MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF NORTHUMBERLAND BADMINTON ASSOCIATION
HELD AT BENFIELD CENTRE FOR SPORTING EXCELLENCE ON SUNDAY 29APRIL 2012 AT 7.00 p.m.
The Chairman,Mr Dennis Gray, welcomed those present to the AGM of Northumberland Badminton Association and thanked them for coming on such an awful evening weather-wise.
PRESENTRepresentatives of the following Northumberland clubs: Benfield Bears, Benfield Community Club, Blyth Tynedale, Elmfield, Hexham, Jesmond Dene,NCBC, NESLC, Newcastle Telecom, the Northumberland Club,North Tyneside Badminton Academy (Junior Club), Morpeth Riverside,St Gabriels,The Parks, Tyne Met (Junior Club), Wallsend Bewicke, Whitley Bay.
Management Committee members - Mr R Pearson(President), Mr D Gray (Chairman),Mrs N Waterfield (Secretary), Miss J Brown (Treasurer), Mrs D Chipchase(also representing Church High School), Mr S Porter, Mrs A Thompson,
Mr M Waterfield, Mr M Woodward, Miss L Edwards(BADMINTON England’s Regional Officer for Northumberland).
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Mr I Ferguson (Hon Vice President), Mr S Abbott (Vice Chairman),Mrs M Burgess
(St Gabriels BC), Mr P Hall (Walbottle/Ponteland Clubs), Mr P Snell (NESLC), Mr R Taylor (Management Committee), Mrs J Young (Heaton Manor School).
MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting, held on Sunday 22May 2011, were approved as a true record of the proceedings and were duly signed by the Chairman.
ANNUAL REPORT
The Chairman requested that the information included in the Report on the season 2011-2012, which had been circulated before the AGM, be made readily available to all club members to read so that everyone could be made aware of the huge amount of work that had gone on throughout the County during the preceding season. The Chairman reminded the meeting that a lot of work had gone into actually producing the Report and he commended the Report as making excellent reading, containing more information than in previous years. Mr Gray informed the meeting that as last year, the Accounts would be ready for approval at the EGM to be held in September, immediately before the League Fixtures meeting. He then asked if anyone had any questions to ask. The representative from Telecom raised 2 queries, one relating to a club (Whitley Bay) which had struggled during the season (due to various members leaving) and had conceded 10 matches – which had impacted on other clubs. The League Secretary pointed out that this was regrettable, but it had not actually affected the final placings. The second query related to some confusion over names in the Competitive Play Report. The Chairman asked that any other queries could be addressed to those who had written the different parts of the Annual Report.
The Annual Report was approved and adopted by the meeting.
APPROVAL OF COUNTY FEES FOR 2012/13
The Chairman informed the meeting that as BADMINTON England were proposing to increase affiliation fees for next season to £11 per Adult member (£1 increase), £5.50 per Junior member and £52.80 per Junior Club, it had been decided by the Management Committee that there would be no increase in NBA County Fees (currently £3 per Adult member and Junior playing in an Adult club) for the coming season. The BE fees would of course need to be confirmed at the BE AGM in June. Mr Gray also pointed out that NBA may well need to increase County Fees next year.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
Nominations for the positions on the Management Committee had been circulated before the AGM. There were no additional nominations. All nominations were approved en bloc as per the circulated list. The Chairman pointed out that the Management Committee was not “a closed shop” and nominations from clubs were very welcome. The Management Committee can co-opt additional members, and there are places on Sub-Committees also. The Chairman made a plea for members who would like to get involved to contact the Chairman or the Secretary. He also informed the meeting that Mike Woodward had indicated that he intended to step down from his roles as Coaching Co-ordinator and Child Welfare Officer due to work and personal commitments, but that he would be willing to continue until the EGM in September, thus allowing some time for others to volunteer to be nominated to fill these roles. Mr Gray also pointed out that our Treasurer Julie Brown, could well be leaving the area due to her work, and therefore we could also need a new Treasurer in September. Mr Gray asked that anyone interested in these positions contact himself or any other Officer initially for more information.
Officers elected:
President – Bob PearsonChairman – Dennis Gray
Secretary – Norma WaterfieldTreasurer – Julie Brown
Vice Chairman, Competition Co-ordinator, and BE Council Representative – Steve Abbott
Child Welfare Officer and Coaching Co-ordinator – Mike Woodward
Schools Co-ordinator – Dorothy ChipchaseClubs Co-ordinator – Steve Porter
Business Co-ordinator – Richard TaylorAssistant Secretary and Registration Secretary – Mike Waterfield
Senior Leagues Secretary – Alison Thompson
REVIEW OF NBA WEBSITE AND FACEBOOK
The Chairman reported that Andy McGill, NBA Website Manager, would appreciate any feedback on the website – anyone could contact Andy direct. Andy had asked for members to be reminded that NBA is on Facebook. There was one query as to whether there might be issues with having both Juniors and Adults on Facebook? Mr Gray would consult Andy about this matter.
There had been one inappropriate incident re a comment placed on Facebook during the season. This had been raised at the recent Clubs Sub-Committee meeting. Unfortunately NBA cannot police Facebook. This was not a nice incident, and Mr Gray commented that people should think carefully before putting any comments onto social networking sites. If any further similar incidents occur, then it will be necessary to draw up policies for clubs to adhere to. If anyone had any ideas for further enhancing the website they should contact Andy McGill.
BADMINTON ENGLAND REGIONAL OFFICER’S REPORT AND CBN UPDATES
Miss Edwards informed the meeting of the following:
- The new Whole Sport Plan from 2013 to be presented to Sport England on 14 May - to concentrate on 14-25 age group and adults.
- Community Badminton Networks (CBNs) to be maintained – currently 4 in Northumberland, plus 1 in process of being established. Leaflet explains how all partner members work together including clubs. Any clubs can be members of a CBN, don’t have to be a Premier Club. Opportunities to get funding in CBNs.
- BADMINTON England to have programmes for U14s, also to be school initiatives – all from BE’s own funding.
- To be investment in clubs and Performance Centres.
- BE Prepared Olympic campaign – leaflet explains – a club can run an event/open evening etc, support for marketing the club - £35 worth.
- GB Olympic team to be announced on 30 May.
- On website “Play Badminton” lots of information about when and where to play badminton in the region.
- On 15 May at 7pm at Northumbria University’s Coach Lane Campus, to be a meeting of the Newcastle CBN – anyone else/any club not yet a member would be very welcome to attend.
MATTERS RAISED BY CLUBS/AFFILIATED SCHOOLS
None.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
- The date of the EGM and League Fixtures meeting was confirmed as Sunday 9 September. Documentation would be sent out to clubs in July.
- Tickets are still available for the Annual Presentation Evening/Ceilidh on Friday 18 May. Over 100 tickets now sold. Miss Brown needs to know if any more tickets needed (especially large numbers) by the end of the week. Raffle prizes would be very welcome.
As there was no further business, the Chairman declared the AGM closed. He thanked everyone for attending and wished all clubs good luck for next season.