MACQUARIEFOOTBALL REFEREES ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

WARNERSBAYPUBLIC SCHOOL

TUESDAY 17 OCTOBER 2017

Chairman:Brad Carlin

The meeting commenced at 7.35pm with44members andvisitors signing the Register of Attendance.

WELCOME TO SPECIAL GUESTS

MFLRon Victor

NNSW State League Football RefereesNeil Jones (Auditor)

MFRAI Life Members Lesley Alley, Ray Ashbourne, Pat Bellingham, Brad Carlin,David Mason, Paul McLeish,Bryan Merchant, Jim Reeves and John Tucker

MFRAI Honorary Member for LifeBill Jones (Returning Officer)

APOLOGIES

M/SRichard Low / Ethan Spiers that the 24apologies for non-attendance be accepted. CARRIED.

ADOPTION OF MINUTES

M/S Paul McLeish / David Sneddonthat the minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting held on Tuesday 18October 2016beaccepted as a true and correct record of proceedings. CARRIED.

Business Arising from the Minutes – Nil

M/SRiley Kirkaldy / Blake Hickeythat the minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting held on Tuesday 18October 2016be confirmed. CARRIED.

PRESENTATION OF ANNUAL REPORTS

The Chairman extended his thanks and congratulations to the Secretary, Appointments Officer, Treasurer and Auditor for their efficient work in preparing the association’s Annual Reports for the 2017 season.

M/SMitch Hickey / John Tuckerthat the Annual Reports of the President, Secretary and Appointments Officer, as tabled, be accepted. CARRIED.

The Auditor, Neil Jones, addressed the meeting and outlined the association’s financial performance for the financial year ending 30 September 2017. He highlighted that although the association has run at a loss this year, this is in part compensating for an overstated profit in previous years, and gives the new Management Committee a clean starting point for 2018. The Auditor thanked the Treasurer, President, Secretary, Equipment Officer, Warren Read (MFL) and Annette Hervas (NNSWF) for their assistance in preparing the accounts.

The total out of pocket expenses paid to the association’s assessors and mentors for the 2017 season was $730.00.

M/SBrian Tamsett / Dennis Bartlettthat the Annual Audited Financial Statement, as tabled, be accepted. CARRIED.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS

M/S Jim Reeves / David Mason that standing orders be suspended to allow for the Chairman to address the meeting in relation to the election and appointment of members to the Management Committee of the association for the 2018 season. CARRIED.

  • At the September Ordinary General Meeting, members passed a resolution that the association contests the decision from MFLto require Alison Macready to step down from one of her Secretary roles (with MFRAI or with Hunter Christian Churches Football Referees Club); and that our association seeks a clear indication from Northern NSW Football or FFA about the reasons for the decision. The Chairman reported that this investigation has taken place, and the outcome is that the decision is irreversible and complies with the requirements of FFA. It has come to light that Hunter Christian Churches Football Referees Club, like so many other churches football bodies and referee bodies, is not only not affiliated or aligned with a state member federation such as NNSWF, it is not even aligned with FFA, which presents a massive problem.
  • The Chairman expressed his gratitude to members for the communications that have been extended to him since August when he announced his retirement from MFRAI. He has been honoured and amazed by the kind words that have been said about him, and for the thanks he has received for his services and contributions to football.

The Chairman noted that a key reason for his retirement was a fear that he could no longer do the job properly as President, particularly given his ever increasing workload with NNSWF, and thought it best to retire gracefully. He was unsure whether anyone would put their hand up to take on the position of President, and had no inkling that the association would lose Alison as Secretary, meaning our association now needs to fill two key positions.

Although that fear remains, the Chairman’s greater concern is that he has contributed to the situation our association is now in by failing to put a succession plan in place. Walking away tonight with no President or Secretary, particularly with the changes currently taking place with MFL, is unthinkable for him, and something for which he would carry guilt for a long time, despite what others may say.

The Chairman felt he owed it to the association to put forward some sort of plan for consideration, and has spent a lot of time thinking through how to best help our members, our current Secretary, and MFL. That plan was presented to and approved by the Management Committee last week, pending the approval of members tonight.

The first key decision by the Management Committee was in relation to the critical role of Director of Coaching. Members would agree that Jake Southward is gifted in the area of giving presentations, and the Management Committee has appointed him to the role, which aligns to some extent with what Jake is doing at NNSWF. Jake will be supported by two young members who also have no problem making public presentations, and who are both excellent referees in their own right – Jack Fisher, who has been appointed to the role of Level 4 Referee Co-Ordinator, and Stuart Hansen, who has been appointed to the role of Junior Referee Coach.

The appointment of Jack Fisher to this role left one of the Junior Members’ Representative positions vacant. Riley Kirkaldy, who has already demonstrated an ability to speak with little notice and is another very talented young match official, expressed an interest in the role and has been appointed to the position by the Management Committee.

There is some uncertainty surrounding the role of Appointments Officer, as our association is waiting to see if and when the paid position to be appointed by Macquarie, Newcastle and Hunter Valley Football goes ahead. However, with no one currently employed in that position, our association definitely needs an Appointments Officer at this time, and Joe Worboys has kindly agreed to take the position on again.

The Treasurer (Mitch Hickey), Equipment Officer (David Sneddon) and Junior Vice-President (John Tucker) all have a second year of their two year terms to serve. A ballot will be held later tonight to decide who will be elected as the Assistant Secretary / Registrar will be for the next two years, and a four-way ballot will also be held later tonight for the second Junior Members’ Representative position.

The Chairman felt that although she cannot continue as Secretary, Alison Macready has done an excellent job over the past 12 months, and deserves the chance to stay involved in some way. To this end, the Management Committee has appointed Alison to the role of Executive Assistant, to support the President, Senior Vice-President, Secretary and Assistant Secretary, and to provide support to the Management Committee in a non-voting role. Among other things, this role will include management of the association’s website, TeamApp and group email register.

After the deadline came and went with no nominations submitted, the Chairman made an approach to Peter Wilson regarding the position of Secretary. Although Peter is currently overseas as part of a work/study program, he is reasonably interested in taking on the position when he returns to Australia in February to get the association through the 2018 season, provided there is an understanding that he cannot take on the level of work that Alison and others have done previously.

No nominations have been submitted for the position of President. The Chairman put to the Management Committee that if they and the members could understand and accept certain conditions, he would be willing to take the position on for a further two year term. Although he does not like ultimatums or conditions, he cannot continue to do in the next two years everything he has done in the past, and the membership would need to understand and accept that.

For the Chairman to take on one last two year term as President, he will need to go back to the role of a traditional President, chairing meetings and guiding others in the administrative work of the association, and improve his delegation skills. The retention of Alison in the Executive Assistant role is absolutely critical, and although he will continue to give everything he can to this association, his family, health and employment need to come first. He believes the new appointments role must be up and running by the start of next season, and that the Management Committee and membership need to immediately work on identifying who the next President will be so that the person can be trained in the role and participate in a smooth handover. If that person is not already on the Management Committee, appointing them as Senior Vice President would certainly help the process. Overall, this plan will allow the Chairman to retire sometime in the next two years, knowing that he has putting a succession plan in place.

David Mason noted that the members of the Management Committee would need to take responsibility for preventing the Chairman from taking on tasks that he should not need to do.

In response to a question from Richard Low, the Chairman confirmed that in this instance the position of Senior Vice-President will be filled by way of appointment by the Management Committee (rather than an election) because it has been left a casual vacancy by the resignation of Ray Ashbourne.

David Sneddon noted there will also be an onus on members who need to raise an issue or talk to someone to think about who would be the best person to contact, rather than just automatically contacting the Chairman.

In response to a question from Stuart Carr, the Chairman confirmed that Alison’s new position complies with the requirements from MFL – she simply cannot be on the Management Committee and cannot vote at meetings of the Management Committee.

M/S Jim Reeves / Dennis Bartlett that the terms of what has been laid out by the Chairman be accepted, with the knowledge that changes can always be made at the next Annual General Meeting. CARRIED.

  • Given there are no further general meetings to be held this year, Jim Reeves asked if the Chairman could provide members with an update regarding the bigger role that Macquarie, Newcastle and Hunter Valley Football are planning to take in facilitating appointments for 2018.

The Chairman noted that although it was discussed last year, appointing someone to the role was deferred firstly until the start of the 2017 season and then to June 2017. It will hopefully be in place for the start of the 2018 season, but different zones have different opinions, with some suggesting the role will not be considered until February 2018 to possibly start in June 2018.

In the last few days, progress has been made with Macquarie and Hunter Valley Football in regards to how important it is to get this role up and running, with those zones recognising the person needs to start as soon as possible, as it’s not practical to wait until the start of next year to put someone in the seat. They may need to proceed without the involvement of Newcastle Football.

The Chairman expressed his personal opinion that the position is important, not only because the time of volunteers doing all the workload is coming to an end, but because for too long there has been division between football bodies, between referees bodies, and between football and referees bodies. He believes the administration and appointments for Macquarie, Newcastle, Hunter Valley and NNSWF premier competitions should ultimately be centralised and done by one group of people, and that although it may not be a popular approach with some, the best interests of match officials will be served if those people are based at NNSWF. The time for division has ended.

RESUMPTION OF STANDING ORDERS

M/S Jim Reeves / Richard Low that standing orders be resumed. CARRIED.

ELECTION OF MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

The Chairman thanked the members of the Management Committee for their support and hard work during the past year. He praised the retiring members of the Management Committee – Ray Ashbourne, Cohen Dennis, Mark Carter and Riley Holohan – for their invaluable contribution to the association’s achievements over the years and wished them well for the future.

The Chairman announced that as noted previously, the existing casual vacancies in the positions of Senior Vice-President and Secretary will be filled by way of appointments to be made by the Management Committee.

The Chairman reminded members that due to the absence of any nominations for the position of President, nominations will be taken from the floor of the meeting to fill this position.

As noted previously, secret ballots will be conducted during the meeting to elect the positions of Assistant Secretary / Registrar and the one vacant position of Junior Members’ Representative. All of the nominees for these two positions are entitled to address members, verbally or in writing, to support their nominations.

As there are only two nominees for the position of Assistant Secretary / Registrar, the winner of the ballot will be the nominee who polls a simple majority of the votes cast by eligible members.

As there are four nominees for the position of Junior Members’ Representative, the winner will be the first nominee who polls a simple majority of the votes cast by eligible members, even if this requires more than one ballot to determine the winner. If no nominee obtains a simple majority of the votes cast in the first ballot, the nominee who polls the least number of votes is eliminated from the second ballot.

Only active, non-active and Life Members are entitled to vote in the ballots. Social and honorary members are not entitled to vote under the Constitution of the association.

Phil Brinkley, Marlene Ray and Neil Jones were nominated and appointed as scrutineers.

The Secretary declared that 41 active, non-active and Life Members were present who were eligible to vote during the meeting, meaning that 21 votes would be required to win any ballot.

The Chairman invited the Returning Officer, Bill Jones, to announce the names of the members elected or appointed to the 2018 Management Committee.The members of the 2018 Management Committee are:

PresidentBrad Carlinwas nominated from the floor of the meeting and elected unopposed for a further two year term.

Senior Vice-PresidentThe Management Committee will fill the casual vacancy in the position of Senior Vice- President by appointing an eligible member.

Junior Vice-PresidentJohn Tucker has a second year of his current two year term to serve.

SecretaryThe Management Committee will fill the casual vacancy in the position of Secretary by appointing an eligible member.

Assistant Secretary / RegistrarJack Stoker advised the meeting that he would regrettably have to withdraw his nomination for the position due to a change in work and personal circumstances. Peter Wilson was thus elected unopposed for a further two year term.

Treasurer Mitch Hickey has a second year of his current two year term to serve.

Equipment OfficerDavid Sneddon has a second year of his current two year term to serve.

Director of CoachingJake Southward has been appointed by the Management Committee to hold this office for a two year term.

Appointments OfficerJoe Worboys has been appointed by the Management Committee to hold this office for a one year term.

Level 4 Referee Co-OrdinatorJack Fisher has been appointed by the Management Committee to hold this office for a one year term.

Junior Referee CoachStuart Hansen has been appointed by the Management Committee to hold this office for a one year term.

Two Junior Members’ RepresentativesRiley Kirkaldy has been appointed by the Management Committee to hold this office for a one year term.

Ethan Spiers was elected by secret ballot to fill the second position of Junior Members’ Representative for a two year term.

The Chairman thanked all candidates for nominating for office and congratulated those members who were successful in being elected or appointed. He thanked the Returning Officer for announcing the names of the members of the Management Committee for the 2018 season.

M/S Dennis Bartlett / Haydn King that the ballot papers be destroyed. CARRIED.

NOMINATIONS FOR SUB-COMMITTEES

The Chairman reminded the meeting of the criteria that must be met by members to be eligible for appointment to the Appointments, Coaching or Referee Assessment Committees.

Appointments CommitteeJoe Worboys has been appointed to a one year term as Appointments Officer. No other nominations for the Appointments Committee were received. Charlie Stevens is to be approached to see if he is again prepared to accept the role of Clerical Assistant to the Appointments Committee, should this position still be required.