have dropped us, due to the distance to travel and lack of support. Similarly, I have not renewed our fixtures with Redbourn.
3Given the positive feedback from all those who participated, we shall again have an internal “Club Mixed Triples League”, the rules of which have been tweaked by Beryl following the experience of the pilot scheme in 2014.
4Following on from the success of the Coach trips arranged by Ken in recent years, we are looking to arrange just one outing in the summer, possibly Arundel which is near Worthing and a regular venue for Touring Clubs. (Hopefully Ken will be able to assist me on booking the coach, when finalized.)
My best wishes to you all for an enjoyable Season in 2015.
3cCompetition Secretary Richard Winn
1The competitions ran reasonable well this year apart from where I had to make rulings due to the games not being played on time due to illness. I must stress again how imperative it is to get your games fixed up and played as early as you can, and then you will not get caught out by ill health or inclement weather.
2When chasing players to play this year I was told on several occasions that “I haven’t been contacted by the challenger “I must remind you that it is the responsibility of all players to get their games fixed up.
3 The Sunday Competitions as usual caused me all forms of trouble the Dearman had to be cancelled due to clashing with a round of the ladies top ten competition, but as I was already struggling with getting enough entry’s, this pushed it over the edge. I think the format off all day competition is not popular so I rearranged the Dearman on a free Sunday as an afternoon only game played in the same format as the Catchpole / Malc this was very well supported so I intend to run next year’s Dearman the same way. The Troake Cup was run as a mixture of Australian pairs / Triples and was well supported The Yardley cup was given as a prize for our presidents fun day to keep the trophy alive. For 2015 I have offered the cup to the ladies to play a competition in the afternoon on the same day as the men play the Troake in the morning.
4 The Hayward and the Collins were complicated by clashing with outside competitions causing all sorts of changes having to be made but we managed to get through and just avoided bloodshed. It has been suggested to me that we change the day of the first rounds to a Saturday, David has allocated Sunday dates for 2015 but we could look to change in 2016. With regards to the Collins this must be agreed at the AGM
5Anyone who won a cup this year might have noticed that I have not had the cups engraved this yearthe reason for this is I would like to stop engraving the cups every year. Many of our cups are now showing their age and are in desperate need of refurbishment I would like to spend the money this would save on bringing our cups up to the standard they should be over the next few years. The names of the winners will still be added to the Honours’ Boards in the usual way. We cannot take a vote on this at this meeting as it also affects the Lady Members so if you think a vote is needed I can raise it at the AGM.
6 Finally a few thanks, Peter and Bill for running the Catchpole on Monday evenings David and the green team for giving us a green to play our competitions on and all the markers and scorers, not just in the finals but right through the season, without whom the competitions cannot be played
And all who entered and gave me such wonderful support throughout the year
I look forward to seeing you all on the green in 2015, winter well.
3dDivision (South) Graham Marriner
123 Club Delegates representing 14 clubs + 3 Division Officers were present
2In consultation with our Operations Committee (the Ladies catering and the development work on the green) the decision was taken not to offer any hosting dates in 2015.
3South Division Club League: Harpenden won the Maynard Cup
4Unfortunately the South Division had had to withdraw from the Inter-Division League due to lack of support – 16 nominations for the match against West and 20 for the other matches. There was considerable discussion on the involvement of the South Division in the future.
In an attempt to find ways of restoring the interest in the League we discussed proposals that were later made at the Herts Bowls Council Meeting:
Berkhamsted BC (West Div.) proposed that the league be changed to a fully mixed match, picked on ability regardless of gender. South Division voted to support this proposal at the subsequent HB Council meeting the proposal was defeated.
The East Division put forward a proposal that the league be changed to have 4 rinks of men and 2 rinks of ladies. South Division supported this proposal. At the Council Meeting this was defeated.
The West Division also put forward a proposal that the league should be played on a single day with 3 matches of 15 ends. Although South Division voted against this proposal at the Council Meeting there was a clear vote in favour.GM to advise DS on the (single) date of the competition in 2015 to avoid and conflict with Club fixtures.
Phil Havord (Hatfield) added that the original format was for 12 badged and 12 un-badged players.
Kevin Brazier (Harpenden) said that these matches had lost their importance since the points system had been introduced.
It was suggested that these matches should be held later in the season although it was noted that some Club Secretaries did not respond as they needed players to fulfil their weekend fixtures.
5Office Nominations 2014 (South Division)
Michelle Van Put is standing down as Chairman due to the pressure of work/ coaching.
Phil Havord has been nominated for Chairman 2015 by his Club Hatfield. I propose that PB second his appointment.
No additional nominations for South Division Officers or Committee had been received so the status quo remains.
6Venues for Men’s Division League, President Matches and 2 Wood Singles
Nominations were asked for clubs to host the following:
a)Men’s Division League match against the North Division on 12th July 2015 - No offer received
b)Men’s Division League match against the East Division on 9th August 2015 -Shire Park BC
c)Match against the juniors on 18th July 2015 - No offer received
d)Mixed match against the HB President’s Team on 17th May 2015 - No offer received
e)Ladies Two Wood Singles day on 30thd May 2015 - Batchwood Hall BC
f)Men’s Two Wood Singles day on 20thd May 2015 - Welwyn & District BC
g) Venue for Final of South Division Eversley Club Team Trophy.
Harpenden BC offered to host the Final of the South Division Club Team Trophy on Monday 20th July 2015.
7Club Leaguethe draw for Divisions A and B of the Club League for 2015 season was made (first year of two). The draw is as follows
Division A: DeHavilland BC, Welwyn Garden City BC, Potters Bar BC, Harperbury BC, Harpenden BC, Welwyn & District BC and Townsend St.Albans BC
Division B: Hatfield BC, Rowley Lane BC, Shire Park BC, North Mymms BC, St.Albans BC, Oak Hill BC
8Semi-Finals Final of the South Division Club League on Sunday 30th August 2015Shire Park BC
9 Quarter Finals of the Men’s Pairs Championship Tuesday 2nd July 2015Welwyn & District BC
10Discussion matters to be taken forward to HB Council 5th October 2014
The Men’s County competitions go back to the previous format Fours: Monday, Triples: Tuesday, Pairs: Wednesday, Singles: Thursday and Un-badged: Friday Due to their late receipt these items were not discussed.
11HB AGM Saturday 3rd January 2015 at Welwyn Civic Centre.
12Date and venue of next meeting: South Division Annual General will be held on Monday 5th January 2015 at 7.30pm at Hatfield BC
3eSt Albans & District B.A.
1Some confusion over who would give the delegate’s report as Derek Goodwin believed KH took over from him some time during 2014. BB stepped-in to advice on the key issue being discussed by S&D B.A. at Hatfield as the same time as this meeting.
2During the past season competition ‘by-dates’ were being ignored by some clubs. The intention is to ensure that there is no divergence from the published Rules.
3Mike Woodhams has produced a chart of every competition held in the County that shows only 2 S&D B.A. clashes of dates.
4. Election of officers:
The Meeting agreed to the President reading the names (on-block) of the Members prepared to stand for office in 2014/2015.
Position
/Name
/Proposed by
/Seconded by
Captain / Jan Southwell /Terry Barker
/Brian Burfoot
Vice-Captain / Ken Huntley /Barry Bowman
/Terry White
Match Secretary / David Salmon /Chris Riley
/ William BurrowsCompetition Secretary / Richard Winn /
Bob Maul
/ Mike BrennanDivision (South)
Representative / Graham Marriner /
Derek Goodwin
/ Eric MarrinerSt Albans & D. B.A.
Representative / Stuart Frost /
Ken Huntley
/ Graham MarrinerCall for a show of hands: unanimously approved by the members present.
5. Any Other Business:
5.1 Staffing the Bar: TB read out a request from Beryl Burbridge on behalf of the lady members. Can the Bar be staffed earlier at (say) 6:0 pm so that the Ladies can have a drink after their afternoon games?
The Club Rule on the ‘operating procedures’ laid down by the Management Committee is.
When the Bar is open there must always be at least one key holder and ‘an assistant’, who could also be a key holder, present at all times. Once open, the running of the Bar is the responsibility of the Key Holder (a) to check the float, before serving drinks (b) ensure the Bar is never left un-manned (or locked-up and shutters down) (c) when ‘closing-up’ that the money inthe till is cashed-up and secured in the strong room and the Bar locked-up; keys returned to Locker 1.
This was reaffirmed at the 2013 Men’s Annual Meeting and allows for the variation of opening time subject to the strict compliance with the ‘Rule’.
Comments from the floor: (a) the ability of a key holder/assistant to get back from an away match and prepare the Bar foo opening (10mins.) is impractical (b) key holder/assistant not having time to eat before working through the evening is unfair (c) why not lady key holders (d) cannot keep going from 6pm will 10’ish at the end of the day (e) opening earlier on Catchpole night would bring in more money (f) need to reaffirm the agreement to close the Bar at the end of the evening if one a few people are buying drinks (g) can the ladies have a locked ‘drinks’ cabinet in the kitchen for their use, this was seen as impractical for the storage of white wine, glasses, money etc. (h) totally impractical for TB to produce the Rota based on key holders/assistants match and competition commitments.
SF proposed Seconded RG: The current Bar opening hours remain unchanged.
The vote taken: 15 for the proposal 8 against.
GM to advise Beryl Burbridge, in time for the Ladies General Meeting,tomorrow.
6. Date of the next Gentlemen’s Annual Meeting
Wednesday 25th November 2015 (7:30 pm)
Date:
The Meeting closed at 8.43pm
Page | 1