HERTFORD AREA BADMINTON LEAGUE
MINUTES OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - 12TH MAY 2014
Clubs in attendance:-
Albury, All Saints, Allenburys, Bishops Stortford, Codicote, Hertford, Nazeing, Owen’s, Stanstead Abbotts, Strings, Ware, Warwick, Wizard.
We were also joined by Paul Widdicombe, Chairman of Selectors at the Herts Badminton Association.
Apologies for absence:-
Datchworth, Hatfield, Hunsdon, Potter Street, Saracens, Spartans, St George’s, St Johns,
Minutes for 2013 AGM:-
Minutes were agreed and accepted as a true record.
Proposed by Stanstead Abbotts; Seconded by Codicote.
Matters arising from last year’s meeting:-
There were no matters arising.
Chairman’s Report:-
Colin Jackson firstly thanked the committee for their work during the season. He expressed concern about the withdrawal of Lingwood and Phoenix Feathers and a number of teams during the season.
In the Inter-league tournament a HABL team finished seconded by 1 point. Paul Widdicombe advised the meeting that this was unlikely to go ahead this year due to lack of a team from South West Herts.
Colin reported that the closed tournament was held this season and had 56 entries. The provisional date for this year is Sunday 7th September. Action: Colin to confirm in due course and issue an entry form to clubs.
Secretary`s Report:-
Simon Carter thanked clubs for entering fixture details as well as results this season. This seemed to go fairly smoothly. The main problems experienced this season were
· A lack of knowledge on FixturesLive being passed to new club administrators when roles changed. Simon requested that clubs’ ensure that instructions are given on handover to enable the continued smooth running of league fixtures.
· Despite best efforts it is not always possible for teams or clubs to continue. In these circumstances, as well as letting the Secretary know, please can clubs also let all their opponents know that the team has withdrawn. There have been a couple of occasions when teams have turned up for match, after driving a considerable distance to find the match was off. Please can I stress that rule 12 was put in place to avoid such situations by requesting home teams to confirm matches. Action: The Secretary and League organisers to ensure that all clubs impacted by the withdrawal of a team are notified.
· There have also been a lot of rearranged matches. The new date has not been organised straight away and some have been left right until the end of the season. This puts a lot of pressure on the opposition to fulfil the fixture but it may not be physically possible. As a result there have been a few conceded results which with some earlier action by the clubs, may have been played. To ensure fairness that should it be unable to rearrange a match the principle that the team who cancelled the original fixture should forfeit the match has been applied.
· Changes to rules 11 & 12 have been proposed and included under agenda item 11 to reinforce best practice in these situations. I would also like to add a further change to rule 11 to confirm that the team who cancelled the original fixture should forfeit the match in the event that the match is unable to be rearranged. This issue arose after the agenda had been issued so was unable to included but I would also like it to be discussed under item 11.
· Simon reminded clubs that the Herts Badminton Association AGM is on Monday 2nd June at Birchwood Leisure Centre. The Chairman Malcolm Fraser stood down following a disagreement with Badminton England. The acting chairman is Paul Kempster. Rhiannon Smith the local Badminton England representative will be giving a talk on their plans. There is also an incentive to attend this year, as a grant of £10 will be paid to clubs attending. The committee wished to pass on their thanks to Malcolm as he provided a lot of support to the league in the past.
Treasurer’s Report:-
Pam Newman presented the Financial Statement, which showed a healthy balance of £652.76, which was up from last year’s balance of £615.71, representing a profit of £37.05. Pam proposed that the fee of £5 per team be maintained, which was carried unanimously by the meeting.
The funds in the accounts were discussed and it was agreed that some could be used to purchase trophies for the closed tournament as the current ones had gone missing.
League Results:-
Final league tables were distributed for all divisions. Colin presented medals to all the division winners listed below that were present.
Medley Premier – Spartans A
Medley Division 1 – Stanstead Abbotts A
Medley Division 2 – Allenburys
Mens 4s Premier – Wizard A
Mens 4s Division 1 – Bishops Stortford
Mens 4s Division 2 – Stanstead Abbotts
Ladies 4s Premier – Wizard A
Ladies 4s Division 1 – Stanstead Abbotts A
Ladies 4s Division 2 – Stanstead Abbotts B
Mixed 6s Premier – Stanstead Abbotts A
Mens 6s Premier – Stanstead Abbotts
The leagues for Mixed 6s and Mens 6s now comprise just 3 teams, so further entries were sought. The Ladies 6s league has not run for a few years and entries for this were also sought with a view to re-instating that competition.
Ernest Pearce Memorial Award:-
This is awarded to the club that causes the least amount of work to the league organisers over the season. This season the award went to All Saints Badminton Club.
Election of Officers:-
Colin Jackson had been unable to attend HBA Committee this season, so Simon has been deputising. Pam Newman has now agreed to stand in place of Colin. The remaining committee members were prepared to stand and were elected en bloc.
The committee therefore comprises:-
Chairman Colin Jackson
County Rep Pam Newman
Secretary Simon Carter
Treasurer Pam Newman
Results Secretary Vacant
League Organisers:-
Ladies 4 Annette McAllister
Ladies 6/ Mixed 6/ Mens 6 Pam Newman
Medley/Mens 4 Tim Francis
New committee members would be welcome; initially without portfolio should they be uncertain about taking on a specific role.
Feedback on improvements to the website would be appreciated.
Fixtures Meeting:-
Due to the availability of Allenburys as a venue for the fixtures meeting, the date of Tuesday 2nd September 2014, rather than the usual Monday, was set for the fixtures meeting at 7.30pm.
The League fee of £5 per team is required to be paid on the night.
An Entry form for next season will be issued by mid-June and will need to be presented to the league by the end of July at the latest. It was agreed that teams would be unable to decline promotion on the entry form on the basis of changes to the team members perhaps making it weaker than last season. The entry form will be changed so that only a request for a division to enter will only be required for new teams.
AGM 2015:-
A date of Monday 11th May 2014 was set for next year’s AGM, at 8.00pm. This will probably be at Allenburys again.
Any Other Business:-
Four rule changes were tabled in the agenda and a further one was raised at the meeting. The meeting agreed to the rule changes below,
Amend Rule 11 to add, “When matches have to be postponed, a new date has to be set (not played by), within 3 weeks of the original match date. Also, the website should be updated and the league organiser informed. It is not expected that fixtures will be cancelled on the day of the fixture except for what can be deemed ‘exceptional circumstances’, beyond a team’s control such as severe weather conditions e.g. heavy snow.” Simon requested that in the event of a cancellation it would be beneficial if the home club administrator could move the fixture date forward so as to avoid it appearing as an outstanding result.
The existing wording to Rule 11, also to be amended to read, “If the fixture cannot be rearranged, then the club that did not fulfil the original fixture will be deemed to have conceded the match
A change to Rule 3 regarding promotion and relegation from leagues was rejected and Rule 3 remains unchanged.
A change to Rule 22 to formalise actions required by teams was deemed unnecessary and so was rejected. It was agreed that the withdrawal of teams should be notified to the Secretary and League organisers who will then contact the teams affected.
Paul Widdicombe enquired if any attendees were aware of a new badminton hall being built at Buntingford as the design included natural light which impacted play. Unfortunately, no-one could provide any further information.
Strings raised a query regarding another club who had a player play for both their teams in the same league and is therefore ineligible. In accordance with the rules as there was no prior notification then the matches are deemed to be concede. The results for this division will be adjusted accordingly. Clubs were also reminded that both matches between to 2 teams from the same club in the same league must be played by 31st January at the latest which did not happen in 1 case this season.
The meeting closed at 9.40pm.