DORSET SQUASH

MINUTES OF COMMITTEE MEETING

Monday 8th October 2007: 7.30pm at the Hamworthy Club

1. PRESENT

  • Debbie Stent (DS), Janet Biles (JB), Gary Biles (GB2), Nick Aubin (NA),David Williams (DW),Gary Batchelor (GB).

2. APOLOGIES

  • Ian Chislett-Bruce (ICB), Matt Baker – ES (MB), Martin Wells (MW),Dilly Andrious (DA).
  • Absent:Carolyn Boyd (CB), Andy Corben (AC), Debbie Robinson (DR),John Pitt (JP).

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

  • The previous minutes were approved by all present and signed off.

4. MATTERS ARISING

  • DS/NA have sorted out a letter to the bank requesting that all future correspondence and statements are sent to NA.
  • ACTION: DS to put together a Conduct on Court/Etiquette document for use on the website and for player reference – c/f
  • DS had contacted Alvin Ranson about playing for the Over 55’s and had put him in touch with DA. DS has also contacted the County Team Captains requesting that they provide an update on their progress in raising teams and arranging home fixtures etc. Some have replied and their reports are show below in InterCounty section.
  • GB2 has emailed clubs regarding the CountyClosed and had responses from Canford and Bournemouth Squash Club (aka Bmth Sports).

5. CHAIRPERSON – Ian Chislett-Bruce

ICB’s report was presented to the Committee is his regrettable absence. DS had forwarded best wishes to him on behalf of the Committee.

  • It is with regret that I cannot be present at tonight’s committee meeting as I am in PooleHospital after an operation and exploratory test this morning.
  • At the present time I do not know what my situation will be but I will advise you all as soon as I know.
  • Having not been to any meetings since my election in May there is little that I can comment on in respect of my involvement with Dorset Squash. I was due to meet with David before tonight’s meeting to discuss events during the summer and the direction of Dorset Squash in the future. I will have this meeting as soon as I am able to.
  • I would like to take this opportunity to thank all members of the committee for their involvement with Dorset Squash and ensuring that we continue to provide the frame work to enable players within the County to play competitive squash at all levels.
  • I know it has been particularly difficult to arrange the winter leagues and my thanks go to Gary and everyone else involved in getting the leagues underway and I am sure there will be the usual competitiveness in all the leagues.
  • I would like to thank Janet for the work she undertook with the Junior County Closed and again all the other people involved in working towards improving our Juniors so that they can help to ensure that squash continues in Dorset, hopefully for many years to come despite the efforts of some developers to make it difficult for that to take place!
  • I would like to especially thank Debbie for the sterling work she undertakes on our behalf to ensure that we our kept informed of all developments in relation to Squash within the County. I sincerely hope that someone from the LadiesCounty team will come forward to organise the team and take some of the additional responsibility that Debbie has undertaken to do in the past. It would be a shame to lose the Ladies from County competition but the organising cannot continue to be at the behest of the very few.
  • I trust that you have a good, constructive meeting and sincerely hope that I can take my position at the next meeting in November.

6. TREASURER – Nick Aubin

  • NA reported that the bank balance is still healthy and hopefully he will have the up to date statements shortly (still not being sent to him but should be sorted by next meeting). New signatories have been sorted out OK. Account balances will hopefully be available at the next meeting.
  • 14-day Notice Account balance was £3756.10 on July statement.
  • Community Account (previously Treasurers Account) balance was £1433.19 on July statement.

7. COUNTYSECRETARY – Debbie Stent

  • SEE REPORT
  • Handbook: Work-in-progress
  • ACTION: DS to update drafted new Expenses Claim Form - £35 pppn and 25p per mile.

8. LEAGUE & CUP CO-ORDINATOR – Gary Biles

  • Winter Leagues: The leagues have started and seem to be going OK. GB2 is dealing with 5-10 emails per day. Some clubs are better than others in coping with the new system, and Bournemouth Squash Club are not good at all. GB2 remains a little frustrated at times but in general things are going OK. GB2 is using the website front page to illustrate what sections have been updated.
  • Knock Out Cup: This is now organised and the draws have been made. However GB2 still needs to liaise with Joe at TopRacket to determine how this will work online.
  • Dorset Closed: Interest was shown by Canford and Bournemouth Squash Club to host the CountyClosed. GB2 recommends that we use BournemouthSC, since using Canford presents many problems and we can make use of Canford for other events (junior events already scheduled there). This was agreed by all. The date of the county closed is 19/20 January 2008.

9. JUNIORS, COUNTY DEVELOPMENT & SOUTH WEST REGION – Janet Biles

  • CountyDevelopment: JB has been working with both Bournemouth SC and West Hants in order to get them their Club Charter status. Is also involved in setting up Mini Squash at the clubs.
  • Jersey Squash: Steve Law is the new contact in Jersey (Chairman of Jersey SC) and he is keen to create better links with Dorset. For some reason Jersey had been linked by ES with Hants (now put right) and they are keen to be involved in Dorset’s website. Matt Baker went to Jersey at the weekend and should be reporting back to JB on the situation there.
  • ACTION: DS to arrange for a section of the website to be set up for Jersey and to get the website heading changed to “Dorset Squash including Jersey Squash”
  • Dorset Junior Closed 22/23 September:BournemouthSC provided a very welcoming atmosphere for the closed. There were 60 entries including 1 from Jersey who is at Canford. The event was very successful with all prizes being given out on the Sunday to ensure a good turnout. Junior rankings are now listed on the website.
  • SW Area Competition 9th October: For U13, U15 and U17. 10 children from Dorset attended (5 boys and 5 girls) but sadly none made the top 4 in any events. However Dorset now has 2 girls with ES rankings. Also there area couple of boys who could get ranked if they started attending more tournaments. JB said she was proposing to charge children a match fee for the SW League matches as she feels that Dorset Squash cannot be expected to fund expenses for so many matches. It was agreed that SW League matches were not covered by IC expenses and each case for SW League expenses should be considered on their merits.
  • Inter-CountyMatches:Dorset has 3 home matches this weekend and 1 away in Hants. JB now has team managers for all junior teams.JB ensures that all team managers get a copy of the Code of Conduct, the Incident Reporting Guidelines and Parent Consent Form.
  • New Private Car Form:JB feels the new form from ES could prove to be an issue, as ES want all junior team drivers to declare to their insurance companies that they are intending to transport people, which could affect their premiums. All agreed that the form was OTT. JB feels it is important to get parents involved in transporting children (as do all in attendance), particularly by taking more than one child. However this could be difficult with the new forms and regulations.
  • Junior Kit: JB presented examples of some tracksuits that she has been offered for the juniors, which all agreed were excellent. They were navy and would have Dorset on the back, along with a crest of some sort on the front pocket area. Tops would be £25 and bottoms £10, with a complete tracksuit being £25. JB stated that DA appears to be able to get hold of various pieces of kit, and DW suggested extending DA’s remit to include PR as well as Press.

10. MEN’S COUNTYREPORTS – Andy Corben

  • Senior Teams: No report was available from Andy Corben. JB stated that Ross Godfree was organising the Men’s 2nd Team.
  • ACTION: JB to forward Ross Godfree’s contact details to DS.
  • Over 35’s: Ian Miles had been in contact with DS but only to ask about the level of expenses available, so it is assumed that he is intending to organize his team!
  • Over 45’s:GB1 reported ??????
  • Over 55’s: DA reported via DS that he now has “squad” of players and has booked courts at Bournemouth SC for the home fixture on.25th Nov. Dorset are in a pool of 3, so all matches are played on one day. The pool of players includes:Keith Chambers, Peter Farr, Graham Whitehouse, Roy Widdowson, Alvin Ranson, plus another 5 reserves including DA himself. He also has another number of leads in respect of good quality players which he is pursuing
  • It was agreed that there is a need to impress upon the Team Managers that all claims over and above the standard allowance should be agreed (or not) with the Committee prior to the fixture.

11. LADIES’ COUNTYREPORT

  • Ladies 1st Team:DS was disappointed to report that Vicky Simmonds is now saying that she did not agree to do anything apart from captain the ladies team “on the day”, although DS was not the only person to have got a different impression from her at the start of the season. Tracy Parker has agreed to get a team together for the first team match in Avon (there is only one match due to the withdrawal of Hants). DS stated that she has made it clear to all the lady players that if no-one comes forward to run the Ladies 1st Team next season that Dorset will not be entering a team. All were in agreement.
  • Ladies O40’s:Tracy Parker has a team ready for the home fixture on 11th November which is to be held at Bournemouth SC. The team will be Tracy Parker, Ali MacKenzie, Anne Holly, Nicky Kellaway and Barbara Thomas.

12. TOURNAMENTS

  • Dorset Closed will be held on 19/20 January 2008 at Bournemouth Squash Club.

13. RACKETBALL

  • NA reported the first stage match will be held on 1st/2nd December 2007 in Hampshire. The team will be drawn from the following list of players (in no particular order):Corben, Taylor, England, Hague, Smith A, Chambers N, Bunch, Potter M - possibly other good squash players who have translated to racketball before or others depending on answers from above list. Maybe Clive Ewins as well?
  • The league will consist of Dorset, Hampshire, Sussex and Kent.

14. MARKING & REFEREEING – David Williams

  • DW suggested that our annual course should be sometime in November, as previously discussed, and Monday 26th November seemed a suitable date for all concerned. It is likely that there could be 12 candidates going through the coaching programme who will have to attend as part of their coaching qualification.
  • There have been no recent assessments.
  • ACTION: DW to organise the course at West Hants, as before, and forward the poster to GB2 for circulation to the masses.

15. COACHING – Gary Batchelor

  • GB1 reported that he was unable to get the required courts for the coaching courses at West Hants, so has had to change the venues to Dorchester (L1) and Weymouth (L2) respectively.
  • JB said she felt there was some merit in organising a Junior Coaching Course, possibly in the New Year, or 2nd December. A Sunday afternoon at Bryanston could be a possibility.
  • GB1 suggested holding a Level 1 Coaching Course at BournemouthSC in Jan/Feb2008.
  • ACTION: DW to investigate the possibility of using Esporta for meetings and courses.

16. PRESS OFFICER – Dilly Andrious

  • It was agreed that it is important to provide DA with match reports etc in order for him to make regular submissions to the local press.

18. DORSET SQUASH WEBSITE – Debbie Stent (

  • Number of “hits” is now up to 7154 (as at 7th October 2007)
  • Front page is being used to state what sections have been updated, when and with what information by both GB2 and DS

19. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

  • Handbook: DS - work in progress

THE MEETING CLOSED AT c9.35 PM.

DATES OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS/OTHER EVENTS FOR 2007/2008

All committee meetings are now to be held at Esporta (unless otherwise stated), start time 7.30pm.

If you are unable to attend please forward a report and apologies to Debbie Stent.

  • Monday 12th November 2007
  • NO DECEMBER MEETING
  • Monday 14th January 2008
  • COUNTY CLOSED: 19/20 January 2008
  • Monday 11th February 2008
  • Monday 10th March 2008
  • Monday 14th April 2008
  • AGM: Wednesday 14th May 2008. Venue TBC

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