HALTON FIELD HOCKEY CLUB
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Monday, August 22, 2012
Mainway Recreation Centre lower meeting room, Burlington
MINUTES
1. / Call to OrderMeeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m.
In attendance –
à Keith Penny, President
à Diane Huneault, Treasurer
à Margot Smeenk, Secretary
à Andrea Wright, Director Youth Programs
à Meghan Hallman, Director Junior Programs
à Carmen Deleanu, Director Promotion & Development
à Bonnie Large, Director Senior Programs
à Erika Skafel, Director at Large
à Patrick Faulkner , and representing Rose (2 votes)
à Justin Warner, and representing Georgina (2 votes)
à Geoff Sheppard, and representing McKenna (2 votes)
à Michelle Winterburn, representing Keryn
à Rebecca Austin, representing Jessica
à Jennifer Brown, representing Chelsey Luckett
à Rachel Spekking
à Jamie McAuley
à Sandra Newcombe
à Lisa Brown
à Ceilidh Marshall
à Georgina Warner (non-voting)
à Jessica Austin (non-voting)
à Chelsey Luckett (non-voting)
à Mr. Winterburn (non-voting)
à Katelyn Jones (non-voting)
Attendance by Proxy – carried by Keith Penny (KP), Margot Smeenk (MS), Diane Huneault (DH), Erika Skafel (ES) or Meghan Hallman (MH)
à Caroline Smeenk (MS)
à Stacy Economou (KP)
à Amanda Davis (KP)
à Karen Bourgon (KP)
à Sara Restani, and representing Ellie (2 votes) (DH)
à Sarah Kerr (DH)
à Sarah Watson (ES)
à Kelly Rotar (ES)
à Jennifer Romualdi (ES)
à Lisa Donegan Baetz (ES)
à Ann Hierlihy (MH)
à Jennifer Crossley (MH)
à Caroline Peacock (MH)
à Katelyn Roganawicz (MH)
à Kelly Scott (MH)
à Jessica Swanton (MH)
Quorum = 5% of 374 members = 19
Votes in Attendance = 22; votes by proxy = 17. Total votes = 39.
2. / Minutes of 2010 AGM
Moved by Geoff Sheppard, seconded by Erika Skafel that the minutes be approved as written. Motion carried.
3. / Business arising from the minutes
à Appointment of auditor: met with an appointee from Deloitte who would audit our books, but it was never completed. We are still looking for a volunteer auditor.
à Still have a lack of umpires, especially for high school. Please approach Keith or Diane if interested.
4. / Directors’ Reports
President (Keith Penny) – see attached. This was the last of five years with Keith as president and he expressed his thanks.
Director – Youth Programs (Andrea Wright) - see attached.
Director – Junior Programs (Meghan Hallman) – see attached. It was noted that team sponsorship is at a cost at $250. High school tournament is being planned for the end of September.
Director Senior Programs – (Bonnie Large) - see attached.
Director Promotion & Development (Carmen Deleanu). – see attached. It was noted that the last minute schedules and changes in schedule to the Junior Women’s Provincial League were due to teams dropping out, as well as the Ontario Summer Games.
Indoor Programming (Diane Huneault) – see attached
Treasurer (Diane Huneault). See attached unaudited financial statements for March 31st year end.
It was noted that this is the first time we have had a loss over the year in a number of years. Some of the reasons include: sets of uniform shirts for competitive programs; after team chosen for Thrashers several backed out; less sponsorship. Note that there is still a sizable balance to cover expenses. Biggest expenses are outdoor turf fields.
Noted that paying FHO dues for members is a very time-consuming exercise and we will need to have members register individually, hopefully with a new system by Field Hockey Canada.) Question from floor: what should we do with excess balance. Ideas: indoor boards and goals, high school tournament, new goalie equipment (not Gray’s) especially for Thrashers. It was noted that there was one new set of goalie equipment purchased this year.
Moved by Rebecca Austin and seconded by Jennifer Brown that the Directors’ Reports be accepted as presented. Motion carried.
5. / Election of Directors
President. Keith Penny has stepped down mid-term, as mentioned at last year’s election, so a new president needs to be appointed by the incoming Board.
Secretary. Margot Smeenk has stepped down mid-term, as mentioned at last year’s election, so a new secretary needs to be appointed by the incoming Board.
Director – Treasurer. Meghan Hallman nominated Diane Huneault. Keith Penny seconded. No other nominations received. Elected by acclamation.
Director – Youth Programs. Keith Penny nominated Andrea Wright. Justin Warner seconded. No other nominations received. Elected by acclamation.
Director – Junior Programs. Meghan Hallman nominated Erika Skafel. Keith Penny seconded. Meghan Hallman was also nominated but declined. Elected by acclamation.
Director – at Large. Now available for appointment.
Director – Promotion and Development. Bonnie Large nominated Meghan Hallman. Keith Penny seconded. Carmen Deleanu nominated herself and Lisa seconded. Proposed to divide Promotion and Development. Andrea nominated Carmen for Development and Katelyn Jones for Promotion. Not seconded.
In order to divide a Director’s role and add a position to the Board a change in our Constitution and Bylaws would be required. Such a change would require advance notice to the membership, so this proposal was not possible at this time.
Voting was by secret ballot. Meghan Hallman elected.
It was noted that there has been interest in the vacant positions to be appointed from Shannon Thompson, Joanne Warner and Paula DeAngelis.
6. / Appointment of Auditor(s)
A formal audit of our books is not required in our by-laws, only review by a professional. Deloitte had arranged for pro bono review in September 2011, however this was never completed. We would still prefer to have our financial books reviewed, if any members have a contact who would be qualified to do this.
7. / Feedback from members
à Communication with Thrashers team players and parents is preferred to have one mode and stick with it, as it was a real issue.
à Problems with time in advance: noted that HFHC has passed it on immediately it has been received.
à Also FHO should have standard age groups.
à FHO tournament information required further in advance, plus they can’t be too far in advance. Discussion of reasons for problems: small size of sport, turn-over of FHO volunteers.
à Name tags for executive (maybe for all) at next year’s AGM.
à Diane Huneault floated the suggestion that Junior Women’s Provincial League, that the U18 and U16 Thrashers play in, would be in the fall. Competition with ice hockey and fall school season was noted as a potential issue.
à Geoff suggested an update of the logo even at some cost. Promotion to Hamilton was also suggested. It was noted that if our membership grows beyond 15% outside Halton we will have a problem with field bookings and cost.
à It was suggested that in order to encourage more volunteers they should have perks. For example reduction of registration cost. Suggested parent manager for each team. Advantages and disadvantages were discussed.
8. / Motion to adjourn
Motioned by Erika Skafel. Seconded by Lisa Brown. Carried. Meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m.
Recorded by:
Margot Smeenk
Approved: ______
Date: ______
PRESIDENT’S REPORT 2012
Three hundred and forty-three players, 13 recreational teams, 5 competitive/tournament teams, thirty-two coaches, approximately 121 one-hour indoor gym bookings, approximately 151 one-hour summer field bookings, approximately seven thousand minutes of indoor gym time, approximately 9118 minutes of summer field time, 96 recreational games, 192 summer umpire slots, 5 tournaments, one Ontario Winter Games, one Ontario Summer Games, one/two in the Junior Women’s’ Provincial League, four gold, one silver, four bronze in tournament/OSG play and a whole lot of fun. This has been the amazing race….or better yet an incredible 2011-2012 season for HFHC. There are many accomplishments and success we can be extremely proud of. I realize that it’s beginning to sound like a broken record, but we still continue to be the largest club in Ontario for girls and women, representing approximately 20% of all registered members in this province and of this we are very proud. Our programs have consistently year after year delivered a varying level of play to suit all ages, from the grass roots beginner stages, to recreational level play, to those wanting to participate in an occasional tournament environment and finally those in the junior program wanting step it up in more of a competitive environment of league play & tournament competition. For many years now we are the only club in the province to offer three levels of recreational play from ages 6 – 60+ and we feel this strategy is the key to field hockey development in this region. Once again our programs realized enormous success with solid registration numbers and dedication from our invaluable volunteer coaches and most importantly our program directors. We at HFHC are extremely fortunate to have such great coaches, most who come to us with enormous experience and outstanding passion for the game. They are invaluable leaders and role models for our young players. I would also like to recognize our umpires. With such a small group, they managed to cover almost every game with two umpires and without them, we would have no games.
Let me share with you a number of highlights of the 2011-12 season that made it an enormous success;
· Indoor field hockey during the fall & winter months. In addition to our recreational Youth, Junior and Senior programs, and Junior competitive training, we had a senior team that participated in the Toronto Women’s Indoor League and a U14 team that participated in the Scarborough Cup & Ontario Winter Games. Much thanks to Erika Skafel for managing the Toronto League senior group and Justin Warner and Meghan Hallman for leading our U14 girls to bronze.
· Our website continues to be a work in progress. This year saw some massive layout changes to the site, with ongoing club announcements and information updates along with world field hockey news updates. Much thanks to our webmaster Bonnie Large for doing an outstanding job.
· We are once again enormously appreciative for the ongoing substantial sponsorship from AKPro and its owners Kam and Aman Kular. They have been a club sponsor for a number of years and we are fortunate to have their ongoing commitment and support. Thank you!
· HFHC was also very fortunate to obtain team sponsorship support for all 6 of our senior teams this season and two of our junior teams. Thank you to; The Purple Heather Gastro Pub (sponsored 4 senior teams), F1 Freight Systems Inc., Active Green + Ross Store #777, Bronte Fish & Chips and Ultimate Drivers of Canada Oakville.
· On Saturday, April 28, 2012 HFHC ran our fifth annual season opening clinic. Once again the event took place a Corpus Christi CSS and we were blessed with fantastic weather. The kick-off clinic was well attended with our largest turnout to date, 85 players from our youth and junior programs who benefited enormously from the skills and drills coordinated by a great group of coaches. Many thanks to Jonathan Roberts for leading the clinic and to all the coaches that came out to get our players ready for the season. Thanks also to Coca-Cola for prizes.
· On Saturday, May 12, HFHC ran an NCCP Community Coaching Clinic for 11 coaches, 6 being from HFHC that would be coaching in our youth or junior programs. The clinic was facilitated by Steve Rodrigues, Varsity Field Hockey Head Coach at University of Waterloo. For each of the last six years, HFHC has funded this clinic and trained over 55 coaches.
· Congratulations to each of our competitive teams for their outstanding tournament results this winter/spring/summer.
o Scarborough Cup;
- Bronze for U14 Heroes
o Ontario Winter Games;
- Bronze for the U14 Heroes. Club based team, but also included
a couple of players from Nepean Nighthawks and 1 from Toronto FHC.
o May Meltdown;
- Gold for U14 Heroes and U16 Thrashers. Solid fifth place
finish for the U18 Thrashers in a tough 8 team U18 division.
o CFHCC tournament;
- Gold for the U14 Heroes and U16 Thrashers. Again the U18
Thrashers were in a tough U18 division and finished fifth.
o Senior Gemüetlichkeit Kup III Tournament;
- Bronze finish for a group of senior players who had never
played together as a group.
o Ontario Summer Games;
- Bronze medal winners. Not a club based team, but ten of the
fourteen players were from HFHC,
We are extremely proud of the players from these teams and an enormous thank you to all the coaches; U14 Heroes - Justin Warner & Meghan Hallman, U18/U16 Thrashers – Patrick Faulkner, Jamie McAuley, Meghan Hallman, Rachel Spekking, Katie Joyce, Susan Tian, and administrator Carmen Deleanu.
· Congratulations to our Thrashers 1 and 2 competitive teams for their solid performances this past year in finishing first and second respectively in the Junior Womens Provincial League. Outstanding job!! Much thanks again to their coaches Patrick Faulkner, Jamie McAuley, Meghan Hallman, Rachel Spekking, and administrator Carmen Deleanu.
· Congratulations to Jamie McAuley for being selected as an assistant coach for the U18 provincial team and Carmen Deleanu for being selected as assistant coach to the U16 girls provincial team.
· Our registration numbers (coaches, players, umpires, associates) are balanced as follows:
Total registration for 2011/12 is 374 (31 coaches & administrators). 85% from Halton
Residency – Burlington 146(39%), Oakville 143(38.2%), Milton/Georgetown/Halton area 29(7.75%), Non-residents (Hamilton, Mississauga, Brampton, Dundas, Dunnville, Grimsby, Guelph, Newmarket, St. Catherines, Stoney Creek, Waterdown 56(14.97%).
Indoor – 85, Outdoor – youth 62 (Sat. recreation/Heroes), junior 151 (house league/Thrashers), senior 108
There was one minor miss we experienced this summer and that was HFHC’s commitment to sponsor two players from the junior program to attend a field hockey camp. Unfortunately we were unable to locate or coordinate this opportunity, but hope to continue it going forward.
Over all, the 2011-12 season has been another excellent year for Halton Field Hockey Club. We continue to exceed our expectations and draw new members. Coach retention is always a challenge in our youth/junior programs, as many are University students whose work commitments vary from year to year – we look forward to welcoming many back in future years and also welcome new interest. Of interest, nine of the fifteen coaches we had in our recreational junior league this summer are former or current HFHC players. One area which is still a challenge is getting people willing to take an active role in one of the programs or in an administrative capacity as part of our executive. We hope that with the successes of this past year, more parents will be enticed to step up and become an active participant in their children’s sporting activities.