MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF
THE ARMY HOCKEY ASSOCIATION
HELD AT THE SIMON LYTLE PAVILION ALDERSHOT
ON TUESDAY 19th MAY 2015 0800-1000hrs
Attending:
Gen Sir Alex Harley KBE CB Vice President AHA
Major General J R Free CBE President AHA
Lt Col T Marwaha Vice President AHA
Col R Head MC Chairman AHA
Lt Col J Caiger Chairman RA HC
Lt Col T Lees Vice Chairman (Reserves & Indoors)
Lt Col (Retd) C Todd EH Vice President/AMAHA
Capt R McCullough Secretary RAC HC
Maj T Prowse Army Ladies manager
Maj E Taylor Secretary RA HC
Capt P Rosser Army U25 Manager/Army Reserves
Capt J Tester Secretary RLC HC
Maj J Edwards Secretary AMS HC
WO1 P Symns MBE Army Masters Manager
WO2 S Paterson Army Masters Manager Designate
SSgt D Cattermole Captain Army Men’s Senior Team
Mr B Mower Secretary R Signals Masters Hockey
Lt Col (Retd) A Flavell MBE Secretary AHA
18 Attending
Apologies:
Major General G C Cornock CB MBE Vice President AHA
Col (Retd) M Stott Vice President AHA
Lt Col G Fordham Coach Army Seniors
Lt Col P Nicholas Army Ladies Secretary/AGC Chairman
Maj W Ginn Secretary AGC HC
Maj K Miles Secretary REME HC
Capt G Smyth Secretary Infantry HC
Capt W Jarrett-Kerr Secretary BA (G) HC
Maj L Riddell Army Ladies Masters Manager
Mr A Notman AHA Umpire Manager
Item(a) / Discussion and Decisions
(b) / Action
(c)
ITEM 1
ITEM 2
ITEM 3
ITEM 4
ITEM 5
ITEM 6
ITEM 7
ITEM 8
ITEM 9
ITEM 10
ITEM 11
ITEM 12
ITEM 13
ITEM 14
ITEM 15
ITEM 16 / Opening Comments
1.1 The Chairman opened the meeting and welcomed all who had been able to attend the AGM for the fourth year in a row at the second day of the Inter Corps Outdoors Tournament.
1.2 General Free, President of Army Hockey also welcomed everyone. He made the following points;
a. There needs to be an increased level of representation, especially in women’s hockey at unit level. He would like to see more mixed matches.
b. Unit Hockey; Go back to grass roots and make Hockey a sport for all, not just the best in the unit. Have tournaments and create the festival atmosphere if you can; by being proactive, we must strive to make Hockey more attractive to the young players to stay in the game and develop their expertise, they then do the encouraging and it grows from there.
c. Umpires; This is a difficult area at the moment but the President urged all to continue to encourage the youth to train as umpires and invite others who can’t play but who may be interested in umpiring. Stick with it and maximise the opportunities for every level of umpires.
d. General Free thanked everyone for their efforts over the season and make sure your COs are aware of his personal gratitude in helping to run a very successful Army Synopsis sport. He offered to help release players if needed.
Apologies for Absence
2.1 The Secretary noted the list of apologies.
Matters Arising from the 2014 AGM
3.1 The Secretary noted the following matters arising:
a. Item 11.7; Rush Hockey; It was brought up in the last meeting, the Chairman proposed that teams try to push this forward for the next season. The AHA Office will look into this.
All agreed that the previous minutes were a true record.
Financial and Sponsorship Statement
4.1 The Financial Statement of Accounts can be found at Annex A. The Secretary made the following points:
a. The AHA is in a healthy position with £30k+ in the bank. All sponsorship has arrived or due in shortly with all accounts up to date.
b. £5,000 has been allocated to the Men’s Tour Account for their tour to Chile.
c. A copy of the statement of accounts is attached to these minutes.
Chairman’s Report;
5.1 Please find the full Chairman’s Report in Annex B.
5.2 The Chairman raised the following points:
a. Communications; the increase of social media use and the website have shown a significant improvement with communications. However, the Chairman stated that we can always do more. He asked all to consider how to get information out at grass root level and keep pushing to get people interested.
b. Unit Level; this season there will be an Infantry Tournament. The Chairman asked if the other Corps can do the same and to let him know details. It is a great way of identifying talent across the Corps.
c. Reservists; the appearance of the Reservists in the sport has been great; keep encouraging and inviting reserve units to attend tournaments.
The Chairman thanked everyone for their support and concluded his report.
Management Plan
6.1 The Chairman went through the updated Management Plan, please see Annex C. The main points raised were:
a. The key focus is re invigorating hockey in the regional structure and to continue improving Unit Level Hockey.
b. Media; Everyone must work hard at all levels to make the visibility of Hockey higher. Smalls things like posters on the walls of your units makes a difference. Speak to the AHA Office who is happy to produce posters for you. Push to get young players on Social Media platforms as well.
Men’s Seniors Report
7.1 SSgt Dan Cattermole went through the Seniors report which can be found in Annex D. The main points raised were:
a. Junior players are caught between Corps and Army fixtures it’s much the same at CS Level. SSgt Cattermole asked all to remember that for the 3/4 weeks build up to the IS games Army players are needed to train with the Army team, please do not use them for Corps games.
b. The Chairman thanked him for all his efforts on and off the pitch.
Ladies Report
8.1 Maj Tracey Prowse reported for the Ladies. Their report can be found in Annex E. The main points raised were:
a. The Ladies achieved 2 of their 3 objectives this season, these being winning the IS Indoors and IS Outdoors title but sadly were relegated in their National League campaign. However, with a young side coming through, they look forward to next season.
b. CSgt Wayne Masters and Lt Col Rich Forsyth have taken over as the Ladies Coaches which has been extremely beneficial to the team. Maj Prowse noted her thanks for their help so far.
U25s Report
9.1 Capt Peter Rosser reported for the U25s, the full report can be found in Annex F. The main points raised were:
a. The team are gearing up for the next tour to Scotland in order to prepare for the Indoor Season.
It was agreed that each Team would be given £150 to source a Go Pro in order to conduct video analysis.
Masters Report
10.1 WO1 Paul Symns reported for the Masters, the full report can be found in Annex G. The main points raised were:
a. WO1 Paul Symns has now officially stepped down as Masters Manager and the position will be filled by WO2 Stu Paterson for the next season. He thanked the AHA Office for all their help. The Chairman wanted to note his thanks to Paul for his hard work in getting the Masters up and running again which has been rewarded with their Inter Services successes. A big well done Paul.
Reserves Hockey
11.1 Capt Peter Rosser is now Reserves Secretary working 52 days in the year as well as U25s Manager. His report can be found in Annex H. His main point raised was:
a. Please can all be aware that there will be a Reserves Hockey Tournament on the last weekend of Nov. He intends to enter 12 mixed teams.
b. He would also like to start an Outdoor Regional League. Please can Corps Secretaries send him any Reservists details that they hold.
The Chairman asked all Secretaries to try and support this in order to get the Reserves Hockey up and running.
Corps Led Hockey
12.1 RAC; Capt Rory McCullough has now taken over as RAC Secretary.
12.2 REME; WO2 Stu Paterson reported for the REME. The Corps had a very successful tour to Australia as well as strong season, winning the IC League and IC Indoors.
12.3; RLC; Capt Josh Tester stated that their Inter Unit Competition this season was successful and identified new talent. The California Tour worked very well, however, the timing was slightly off as they returned just before the Inter Corps Outdoors and were officially jet lagged!.
12.4 AMS; Capt Jim Edwards reported that they struggle to get teams out, however the Ladies are coming through well. The Lucus Cup will be held in 24 June 15 at Aldershot. He noted an increase in Reserves.
12.5 R Signals; SSgt Dan Cattermole reported for the Signals. He confirmed that they currently have 2 Reserve Units. They continue to have a strong presence in Army Hockey, especially due to the hard work of Brian Mower. His commitment to keeping R Signals Hockey strong is noted.
12.6 RA; Maj Ed Taylor stated that the gunners have over 100 members with a good Reserve turnout. They were disappointed to just lose out on the Men’s Inter Corps League due to goal difference but are ready for next season. They are also considering financial membership for the future.
a. Gen Free noted that membership would be a useful tool in Hockey due to the numbers of male and females in the sport but the collection and distribution of funding must be considered carefully. The AHA Office will monitor how the RA HC manage their membership for potential use in the future.
b. Lt Col John Caiger, Chairman of RA HC, apologised for being unable to field a Masters team in the Inter Corps Outdoors.
12.7 AGC; Maj Tracey Prowse reported for the AGC. She was happy to report that they had a lot of new players coming through this season, with a few that have never played at Inter Corps level. They have fixtures planned for the next season already. However, they struggle to have a Corp tournament.
12.8 Maj Tracey Prowse also reported for the Ladies Masters. Maj Lou Riddell has taken over as Secretary. The team won the IS Outdoors. There will be a CS Masters Tournament against the regions – Lt Col Nicholas will be O40s Captain as well as 8 other Army representatives. A small report will follow.
Fixtures 2015-2016
13.1 The fixtures were agreed as follows:
8 Sept 15 AHA Executive meeting Aldershot
13-14 Oct 15 Inter Corps Indoors Aldershot
11-12 Nov 15 Inter Comd/Inter Service Indoors Aldershot
8-9 Mar 16 Inter Services Outdoors Aldershot
20 Apr 16 Quarter Finals Army Cup Aldershot
27 Apr 16 Semi Finals Army Cup Aldershot
16-18 May 16Inter Corps outdoors (AGM 17 May 16) Aldershot
18 May 16 Finals Army Cup Aldershot
17 May 16 AHA AGM Aldershot
8 Sept 16AHA Ex meeting Aldershot
11-12 Oct 16Inter Corps Indoors Aldershot
13.2 The Secretary asked all Secretaries to contact the office if there are any clashes, look at the dates and make note of them.
13.3 The Army Cup Finals were seen as a success during the Inter Corps. However, they will take place on the Finals day instead of the 2nd day.
13.4 Brian Mower suggested to move the Inter Corps from May to September. Reasons for this was that it would ease the availability pressures between Jan and Apr for players that are at Corps and Army level. From the Army perspective, this works well and wouldn’t be a problem. However, for the majority of the Corps playing Hockey in the Summer would be too difficult for various reasons and it was decided to leave the format as it is for now and revaluate in the future.
Umpire/Coaching
14.1 The Secretary explained the current coaching and umpiring situation with England Hockey.
14.2 Lt Col (Retd) Chris Todd, VP of England Hockey stated he would be meeting with Commodore Ian Bisson in July and will investigate with him.
14.3 All agreed that running our own in house Level 1 Coaching and Umpiring Course would be better for the military player. Then, if they wanted to continue they can go down the England Hockey route. It would be called Army Coach or Army Umpire Course instead of Level 1 in order to avoid confusion. England Hockey must be informed of what we are doing so can support if needed. Input is gratefully received from the Coaching Personnel in the Army.
14.4 It was agreed to have the courses live before Christmas 2015.
14.4 The Secretary reminded all that Level 2 Courses can be partly/fully funded by the Army Sports Lottery.
Any Other Business
15.1 Lt Col Tochi Marwaha; Put forward that every Corps at this event supply an umpire in order to develop them. There is a real issue of a lack of serving umpires in the system and the AHA are having to pay civilian’s to come in. Indoors would be too difficult for beginners but at Army Cup and Inter Corps Outdoors, it would be possible.
15.2 It was suggested that men not playing on the 2nd day could umpire the Ladies and Masters.
15.3 Sir Gen Alex Harley discussed Nordics Hockey – Their first fixture will be on 27/28 June 15 in order to reinvigorate the Nordics. Ladies are allowed to play. They are affiliated to the CSHA with 5 recognised fixtures a year, see below:
11 Oct 15 RN Masters Portsmouth - SS
5 Nov 15 Army Masters Aldershot - SS
24 Jan 16 Warlocks HC Odiham
21 Feb 16 RAF Masters Marlow HC – SS
TBC – matches v US Portsmouth, Royal Artillery and CS Over 50.
Contact Sir Gen Alex Harley or Alan Walker for more information. Failing that, contact the AHA Office who will put you in touch. All details on the website www.armyhockey.org
15.4. The Chairman suggested the AHA select players as recognition of their long and loyal service.
15.5 Maj Tracey Prowse spoke about the England Hockey Kit 4 the World Initiative which was taking place during the Inter Corps Outdoors. Lucy Rowe from EH collected the kit. Massive thanks to all who donated their sticks and GK kit for the cause.
15.6 Lt Col (Retd) Chris Todd raised the point about Table Officials. As well as organising umpires, it is also difficult to get Table Officials. If anyone would like to help in the following tournaments then please let the AHA Office know.
Closing Comments
16.1 Coaching/Umpiring; It was agreed that a plan needs to be in place for the next season by 1 Sept 15.
16.2 Nordics; The Chairman asked all to support that and get a link. Encourage and select players to be involved.
16.3 General Free thanked everyone for their commitment and hard work this season.
16.4 The Chairman also wanted to note his thanks to the AHA Office for their help.
16.5 The Secretary informed all that the Chris Peach Memorial Trophy would be taking place that day during the Inter Corps Outdoors and will continue in the future. Brian Mower, as an unsung hero of Army Hockey, was presented the Trophy by Helen Peach, Chris’s wife.
The meeting closed at 1030hrs.
Next meeting – Executive 8th Sept 2015 & AGM 17th May 2015 / All
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All Agreed
Chris Todd
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Cheryl Campling/
AHA Office
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