Perth on 10th November 2007.
Present: Donald Grassie (DG) (Chair), Les Dalgleish (LD), DonaldPetrie (DP), Mel Perry (MP), Sarah Dunn (SD), Marsela McLeod (MM), Kate Robertson (KR), Ian Pyrah (IP), Paul Duley (PD), Catherine Goodfellow (CG) (SportScotland).
1. / Apologies
None
2. / Register of Interests
Updated by email. To be circulated for next meeting. Action: MP
3. / Key Dates
These were reviewed with no actions arising.
4. / Minutes of Previous Meeting
Minutes of 1st September 2007 were accepted, proposed by Sarah Dunn and seconded by Ian Pyrah.
5. / Outstanding Actions
None.
6. / Reports
President
Sportscotland have offered advice on marketing which will be taken up.
A draft list of topics for the BOF/SOA joint meeting has been prepared and circulated for comments. This will be shared with BOF, and a date for a teleconference agreed.
Memorandum and Articles of Association and Form 10 were signed off by the Executive members and will be passed to the Company Secretary and onto Morisons LLP for submission. A checklist of outstanding activities is being worked with a view to completing Incorporation on 1st January 2008.
A Management Audit of SOA by Sportscotland will take place during February 2008 in line with other Sports Governing Bodies (SGBs) – this last took place in 2003.
Operations
NATCEN
Hilary Quick (HQ) requested the authority to raise purchase orders or pay receipts for the NATCEN. After discussion, it was agreed that there is a need for a formal budget at the NATCEN, with a delegation to HQ to be able to manage costs against the agreed budget, subject to the normal financial procedures agreed with LD. A request will be made of Peter Lamb and HQ by DG to create a budget for 2008 which will be owned by MM on behalf of the Executive.
Controllers
Fran Loots has applied for Grade 2 Controller status without completing the full requirements; i.e. not organising a Badge event. The Executive decided to turn down the application on that basis, and encouraged Fran to complete the necessary event part.
Five Grade 3 applications received from EKCO – Trevor Hoey, Andrew Dale, Ross Lilley, Paul Frost, and Niall Urquhart. All were accepted.
Membership
The Executive confirmed the status on Free Membership for new members agreed at the AGM. Going forward, all new members will be entitled to free SOA membership in the year that they join their club and SOA.
Hilary has gathered historic statistics on membership numbers that demonstrated a steady rise in SOA membership year on year. BOF had also circulated Key Metrics (membership, officials, events, participation). It was hoped to be able to receive this information on a regular basis. Action PD to raise request with BOF.
BOF are gathering data from all clubs which would be of use to the SOA. Club secretaries will be advised that SOA would like the information to be sent to BOF. In turn BOF will be asked to share the data on Scottish clubs with the SOA. Action: DG.
Mapping Policy
A mapping coordinator is required to take ownership of the mapping policy. Volunteers will be sought through discussions with John Musgrave and Steve Barrett, Action PD.
Competitions
A request that event guidelines should be amended to include recommendation that T-bars be used wherever possible for Badge and SOL events has been passed to Phil Smith. The suggestion is that all the potential corrections to Event Guidelines are collected and presented to the Executive as one set of changes. Action PD.
Performance
Squads
Junior squad continue to be successful with members entering the BOF START scheme.
Maureen Brown raised her concern regarding budget variations in alternate years due to squad attendance at foreign events. Detailed plans should be submitted to LD to ensure that budgets are set appropriately. SD will request this information. Action SD.
Jason Inman and Maureen Brown had raised concern with the selection policy for the World Schools’ Championships which required that entrants must have run in this year’s Scottish Schools Championships. This has been discussed with Blair Young and Maureen Brown. The selection process is ultimately, this is the responsibility of the SSOA.
The senior squad have been successful with selection of 3 Scots for the GB Junior European Cup and 6 Scots for the British Squad for 2008.
Uptake of the SEDS training weekends in 2007 has been poor due to various conflicts. For 2008 a plan is to be put together around cross country and hill events that should lead to better attendance.
Coaching
Feedback from draft UKCC courses is that they are biased to English requirements. The Scottish representative, Ross McLennan, has been unable to attend meetings which are held mid-week. A request for teleconferencing with BOF has been made. In the meantime, SD will look after look after Coaching until a new Professional Officer is appointed.
Development
Grants
A funding application process has been developed between HQ and MM. This will be circulated to the clubs. Action: MM.
There is currently £3,500 funds unallocated for 2007. DG will contact Club Secretaries and confirm that they have no more applications for 2007. HQ will then assist clubs submit any bids. All spend must be committed by the end of 2007. Action DG & HQ
The Club Development monies have been made available through the sportscotland development grant, if this is not committed prior to year end, SOA may have to return any unspent funds. In order to achieve this level of spend, the Executive feels it has to have any applications approved by the end of November. The lack of uptake suggests that this is not a club priority 2008.
A template will be shared between HQ and LD to provide an update of the spend to date for 2006 and 2007 development projects. HQ will summarise the projects, their approved and currently forecast spend. Les will complete with the invoices received to date. Action HQ & LD
Partnership
It was suggested that the chief executive of Sportscotland be invited to the BOC in 2008. Action: IP to speak to John Musgrave to see if this can be arranged.
An opportunity has arisen for marketing the elite achievements through use of the Sport in Scotland website – www.inthewinnigzone.com. Action: KR.
Marketing and Communications
Score
The Executive agreed to take it in turn to write an article for Score to ensure that the all members were kept informed of the work in each Directorate. Action: ALL to confirm to DG which edition they would prefer to contribute to.
Monthly Newsletter
A regular monthly newsletter to club secretaries has been issued for the past two months. The requirement was highlighted in the draft Communications Plan to ensure that all clubs were kept informed of key items. It was hoped that the contents would help keep Club Committees informed of key items, some of which they may wish to share with Club members as required. Through time the report might be developed to include e.g. details of requests for map copyright to be transferred from SOA to clubs, SOL volunteers, etc.
Methods of distribution have been discussed with Paul Frost to ensure members have the best chance of receiving the newsletter. At the moment this will continue to be issued to club secretaries only, as an attachment to a monthly email.
7. / Professional Officers
No issues arose. Donald is preparing files for handover to his future successor.
8. / Treasurers Report
The success of Spey has increased the levy income and it is expected to lead to balanced accounts by year end.
9. / Planning
The Goals, Operational and Organisational aspirations were agreed as unchanged. These are reflected in the rolling 4 year plan which will be published on the SOA website shortly. Action: All Directors to confirm their 4 year plan details.
The Annual Operating plan for 2008 was discussed in detail. The Directors will review their individual plans following the discussion. This will then be made available on the website once finalised. Action: ALL
The plans will be used at future meetings, with a simple traffic light tracking system, to ensure that we keep focused on achieving our annual plan.
10. / AOB
An application from Ecko to transfer the copyright for the Airds Park map was agreed subject to the usual restrictions. MP will send details to KR to include in the next monthly newsletter to clubs. If there are no comments from clubs then the copyright will be transferred using the standard letter.
The Executive discussed issues that arise in dealings with BOF where they provide polices supposedly for UK but which only actually represent English legislation. Action: DG to ask MA if he is willing to assist gather data to take to BOF.
DG is preparing topics for the regular BOF/SOA meeting. These will be updated and circulate to the Executive for comments. Action ALL
This was Donald Petrie’s last Executive meeting as Professional Officer. DG thanked him for his long and loyal service and wished him every success in the future on behalf of the Executive and membership. A formal presentation to recognise Donald will be made at the VHI event.
11. / Dates of Next Meeting
19th January 2008 – venue to be decided.
ACTION SHEET – EXECUTIVE MEETING OF 10 November 2007
No / Page / Item / Action / By whom1 / 2 / 6 / Provide topics for the next BOF/SOA meeting / PD, KR, IP, MM, SD to DG
4 / 2 / 6 / Request that BOF share their database of Key Metrics with the SOA Executive as input to each executive meeting / PD
5 / 2 / 6 / Identify a volunteer to look after mapping policy for the SOA – article / PD
6 / 2 / 6 / Request that Phil amends event guidelines to include use of T-bars whenever possilbe / PD
7 / 2 / 6 / Request budget detail from Maureen / SD
8 / 3 / 6 / Funding application process to be circulated to clubs / MM
9 / 3 / 6 / Assist Clubs prepare applciations for funding (DG to contact clubs, HQ to follow up) / DG, HQ
10 / 3 / 6 / Provide a summary of the status of the 2006 and 2007 development projects / HQ, LD
11 / 3 / 6 / Request through John Musgrave that the Sportscotland Executive are invited to attend the BOC / IP
12 / 3 / 6 / Review the opportunities for marketing the Scottish Elite achievements on the Sport in Scotland website – www.inthewinnigzone.com / KR
13 / 3 / 6 / Executive members to confirm to DG their prefered dates for contributing Score articles / PD, KR, IP, MM, SD to DG
14 / 4 / 9 / Finalise the 4 year plan details / PD, KR, IP, MM, SD to DG
15 / 4 / 9 / Finalise the 2008 Operational plan details / PD, KR, IP, MM, SD to DG
16 / 4 / 10 / To pass details on the Ecko request for map copyright to KR for inclusion in the next monthly newsletter / MP
17 / 4 / 10 / To seek the assistance of MA in preparing a report to highlight some of the issues between BOF and SOA / DG
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