Kidlington Forum Table Tennis Club
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
EXETER CLOSE PAVILION, KIDLINGTON
HELD ON WEDNESDAY 29th JUNE 2016
The meeting opened at 7.30pm.
- Apologies
John Birkin, Paul Casey, Ryan Hambridge, Joanna Mellon, Ben Pritchard.
Members present
Karl Bushell, John Duncalfe, Bob Hallett, Neil Hurford, Chris Smith, Christine Scaysbrook, Guy Plowman, Justin Roake, Vassilis Karatzios and Joe McKenna-Jones.
- Minutes of AGM 2015 – a True Record?
It was agreed that they were a true record.
- Matters Arising from the Minutes of 2015 AGM
Item 9 - John Duncalfe reported that the club had bought 50 club shirts and sold 49 of them.
AOB - Junior League: John Duncalfe reported that this year’s competition had just finished. 4 Forum teams took part and it was won by Cooper Whitford and Benjamin Cattell.
- Chairman’s Report
Bob Hallett reported that we now had a membership of 130, a 25% increase over a year. We have support locally and have a busy social playing side. The G team won the AHHS final against Forum F. Ben Pritchard won this trophy for the second year running ably assisted on the night by David Moulton and Farshad Shaddel and by team mates Kiarash Shaddel and Terry Ruane. Forum I won the 2AS and Forum J were runners up. Jack Smith was the leading player in 2AS. In Div 2 Forum C were runners up and in Div 3 Forum E were runners up. Ryan Hambridge was the most improved junior player in the League. Kiarash Shaddel was the best junior newcomer. Kavan Warrender and Vicki Coll were the best junior boy and girl respectively in the League. Thanks were due to all Committee members and to Karl Bushell and John Duncalfe in particular. However, we need more volunteers. The way forward is to support our junior boys and girls, recognise the value of the local League and support it.
- Treasurer’s Report
The Statement of Accounts is appendix 1 of these minutes. Karl Bushell reported that Andrew Flint, the Auditor, had said the books were accurate. Karl said he had sold 4 club tables at £100 each to other clubs. He had spent £4200 on new tables, 3 umpire tables, a club sign and new Stiga balls, including some free balls from Bribar sufficient for two years. As a result there was a deficit on the year but we have an overall surplus and have invested in equipment and have a good income flow. Open sessions are a major source of income as are subscriptions and match fees.We have a bond with Coventry Building Society which is equivalent to 4 years rent. All in all we are in a strong financial position.
- Membership
John Duncalfe said we had 136 members broken down as follows: males 115, females 21; Cadets 32, 4 of whom are girls, Juniors 15, 1 of whom is a girl, Seniors 32 (6 females) and Veterans 57 (10 females). The increase in numbers is greater as the age groups get older. 46 members played for Forum in the League, only one less than last year. As a result of the new Associate player status at TTE, where members who don’t play competitively don’t pay a subscription to TTE, the Club now has 79 competitive players and 49 associates. The increase in membership is mainly as associates. He said he waits to see how many want to play in the League next season. He said he had only 17 members at the moment who had committed to play for Forum in the League next season. Karl Bushell said John should put out a chaser for more League players.
- Volunteering
John Duncalfe said that he had been asking for volunteers to run sessions using email. It was tough organising them with many sessions only filled at the last moment. He had had to cancel one session and wouldn’t hesitate to cancel others if there were no volunteers. He asked for suggestions on how to get more volunteers.
Neil Hurford said keep sending emails as everyone got them and knew the circumstances. Guy Plowman said accept proposals for later starts as many can’t get to the club by 7pm. Vassilis Karatzios proposed sharing the opening and closing. Karl Bushell said send the booking sheet out with the email so members could see what slots remained. John said he would use these suggestions.
8.Election of Officers
All the following were proposed by Neil Hurford and seconded by Chris Smith en bloc and elected unanimously.
Chairman – Bob Hallett;
Secretary – John Duncalfe;
Treasurer – Karl Bushell;
Committee Members – Christine Scaysbrook, Chris Smith, Joanna Mellon, Ryan Hambridge and Joe McKenna- Jones.
9.Proposed Change to Constitution Rule 9.2
Karl Bushell said the proposal would bring our date for renewal of annual subscriptions in line with that of Table Tennis England. It was agreed. He said he would be issuing a simplified membership renewal form asking for any changes from last year’s form.
10.Proposed Increase in Annual Subscription for Adults
John Duncalfe said Committee proposed an increase in adult annual subscriptions from £20 to £30. Vassilis Karatzios said it was too much; it was way over the rate of inflation. Justin Roake said it should be put down to £10 to attract more members. Neil Hurford said the proposed increase was not a barrier to people joining and proposed that volunteers’ subs should remain at £20 in order to attract more help for running club affairs.
Karl Bushell said that Committee members and volunteers who committed should pay only £15. He could draw up a plan on how it would operate. Neil Hurford said the principle should be agreed now and Karl left to complete the details.
The following amendment was proposed by Bob Hallett and seconded by Neil Hurford.
“Annual adult subscriptions shall be increased to £30 except that committee members and volunteers for jobs within the club shall pay only £15. The Treasurer shall draw up and execute details of how the reduced subscription for volunteers would work.”
The amendment was carried 6 votes to 1.
11.Match Fees (no Increases proposed)
It was agreed.
12.Coaching
John Duncalfe reported that beginners’ sessions had been offered every Tuesday in term time. Ben Pritchard and he had done most sessions with help from Greg Boone and Simon Price. Numbers had varied but some had advanced to the intermediates and elite sessions. Next season Ryan Hambridge and Joe McKenna-Jones will help. John was concerned that the club may be at risk if we used unregistered coaches. He was taking up the issue with Gemma Parry at TTE. Neil Hurford thought that the insurance position for the club was OK as long as there was a qualified coach at a session.
Karl Bushell said the intermediates/elites were full and were a good bunch. They had done well in competitions. Todd Stanmore had been at the Nationals recently and taken the England no. 1 to 5 sets. Karl said we are short of girls though. Guy Plowman said his daughter didn’t attend because there weren’t other girls.
13.National Junior League
Neil Hurford read John Birkin’s report in his absence. It is appendix 2. Karl Bushell said we should give John Birkin a thank you for all his work and the club should continue to support our teams in the NJL financially. It was agreed.
14. Pavilion and Equipment
Karl Bushell reported that the club now had all the equipment it needed (see Treasurer’s report). He said that the Council now proposed to put film on the top part of the windows but that was no good for us as they didn’t stop reflections. He had agreed that the blinds would go but the brackets would remain. The brackets would support the curtains we already use in daytime. Black material could be clipped onto the curtains to give a good background to play without blocking the safety doors.
Karl said that cups and kettles have disappeared and cabinet doors had been forced in the kitchen as keys had been lost. These could be replaced.
15.AOB
Town and Gown
Christine Scaysbrook asked whether the Pavilion could be used for the T & G. John Duncalfe said it could.
Charity Fundraiser
Justin Roake proposed a Charity Tournament at this time of year using tennis scoring. Karl Bushell said Justin should put a plan together and Committee would support it. Karl also proposed a club day.
Latecomers in League
Guy Plowman said the club should have a policy for those wanting to play in the League but declaring late. John Duncalfe said we had to declare the number of teams by a certain date. We could only commit to teams where we had commitment from our players by that date. Chris Smith said we had to pursue our no-show players by email now. Karl Bushell said we must make clear to them that the number of teams we propose will influence the League set-up.
The meeting ended at 8.50pm.
Signed……………………………………………………………………..Chairman
Date………………………………………………….
Appendix1
Kidlington Forum Accounts for the period ended30-Apr-16
Income / Expenditure
Open Nights / 2797.65 / Equipment / 5131.57
Sundays / 1155.05 / Rent / 4000.00
Tuesday Juniors / 499.60 / Rent Sundays / 400.00
Wednesdays / 318.40 / ODTTA Regs / 360.00
Subscriptions / 1865.00 / Nat Junior League / 155.00
Match Fees / 1007.00 / Entertainment / 82.82
TTE Licences / 231.00 / TTE Licences / 211.00
Drinks Sold / 50.60 / Safe and keys / 37.99
Gala day / 0.00 / Shirts / 662.40
Venue Hire / 430.00 / Insurance / 0.00
Nat Cadet League / 0.00 / Course Fees / 139.20
Sale Tables / 400.00 / General Exps / 131.69
Junior League / 45.29 / Xmas Prizes / 27.00
Shirt Sales / 450.00 / 365 site / 36.00
Coventry Interest / 366.08 / Other / 34.99
Sat Club Grants / 1400.00 / Sat Club / 1500.42
11015.67 / Drinks / 20.40
Deficit / -1949.81 / Premier Club / 35.00
12965.48 / 12965.48
12965.48
Balance C/f / 25357.38 / Coventry Bond / 17600.00
Deficit / -1949.81 / Barclays / 5807.57
Balance C/f / 23407.57 / 23407.57
Main / 4216.26
Sat Clubs / 1591.31
5807.57
Equpment Breakdown
Tables (6) / 4200.00
Umpire Tables (3) / 149.97
Club Sign / 55.74
Nets and Balls / 725.86
5131.57
Income / 14/15 / 15/16 / Change
Open / 2791.33 / 2797.65 / 6.32
Sundays / 1434.18 / 1155.05 / -279.13
Tuesdays / 591.60 / 499.60 / -92.00
Subs / 1503.00 / 1865.00 / 362.00
Match Fees / 1246.50 / 1007.00 / -239.50
Weds / 389.40 / 318.40 / -71.00
Total / 7956.01 / 7642.70
Appendix2
National Junior League (South)
We entered two Kidlington Forum teams, placed in Divisions 1 and 2. The A team struggled throughout the season, hanging on to their Div 1 spot by the skin of their teeth. There were some disappointing performances, but it should be said that the competition was high class. The team put up their best showing on the final Saturday, with John Ho replacing Reuben Cox, and Kavan Warrender at last finding some form, along with Joe McKenna-Jones. On this occasion they justified their position in Division 1 with 1W, 1D, 3L to finish 5th, ahead of Kingfisher.
The B team were correctly placed in Division 2/4, completing their season with a round of 3W, 1D, 1L, just pipped for 2nd place medals; Ryan Hambridge and Lewis Waddup were the top players, who kept the team afloat. The other players were Cameron Aris and Luke Plowman. 10 year-old Todd Stanmore took Luke’s place on the final Saturday and won 6/8, a phenomenal performance for a primary school boy.
Todd was our biggest success story of the whole season. He joined the Beginners’ group in September; we saw his promise and keenness, and I gave him the last place in the B team for NCL. He ended up as no 1 player there and probably stronger than anyone in the A team. He lost 1 match or maybe 2 in the whole season. He climbed to 15th in the English Under 11 rankings. Last weekend he played in the newly constituted English National 10-13 Championships at Preston, reaching the last 16 (out of 48 starters) in both under 12s and under 11s. In fact he had very close matches with the top two players in Under 11s and was the only player to take the eventual winner to 5 games.
I hope to run two NJL teams next season, but lots of players have disappeared from view during the last two months and I won’t find out until July/August whether they are still committed to playing.
John Birkin