MINUTES OF THE BRISTOL AND WEST AC COMMITTEE MEETING
FRIDAY 14 NOVEMBER 2014 AT WHITEHALL ATHLETICS ARENA
Present: C Knibb (Chair), K Brackstone (KB), R Brocklesby (RB), M Down (MD), C Elson (CE), Z Goodman (ZG), S Lowery (SL), P Mountain (PM), H Nash (HN).
1. Apologies. B Barrett, A Butterly, N Diamond, A Engledew, M Strange.
2. Minutes of the Previous Meeting and Matters Arising.
· The minutes of the previous meeting were proposed as a true record by RB, seconded by KB and were passed by the Committee and signed by the Chairman.
· HN had found details of the old pole vault levy agreement between the club and Team Bath and would use this as the basis of a proposal to bring to the next Committee Meeting for a levy on North Somerset AC athletes using Bristol & West pole vault facilities and poles. (Action: HN)
· Of the four nominations for Wesport Awards Dean Garrett won Children's Coach of the Year and Mike Strange won Official of the Year at the West of England Celebration of Sport evening on 12 November 2014. Al Abrams was runner-up in the Performance Coach category and the club was again runner-up in the Wesport Club of the Year category (winners in 2012 and runners-up in 2013 and now 2014).
· Avon Schools Selection Policy and use of Wind Gauges - ZG advised that she had been busy at work and would bring something to the next Committee Meeting. (Action: ZG)
· Sportshall Competition. HN had spoken to Dave Turner and was looking to stage a single event for under-13s and under-15s at Bristol Grammar School early in 2015. (Action HN)
· Youth Development Meetings. ZG and BB have produced an induction booklet but as BB sent apologies this would be presented to the next Club Committee Meeting. (Action ZG/BB).
· MS had produced a list of those whose annual subscription for 2014 was outstanding and these members were being chased, although there were minor inaccuracies with the list. Committee Members and Coaches were asked to support MS with this and also the collection of track fees on training nights. (Action: All)
3. Membership. A new list (number 158) was circulated by MS before he went away and all potential new members were accepted by the Committee.
4. Financial Report. KB had circulated a report prior to the meeting. As at 12th November 2014 income exceeded expenditure by £1,088.96 and this was forecast to rise to over £2,000 by 31 December 2014. This was welcome news as the new Club House Project would require funding. There were no questions raised on the report.
5. Update on 2015 Track Season Planning.
· Senior Men - BAL (RB). RB will attend the BAL AGM on the 15 November 2014. Fixtures for the summer of 2015 have been announced.
· Senior Ladies - UKWAL (CE). CE had attended the UKWAL AGM which had seen something of a revolt by the Premier League members over league dates for 2015. However, this did not affect Division One and the club had been allocated a home meeting on Sunday 7 June 2015. CE had forwarded a report on aspects of field competitions at Kip Keino to KB and the latter would raise these at a meeting with Nigel Hornsby at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College on Thursday 20 November 2014. (Action: KB) Two new club members have joined (from higher competition status last year) and two new members have joined. CE is still seeking new members to strengthen the team prior to the deadline date for registrations.
· Midland League (PM). PM had met with RB and Steve Grant as part of the handover over of Team Management responsibilities - all three had also met with the representatives of Yate & District Athletic Club and everything was on track for the coming season. The Midland League AGM is on 30 November and Steve Grant will be attending. Details of fixture dates and venues should be available after the AGM. The Bristol/Yate composite will bid for a 'home' match to be held at Yate.
· Avon League/YDL (HN). The Avon League AGM is still to be held and dates of the meetings will not be known until after that meeting. The YDL AGM will be held on Saturday 22nd November 2014 and HN will attend. YDL (LAG) dates have been set for 2015 and one date potentially clashes with the County Championships and so HN will query this at the two AGMs. (Action HN). Team Avon will hopefully meet soon to review last season's performance in the YDL (UAG). HN reported that the geographical arrangement for fixtures has been agreed for both the lower and higher age groups. He also reported that more Club Team Managers are needed for the 2015 season. The YDL (LAG) team will be in the Midland Premier Division West with Swansea Harriers, Cardiff Athletic Club, Cardiff Archers, Cheltenham and Team Bath. It shouldn't mean too much travelling and would certainly give our under-15s and under-13s a very good level of competition. HN outlined several issues that would be discussed at the YDL (UAG) AGM and there would clearly be some contentious issues - particularly around limiting composite teams to only two constituent clubs. HN also mentioned that UKA had raised the prospect of changing age groups to come into line with European age groups and also there might be further changes to implement weights in the younger age groups.
6. Club Development. KB spoke to a report that he had circulated prior to the meeting. Since the report KB and RB had met with representatives of Bristol Rovers Community Trust (Peter Aitken and John Moody) who were looking to set up an athletics initiative for 14 to 25 year olds as part of the Premier League 4 Sport Initiative. They would fund 30 sessions on a once a week basis paying £20 towards coaching a session. KB proposed and RB seconded and the Committee unanimously accepted the club working with the Bristol Rovers Community Trust on this initiative. KB also reported that he had suggested that the club look at setting up a Recreational Runners Group from the Memorial Ground which had been well received by the Bristol Rovers representatives and he was given support by the Committee to pursue this further. (Action: KB)
7. Aztec West Fast 5K. RB had circulated a report prior to the meeting. The second race had continued the success of the first race with 204 finishers and income of £928 and CE and RB were fine-tuning the event to ensure safety and a growing reputation with the third race due on Tuesday 25th November 2014.
8. Road-Running/Cross Country Updates. MD and CE gave updates on achievements since the last committee Meeting - all of which had been widely reported using the usual club media. The Second Gwent League race had seen good representation from the club/recreational runners at the Senior level but not quite as strong a representation at the sharp end. Even so the men had finished third and were second overall and the women had won narrowly and remained in the lead overall. There had also been good individual performances in the young athlete age groups. The club had finished fourth senior men's team and fourth senior women's team in the National Cross-Country Relays on Saturday 1st November 2014.
9. Club House Sub-Committee Update. KB, RB and Jonathan Hurford (JH) planned to circulate a document drafted by JH to invite expressions of interest in producing a detailed project plan from three local firms of architects. It was considered that this early work could cost up to £8,000 and RB proposed and ZG seconded a proposal that the sub-committee be authorised to spend up to £10,000 if necessary to secure the documents required. The Committee agreed unanimously to this level of expenditure being made if necessary. KB advised that he had spoken to Sport England and had details of how to apply for an Inspired Facilities Grant of up to £75,000 and that the sub-committee were looking to take this forward. The most recent date for bids closed on 3rd November 2014. Dates for subsequent rounds had not been announced but bids are considered on a twice yearly basis. The sub-committee would work up a submission which it would progress through the main Club Committee. (Action KB/RB).
10. Grant For Nikki Brookland. CE advised that Nikki Brookland had been selected to represent England Masters in the home international Masters Cross-Country at Nottingham on Saturday 22nd November 2014. Nikki had applied for a grant of £76 to cover the cost of two nights' accommodation (one prior to and one following the competition). There were no travel costs as Nikki had arranged a lift to the event. CE proposed and MD seconded the award of a grant of £76 and the proposal was passed with one abstention. (Action: CE to issue a cheque)
11. Peter Hargreaves Scholarship Awards. MD advised that so far he had received 13 applications (7 male applicants and 6 female applicants) for these awards. He suggested delaying the deadline for applications from 17 November 2014. After much debate a one week deadline deferral was agreed which would be publicised by email, web-site an Face book [Secretary's note: this was done by CE an KB.] No late applications would be accepted after that date. MD would bring proposals for the awards to the next committee meeting (Action: MD).
12. Club Three-Year Plan. KB identified that the club had a Development Plan for the period 2011-2013 inclusive but had never produced a plan covering 2014 onwards - as he was too involved in delivering the previous plan rather than looking towards strategic future development. This needed to be addressed and the club would need a Strategic Plan for 2015 to 2017 inclusive to support its bid for Inspired Facilities Funds from Sport England. There were long discussions about how this should be taken forward and how it should remain at the core of everything the club does once written. The committee agreed the following way forward:
· Advise the club membership that a plan is being formulated and invite member's input.
· Review achievements against the previous Three -Year Plan and incorporate any unachieved targets.
· Come up with a broad structure for the new plan to be discussed at the next Committee Meeting.
· Invite club members to an Open Forum to discuss the plan at a meeting specifically for that purpose to be held in January 2015.
· Issue the new document early in 2015 following consultation with the membership.
(Action: All)
13. AOB.
· Nick Harris had asked SL to raise the subject of additional strength and conditioning equipment for the shed in the form of 'suspension trainers'. KB advised that he was already aware of this and believed that the equipment proposed would have general use by sprinters, throwers and jumpers. SL proposed and PM seconded that up to 6 sets of this equipment be purchased at around £50 per set giving a total cost of £300. The expenditure was approved unanimously. KB was tasked with liaising with Nick Harris and making the purchase. (Action: KB) [Secretary's note: KB has identified the equipment at physioroom.com and will order as soon as he has received confirmation from Alastair Abrams and Nick Harris that this is the equipment they want.]
· Paul Filer had asked for a grant to be able to replace video equipment that was no longer serviceable. The exact nature of the replacement had still to be identified (KB had suggested an I-Pad to Paul Filer). ZG proposed and SL seconded that KB liaise with Paul Filer and approve the purchase of a suitable solution and use his discretion on the price. The equipment would belong to the club but would be lent to Paul on extended loan. (Action: KB)
· A potential disciplinary case was raised at the meeting and this will be progressed following the club's disciplinary procedure and acting on advice from the UK Athletics Welfare Officer. (Action: KB/ZG)
Date of Next Meeting – Friday 12 December, Whitehall Athletics Arena, 7.30pm.
This meeting will be used primarily to discuss the Strategic Plan for 2015-2017.