St. Phillips Amalgamated Badminton Club

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting

Held at The White Horse Pub, Exning on

Monday 16th June 2008

Present:

Roger & Sally Peyton, Sue Daines-Smith, John Harvey, Sue McKeown, Reg Day, Pauline Bond, John & Charlotte Wells, Richard Smith, Martin Wilson (11 – nine down on last year’s good turnout).

  1. Apologies for Absence:

Howard Jones, Karyn Duggan, Deane Hill, Louise Hamilton, Roy Parsons, Colin Brown, Darren Woodward, Dianne Bew, Laura Barton-Taylor.

  1. Minutes of the Previous A.G.M. - 14th May 2007:

There were no items that were not likely to be raised during this meeting so minutes were taken as read.

Item 5 was actually taken at this point:

The committee proposed adoption of the club rules (which were circulated to members prior to this meeting, along with the agenda) with one additional amendment:

Add, after the heading 2. The Club’s Annual General Meeting (A.G.M) each year will:

“ Note:

Attendance at the A.G.M. (and thereby the opportunity to speak and vote) is only permitted for existing club members i.e. those members who are fully paid up in the previous season to which the A.G.M. refers, or anyone specifically invited by the committee such as a representative to speak a particular subject.”

Then continue with…

  • Elect a governing committee of three: Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary; etc

The meeting agreed unanimously to adopt the rules, as amended.

  1. Chairman’s report:

Roger’s take on the season was that it had again been pretty good, with excellent club nights and club spirit (so thanks to all club members) and not too many problems or “challenges” during the season. He thanked his fellow committee members for their hard work (Sue McKeown, Reg Day, Pauline Bond, Sue Daines-Smith and co-opted John Harvey) and the team captains and others for their help in looking after business.

In terms of team and individual performances the club has had a pretty successful season with the major achievements outlined below. Roger waded through the fuller details of the season’s highlights, which are attached separately at Appendix A.

Major items to note were the Men’s teams retaining the Newmarket First Division title and staying up for a second season in the South Cambs Premier Division. The Mixed teams won the South Cambs Second Division so should be promoted next season and were runners-up in the Newmarket First Division. On the down side the Ladies finished positively also-rans in the Newmarket First Division and runs in the Cup competitions were shorter than last year. However some of our players took part with mixed success in the NBF International, some Belgian tournaments and represented Cambridgeshire at County level.

Trophies and prizes for the club tournaments were presented, accompanied by kisses and handshakes from the Chairman, as appropriate, for the winners.

  1. Treasurer’s Report: (copy of accounts attached at Appendix B)

Sue McKeown reported that in 2007/08, unlike last season’s £180 loss, this season saw a modest surplus of about £80. After paying £100 to catch up with trophy engraving plus prizes and reduced income on subscriptions of £35 and Summer club net income down by £50, the deficit was turned round due to additional guest fees of £65 (where the first 2 Fridays were hired on a pay and play basis), increased income from match fess of £300 and fundraising of £100.

The number of members reduced from 29 to 27 with part year and junior making up the total for the season. Hall hire costs were almost the same as last season as, although there was a price increase, we were able to make a net saving (as match fee income was also lost) when the hall was not needed when matches were cancelled – total of 57 nights at £32 a night. The gifts / donations includes a large plant for Angela to thank her for all her work over past years (which she very much appreciated) plus a donation for the use of the Pub back room tonight. NBF subs are still £5 per club and £3 per team but South Cambs appear to be remiss in taking affiliation fees so these have been credited back to the accounts. Bank interest continues to contribute almost the equivalent of another club member so reasonable balances are rewarding. The items marked with an asterisk are estimates as the bills have yet to come through.

The club bought 124 tubes of shuttles (at £7 per tube) but still have 30 in stock.

Sue had projected that we might be heading for a deficit at mid season (due to shuttle price increases, membership at that time, although a couple joined mid season, etc) so matches fees were increased and fund raising was initiated, which generated a substantial £400, which has kept us in the black. The temporary increase of match fee to £4 for after Christmas will be considered in item 7, subscriptions and fees.

Reserves remain at the reasonably healthy level of £767.

See also subscriptions at item 6.

  1. Club Rules (adoption) – see above
  1. Election of Officers:

Committee:

In the absence of any other proposals and with the agreement of the meeting the current committee members were re-elected for another year, namely Roger Peyton (Chairman), Reg Day (Secretary), Sue McKeown (Treasurer) plus Sue Daines-Smith (assistant Secretary), Pauline Bond (Social Secretary) and John Harvey as co-opted club member.

The committee thanked John Wells for his input last season, particularly with the fixtures and the intention is to roll out further developments for the coming season.

Team Captians:

In the absence of any other proposals and with the agreement of the meeting the current team captains were re-elected for another year, namely:

Mixed - Newmarket A Sue Daines-Smith

Mixed – Cambs. Pauline Bond

Mixed - Newmarket B Sally Peyton

Men’s – Cambs. Martin Wilson

Men’s - Newmarket A John Harvey

Men’s - Newmarket B Reg Day

Ladies’ - Newmarket Sue McKeown *

Ladies’ – Cambs. Sue McKeown *

* Sue will be looking for some assistance in this role given her other commitments.

  1. Subscriptions and fees:

See the Treasurer’s report at agenda item 4. In anticipation that hall and shuttle costs are likely to increase and other potential demands on resources the meeting considered the options of:

a)increase in subscription

b)increase in match fee

c)both a) and b)

d)no increase

The meeting felt that a modest increase in match fees from £3 to £3.50 was not unreasonable (equating to probably about the average that was paid over last season, given the second half season temporary increase from £3 to £4) and was probably necessary to balance the books based on last year’s accounts. To be prudent the meeting also felt that it would be sensible to increase subscriptions now rather then to have to take emergency action during the season should costs rise and that this was reasonable to spread over the whole membership. The meeting therefore approved option c) so for next season the subscriptions increase by £5 to £70 (junior £35) with match fees home and away increase from £3 to £3.50 (junior £2) with guest and summer club fees similarly at £3.50 (junior £2). Juniors, for clarification, are defined as those in full-time education.

Late payments will not be tolerated and there is a penalty - Next season payment is due by 1st October 2008.

The penalty for late payment is £10 if paid after the 1st October 2008 and players will not be eligible to play in matches until they have paid in full.
  1. League Teams:

The meeting agreed to enter the same teams as last season. The selection process for these is as described in the newly adopted club rules. The meeting agreed that the selection committee would meet ahead of the fixtures meetings to produce a timetable for the selection process and provisional team selections so that team priority and provisional selection can be discussed to help schedule matches (in conjunction with technical developments in the fixtures scheduling). Provisional team selections will be circulated early in the next season so club members will be asked to confirm whether they will be joining next season.

Summary of what teams are likely to be playing where for next season:

Men’s Teams

/

Ladies’ Teams

/

Mixed Teams

/

Total Teams

League
/
Nkt
/ Cambs /

Total Teams

/
Nkt
/ Cambs / Total
Teams /
Nkt
/ Cambs / Total
Teams /
Nkt
/ Cambs / Total
Teams

Division

/ 1
and
2 / Premier / 3 / 2 ** / 3 / 2 / 1
and
2 # / 1 * / 3 / 5 / 3 / 8

* = promoted** = relegated# NBF may convert three Mixed Divisions into two.

plus Rushworth Knockout (Newmarket), Bill Pink Knockout and Cambs Mixed Handicap (South Cambs League).

  1. Any Other Business:

8.1Travel costs:

It was suggested that passengers paid a set sum towards driver’s expenses when traveling to matches. The meeting briefly discussed this but felt that the current informal arrangements seemed to work adequately (team members rotating driving or some with a preference or due to geography driving themselves) and that no fees scheme was required at this time.

8.2Logo and Team Kit:

The committee is looking at several options (selecting a colour and choice of styles in particular) so that club kit with the new club logo can be available to members at the start of the season, ideally at a reduced rate (as we believe that we can secure sponsorship).

8.3Other dates for your diary and news:

Summer Club: will run from Wed 7th May until 17th July 2008 (or until interest or numbers reduce, see the next paragraph) from 8.00 to 10pm. It is on a “pay and play” basis at £3.50 per person per night (juniors £2). Guests are definitely encouraged but note that, as per the club guidelines number 11, entry to the Summer Club does not automatically qualify for full club membership, as the 3 night attendance playing rule applies.

We have to pay for the whole hall so a minimum of 12 people per night is required to cover court costs alone so this will be closely monitored.

League AGM and Fixture Meetings:

Newmarket Badminton Federation AGM and Fixtures meeting is combined for the fifth year. It will be 7.15pm at the New Astley, Newmarket (attendance to be confirmed).

South Cambs - date and attendance to be confirmed (likely to be 2nd September 2008). Their A.G.M. was Monday 2nd June 2008, 7.30pm Little Shelford Village Hall (Reg attended).

Club Social Evenings: watch this space.

Club nights start: on Wednesday 3rd September 2008 and will be on all Wednesdays, 7.30 to 10pm.

Match nights start: on Fridays probably towards the end of September. Members should be aware that we have an official finish time of 10pm so players must ensure prompt starts and finishes. So just as a reminder:

For matches it is essential that all match players must arrive at Scaltback after 7.15am ready to set up before and play promptly at 7.30pm. Matches to move along and start packing up at 10pm so that the hall is clear by 10.15pm (even though we now how some flexibility).

Note that club details such as these minutes can be found in the St. Phillips ABC own Members Area: (logon and password available upon request) and the latest league results and tables plus the League AGM minutes, rules and links to clubs, associations, Badminton England, etc can be found at: .

Footnote - Future of the club: (Please could club members consider this item in confidence as this is a potential development strategy which may need some future negotiation)

Background: following the County Council’s decision to change Newmarket’s education system from three tier back to two, with the “removal of middle schools”, the future of Scaltback Middle School (and therefore the Hall that we currently play in) appears uncertain. As there are guarantees that this facility will be available (or at the current costs) in the not too distant future and, at this same time Newmarket Leisure Centre is being expanded with improved facilities (e.g. bar and café), is a potential source of new players, and the District Council are keen to encourage clubs to use the facilities by offering discounts etc the committee feel that the club ought to explore any potential for relocating, assuming that this is financially viable and in the interests of the club and its members. The meeting agreed that this should be explored further to try and establish toe position so that options could be properly considered. Other uncertainties include Local Government reoganisation in Suffolk, the outsourcing of the NLC to a trust, cost / discounts available, clubmark accreditation, junior section, etc. The meeting discussed some of these issues and agreed that members should be kept informed of the investigations and any developments.