AYLESBURY RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB LTD
Minutes of Club Executive Committee Meeting held at Clubhouse on 20th December, 2011.
PRESENT: D Gray (Chairman), D Spence, M. Pugh, C. Woodfall, M. Edwards,S Roberts, B MacGillivray, G Evans, T Armstrong,N. Moore
APOLOGIES: P Bowden
ABSENT:
MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING:Minutes of previous meeting accepted.
CHAIRMAN’S MATTERS ARISING:
EXPENDITURE APPROVALNone raised
NEW MATTERS FROM THE CHAIRMAN:
None raisedHON SECRETARY:
Various correspondence was reviewed.HON TREASURER & FINANCE: See attached balances and in additionTA reported as follows:
MANAGEMENT DATAData to 30th November 2011 has been completed and is presented for review.
MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL
New membership cards and fixture cards have been despatched. Reaction to membership cards so farappears favourable, and already their use as a control mechanism has been identified in one scenario.
RBS 6 NATIONS – SPRING 2012
We have managed to secure a small additional allocation for each home international. Overseas matchesapplications have been matched by the RFU!
ACCOUNTS INTEGRATION
I have, with Clive's knowledge, broached the subject of integrating the kit shop as part of the senioraccounts instead of as now exits, being part of youth administration. Proposal is based on:
• budgets are under senior management control
• more of shop stock is now of a general nature, not club-apparel specific
• credit card and Paypal funds arrive in main club account
• removes a management layer (youth treasurer)
• vital step in full integration of club accounts, as planned under new company structure.
CARD FACILITY
Sarah would like a separate card facility in the kit shop, as conflicts with the steward over use of the singlemachine are occurring. Cost of wireless device is £35/month approx, so Chairman of House and I haveagreed the provision of a network cable, to allow a wired device to be sourced (at about 50% of cost) aswell as giving Sarah the ability to connect a laptop to Internet for ordering etc. MP to investigate. / MP
DEVELOPMENT FUND AT 19/12/2011
13/01/11 4994.60Donations, “Buy a Brick” etc upto 31/12/10
03/05/11 350.00Scrum Dancing
13/04/11 3000.00General fund-raising
07/06/11 937.58 “Buy a Brick” and Scrum Dancing
30/06/11 6000.00General fund-raising
06/09/11 150.00Golf Championship
19/12/11 3.72 Interest earned to date
£15,435.90
In addition, I have lodged with HMRC our first reclaim for tax repayments for Gift Aid: value £1625.00. Thiscovers the period upto 5/4/11, but excludes any donations attached to membership subscriptions, which isbeing claimed in the next batch.
ME Proposed that All Club sponsorship should come into the Club through either the Youth or Club Exec Committee. Discussion ensued. Agreed.
Sponsorship to be collated and tracked. / CW/DG
We purchased new till last year with the intention of 1 for Bar, 1 for kitchen and 1 for Kit shop. ME proposed that these be used for the relevant departments so that we get a Z reading for all three areas. Nick to investigate / NM
RUGBY: PB Reported as follows
Sport England. Grants being investigated for Coaching, Training (Master-Classes).5/9/11: Carried Over
3/10/11: Carried Over
3/11/11: Carried Over
20/12/11: Carried Over / PB/GE
The club’s senior results have suffered in November and early December due to an increasing injury list and non-availabilities. Going into this season ARFC had a greater depth of players but these resources are certainly being tested. The lack of backs in particular is an issue throughout the club.
Looking forward we are trying to capture AGS players by way of a Boxing Day game of past v present AGS players. The idea is to get the boys down to the club and encourage them from there. PB is also to work more closely with the U17’s management to explore keeping these lads playing and progressing through to senior rugby.
Ist XV
The club has had 4 league fixtures against Wallingford, Windsor, Alchester and Beaconsfield winning 1 losing 2 and drawing 1.
The non-availability issues are being compounded by a lack of players turning out for training. There were many reasons discussed regarding why this is so, including players away working, game related training, basic skill issues, 1st XV v others splits. At the last rugby meeting it was agreed that PJB would compile and send out an opinion survey to attempt to get to the heart of the matter.
The survey was sent out via email and copies behind the bar. Replies via email have yielded 3 replies. Some players were completing the survey after training but I have yet to collect these completed surveys.
Also we are to pair players together as training buddies. The idea here is to get the players to take ownership of the non-training issue and create peer pressure to come to training. GH is dismayed at the poor attitude shown by players and is going to get a campaign going to get everyone behind this idea.
The lack of players training is affecting our coaches too, as they put time into putting together a training plan which has to be dropped as insufficient players turn up. It is noticeable that the fitness of players absent from training is not as good as it was last year due to lack of personal conditioning.
We end 2011 in 6th place in Southern Counties North. In Jan we start the New Year with 2 hard games versus Grove away and Wotton Bassett at home.
2nd XV
This has been a disappointing month for the 2’s, going from a position of challenging for the league title to being mid table. The last game ended in a resounding win away over Witney 3’s The 2’s are currently 6th in their league.
This has been the result of players being pulled up into the 1’s and forwards filling in backs positions. This lack of stability combined with players not training has meant that team patterns cannot be run with any certainty. Taz and Stewart have worked hard to try and get players to come training with little success. Stewart is working on ex-players who have dropped off the rugby scene to encourage them to return to boost the number of players at the club.
3rd XV
DS had written to Abingdon regarding the decision by SW to award the league points to them. DS has not even had a reply. I think ARFC should write to the chairman of Abingdon to express our disappointment at not even receiving a reply.
The injury issue has again hit the 3’s hard. Stewart and Chris have managed to get teams out albeit under strength at times. There is no issue with getting numbers for home games but away games are proving difficult.
Given the current number of injuries it may be that the club needs to look at away fixtures for the 3’s and ensure that we support fully the 2’s.
For the Hungerford away fixture, the club supported the team with a mini bus which was greatly appreciated and a good team night resulted. The 3’s sit 6th in their league. This week’s game versus league leaders Newbury was a great game both teams scoring 5 tries apiece however we lost out through kicks going down 29 - 31
Vets
The vets game v Brackley on the 10th Dec was called off late as Brackley could not raise a side
First aid
PB’s paper to be discussed
Defence Master class
James Buckland is exploring the possibility and costs of getting Justin Bishop defence coach at Irish to run a defence master class in the New Year.
U17’s
PB met with Andy Paulley to discuss how we can help these players move into colts or senior rugby.
AP felt that the U17 squad would benefit from a gradual introduction to 3rds rugby. So the home games of the 14th and 28th January have been chosen to pull some of those over 17 into the 3rds in group and see how it goes from there. Those not over 17 will continue to play U17’s rugby and nearer to the end of the season the U16’s would be asked if any of them would like to step up to the U17 group for the last few games.
PB has written to the U17 age group letting them know what we are planning seeking their input.
Training over Christmas
Serious training has been stepped down until the Thursday 29th December. Coaches, steward and Physios have been informed. Andy McCrea is to send out an email to players asking them to contact him directly if they have any issues over this period.
Touch Rugby
After jumping though all the hoops and forms since the Summer, I have in December claimed £776.15 from Sportivate for running this Summer’s Tournament.
I have applied for funding next year’s tournament at £2810. Last year we applied for £2500 and got a lot less....we await to hear if our application has been granted.
Longer term issues
•2012 coaching set up
•Women’s rugby
•Recruitment
HOUSE: MP reported as follows:
- 1.
Branch near light over bridge needs cutting back. / MP
Fifty plastic chairs to be sourced / ME
GROUND: CW reportedas follows:
- 2.
Gym needs to be kept tidy by users, will be easier when tractor relocated.
Vision splay on entrance has been cleared.
Third container now in place, plan to paint them a different colour so as they blend in.
Driveway potholes need repair please / CW
YOUTH: CW reported as follows.
Pack needed for club info – demographics etc for potential sponsors.3/10/11. Blair completed study. Dean needs to produce one page summary.
3/11/11. Carried over
20/12/11. Carried Over / DG
Concern about the U17s training with seniors and the attention that they are getting. Phil to follow up. / PB
BAR: Bar reported as follows:
October:Bar Takings £9,119.41, Wages £215
Functions £2,030.20, Wages £72.00
KitchenTakings £2,641.24, Wages£670.75
PLAYER’S REPRESENTATIVE: SR
Can we increase Training numbers by making sessions more attractive/enjoyable? / PBNON-PLAYER’S REPRESENTATIVE:BM reported as follows
- 1.
CLUB DEVELOPMENT UPDATE: GE reported as follows
- 1.
• We have made significant progress in this area especially in relation to the Highways concerns over the visibility on main road outside the club entrance. I have tried to assure Dave that things are moving along well and there is a high likelihood that we will get planning in time. That remains to be seen so I hope they will give us more time.
•Estimates have been reviewed and Mike has quite rightly raised some concerns about our current shortfall. £50k SE funding grant now confirmed. We are looking to have discussions with tenderers to see if and how we might manage the cost down.
•We met with our Architect to request a fresh look at the internal room setup. This is to ensure we gain the maximum from the internal space we have available and reduce the complication of running services to those areas i.e. water, heat, etc. Initial sketches of some beneficial internal changes have been rec’d and sent to Exec for comment.
Discussion ensued.
Next Steps:
1)Down to two suppliers. Will notify other two suppliers – but offer them the opportunity to requote
2)Will credit check suppliers (Tim)
3)Meeting two suppliers this Friday
4)Rework quotes: Fully finished changing rooms. Rest of the building external only. Fit out quotes later.
Website,
• Website Premium package is now paid for and I’m starting to build new features for the website.
•Homepage now re-designed. I hope this is OK.
•The club shop has some products available and we have had our first, non member, purchase. I need to urgently meet with Sarah to decide how these orders can be recorded and actioned. After discussing with Sarah she says she is not able to take on Online orders because of the logistics and extra work. I have therefore agreed that we will use the website as a “shop window” for the time being and encourage customers to go to the shop. We have agreed that limited orders may be taken online should they have problems getting to the club.
• As we know from past criticism “ A Website is only as good as the content it contains”. We continue to update it with features events, results and reports however I am concerned that some teams are not populating their pages regularly. Bearing in mind the stick we rec’d when they couldn’t do this I would encourage All age groups, Senior and Youth to use this facility. The U13’s have really taken this on board and I’m sure they would be happy to pass on their knowledge and feedback to others is they are asked. Maybe Clive can bring this up at Youth meeting and Phil and Mark at the Rugby Committee meeting?
A.O.B.
- 2.
Carried Over / DS
Past Players Lunch being considered / BM
Bin Store being planned / CW
Publish Membership list / TA
WCDP republished. Well done Judi.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 9:40pm. The next meeting will be on Thursday12th January 2012,7:30pm at the Clubhouse.
D. Gray ………………………………………
CHAIRMAN 12thJanuary 2012
BALANCES at 20/12/11
ARFC Limited BANK BALANCESSeniors / Current Account / 9,470
Reserve Account / 80,166
Membership / 2,522
Development Fund / 15,436
107,594
Youth / Current Account / 10,063
Reserve Account / 2,708
12,771
Sub Total / 120,365
Less / Age Group Funds (est.) / -6,000
RFU Ticket Monies / -7,144
-13,144
Club Total / 107,221
Monthly Minutes: December 11 1