Minutes of the Bristol and West AC Committee Meeting on Friday 25 July 2014 at Whitehall Athletics Arena
Present: C Knibb (CK) (Chair), R Brocklesby (RB), K Brackstone (KB), M Down (MD), A Butterly (AB),C Elson (CE), A Engledew (AE), P Mountain (PM), H Nash (HN), M Strange (MS), B Barrett (BB) and Z Goodman (ZG).
1. Apologies. Nicola Diamond, Simonne Lowrey, Chris Preston, Nicola Dutton and Violet Small.
2. Minutes of the Previous Meeting and Matters Arising. These minutes were proposed by RB and seconded by MS and were accepted as a true record but were not signed as the Minute Secretary had sent apologies and the originals were not available for signature.
· KB had drafted a letter to the Principal of South Gloucestershire & Stroud College (SGSC) about use of Kip Keino Athletic Stadium which the Chairman had sent. Hopefully it would result in match dates for the 2015 summer season being honoured once agreed.
· The England Athletics (EA) Coach Development Event will be held at South Gloucestershire & Stroud College on Saturday 27th September 2014. Details will be circulated by the Club and Coach Support Officer from EA shortly.
· KB outlined the plans for the Bristol Cross Challenge which will go ahead in Ashton Court on Saturday 25th October 2014.
· A coach was booked for the YDL (LAG) match in Cwmbran and was used and has been paid for.
· Al Abrams grant had been paid and Chris Stone had finished fourth in his heat at the World Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
· Two medicine balls have been purchased for Whitehall and KB outlined the potential costs of other items and said he would liaise with Al Abrams and other coaches before finalising any other purchases. MS asked that the club buy additional hurdles trolleys. KB to action.
· HN was asked whether he and Martin Davies had come up with a figure to be levied against members of North Somerset Athletic Club for use of Bristol & West poles. HN confirmed that North Somerset athletes are already using Bristol & West poles for training and competitions under the supervision of Martin Davies. HN to action.
· KB had met with Richard Gwyn and had clarified the relationship between Bristol & West and South Gloucestershire and Stroud College and the role of Lloyd Rice. RB asked that KB speak to Andrea Lock when she returns from Maternity Leave as Bristol & West seems to have no control over what happens in terms of feeding athletes into clubs. KB clarified that the club no longer supports Filton Junior Academy financially. KB to action.
3. Membership (MS). MS circulated a list of 19 new members (membership list 155) and proposed that we accept them, KB seconded the proposal and the new members were accepted unanimously by the Committee. CE is in the process of registering everyone with EA. So far 129 new members have joined the club in 2014 but as part of membership house keeping 42 members have been resigned. MS reported that he had been contacted by GWR about John Kavanagh who had been funded to attend a Leader in Running Fitness Course by GWR but had then left GWR and was now instructing for Bristol & West on the new ‘Introduction to Running’ Course. CE advised that John had approached the club about joining us and that if his course had been funded by another club Bristol & West should pay part of the course fee as a gesture of goodwill. KB seconded Chris’ proposal and the Committee approved payment of £55 to GWR. MS advised that he had £285 in membership fees that he would bank on 28th July 2014.
4. Financial Report (KB). KB had circulated a report prior to the meeting which showed that as at 24 July 2014 income had exceeded expenditure by £648.37 in the year to date with no major income or expenditure outstanding. MD commended KB on his management of the club accounts. KB advised that the money on deposit for One Year had matured earning £128 interest and sought advice from the Committee about what to do: the meeting agreed to put £15,000 on deposit for a year. KB to Action.
5. Update on 2014 Track Performances to Date.
· Senior Men (CK) – The senior men had finished last in the third match at Derby. There had been gaps in the team and large numbers of non-availability due to a variety of reasons. CK advised that the team for Bath was looking far stronger. Realistically the club would not win promotion this year and would consolidate and look to strengthen prior to next season. MS advised that he was well advanced with organising officials for the ‘home’ match at Bath. KB advised that he was going to Bath on Sunday 27th July 2014 for a planning meeting with the Duty Managers at the Sports Village [ Secretary’s note: this meeting did take place and was very productive.]
· Senior Ladies (CE) – CE was delighted to report that the Ladies Team had finished second at the Portsmouth match and had secured promotion to Division One by winning Division Two. CE advised that he had already had a look at next year’s opposition and briefed the meeting that life in the higher division would be tough. We needed to strengthen our sprinters and horizontal jumpers and make sure that we get athletes out in areas where we are stronger than other clubs on paper. CE was congratulated for his efforts in galvanising the team to achieve this great result.
· Midland League (RB) – RB provided a written report that showed the composite team had finished last of the six teams at Loughborough (the Charnwood home match). This was because of clashes with the BAL and UKWAL and a general unwillingness to travel. Overall the team is third but could be promoted if it finished first in the final match at Cheltenham (if other results went the team’s way). Although RB is forecasting a strong team it is likely that Cheltenham and Newport - the teams above us - would be equally as strong and the likely outcome will be that the team remains in Division 2. RB felt that, at present, this would be no bad thing as it provides a good level of competition and – if promoted – the team would struggle to stay in Division 1 and it would increase the amount of travelling.
· Avon League (HN). There had been no Avon League matches since the last committee meeting. The two remaining fixtures will be on Sunday 10th August and Saturday 14th September 2014 and HN is already pushing to get athletes and officials for both matches.
· YDL (LAG) (HN). The club had fielded its strongest team of the season at Bath (with around 75% event coverage) only for the match to be called off part way through due to inclement weather. HN reported that the team had finished third overall in the league. It was felt that this year had been better than last year with less travel. The club had finished behind Cardiff Archers and Team Bath but in front of Yate. There were still gaps and the club would continue to look to recruit and get better coverage next season. Star performers this season were Kurt Cameron and Tia Jackson. HN would welcome more parental support officiating: Mike and Carol Strange, Colin Hickey, Bev Barrett and Bill Kingston had been great supporters on the officials’ front throughout the season. HN would discuss any thoughts on improving the YDL with others in the club and feed back to the YDL AGM. HN to action.
· YDL (UAG) (HN). HN would be away for the final fixture (Sunday 27th July 2014) as would Rachael Fisher from North Somerset which left Sandra Woodman (Yate & District) on her own managing the team. HN believed that Sandra was struggling to cover the events (mainly due to the start of the holiday season). HN forecast that the team would finish third overall and stay in the same division for next season. Generally this league had not been well supported by our under-17s and under-20s. The suggestion was made that when Team Avon bids for a home fixture next year the dates of ‘A’ level exams should be taken into account.
6. Club Development. KB had circulated a report prior to the meeting covering Coach Development, Junior Development, the running groups and the Avon Network.
· Coach Development. KB reported that Colin Traer and Geoff Partridge had attended the Leader in Running Fitness Course. He also reported that Jason Stockwell and Paul Owen would attend the Coaches Course at Yate on 4/5 October 2014 and that Debo Ademuyewo will attend the Assistant Coaches Course in Cheltenham on 6/6 September. Megan Williams has shown an interest in Coaching and is currently helping Dean on a Monday night; KB is waiting for her application for an Assistant Coaches Course. Peter Watson would be joining the team on Monday nights from the third week of August – Peter is already part way through the Coaches Course and is a UK Level 2 Sports Leader already.
· Junior Development. KB had held two Parent Induction sessions in the last six weeks. There had been under-11 races in both Open Meetings and KB had continued with his schools liaison work as detailed in his report. KB advised that from September he would run a young athlete running group at WISE Campus trying to recruit through the new Little Stoke Junior parkrun.
· Running Groups. These are now very much steady state with members moving up to harder sessions, more runners competing in an ever growing number of races. There is still a regular trickle of new runners and members of these groups are contributing significantly to club performances in events such as the mob matches and other on- and off-road races.
· Avon Network. KB reported that he has set up two Avon Network Events for September 2014 – planning a Successful Winter at Ashton Court on Saturday 6th September 2014 and a Gait Analysis and Performance Running session on Thursday 11th September 2014 (venue to be confirmed).
7. Pomphrey Sports/Aztec West Fast 5K. RB had produced a report on the Pomphrey Sports 5k which had included the Avon 5k mob match. The club had provided the first and second teams – thus closing off a 15 year history of the race on a high. Everything is in place for the Aztec Fast 5k with the first race to be held on Tuesday 30th September 2014 and a club only trial on Tuesday 19th August 2014. The Committee thanked CE and RB for their work in getting all of the permissions for the new race in place.
8. Club House Sub-Committee Update (KB). KB advised that he had contacted Bristol City Council and there was still no update on the future of the Old Georgians site. He advised the Committee that he and RB would press ahead on his return from Glasgow, irrespective of any Council plans. MD advised that he would inform Peter Hargreaves. KB advised that due to the amount of work involved with the summer season to date neither he nor RB had had the time to be proactive on the Club House Project.
· Action. KB and RB to submit an outline planning application.
9. England Athletics and Wesport Awards – Potential Nominations. The Wesport nominations were discussed and KB undertook to draft submissions and circulate them out of Committee for submission by the date required
· Action. KB to draft and circulate submissions.
10. Purchase or Hire of EDM and Photo-Finish/Electronic Timing Equipment. The Committee had been kept copied in to an exchange of emails about the possible purchase or hire of EDM equipment. The Committee agreed that a hold and hire agreement for EDM looked like the best way forward. MS suggested that he obtain a competitive quote before we entered into any arrangement with Precision Athletics which the Committee accepted. KB advised that he has still to investigate photo finish and electronic timing options.
· Action. MS to obtain a competitive quote and report back to the next Committee meeting.
11. Selection Policies and Use of Wind Gauges. ZG raised the topic of the Avon Schools Selection Policy for the English Schools and showed a copy of the current ‘policy’ which had been taken from the Yate & District AC web-site. Zoë’s contention was that this policy had not been adhered to in 2014. CK advised that this was a schools rather than a club matter but the Committee acknowledged that, given the current situation in the administration of Bristol Schools athletics, the club should make some representation and that the Avon County Athletic Association was where the schools and club representatives get together. CK asked ZG to draft a letter to the Chairman of the Avon County Association (acknowledging that the position is currently vacant so the matter would fall to whoever acts as Chair at the next County meeting. ZG then raised the subject of the use (or otherwise) of windy times suggesting that wind gauges be used at all of the club’s promotions. Given the inherent shortages of officials this could be hard to deliver on and if we were the sole club being meticulous about taking wind speed readings it wouldn’t advance the situation – so that the use of windy times should be covered in any policy revision. ZG to action.
12. Any Other Business.
· AB drew to the club’s attention results from the Sri Chinmoy Races and undertook to produce a report for the club web-site/Facebook page.
· RB advised the Meeting that he had attended the Young Athletes Medal Meeting organised on Saturday 12th July 2014 and had found it well organised and a good advert for the club (Dean had reported that numbers were down from previous years but that it had still been a successful event).
13. Date of next meeting – Friday 5th September 2014, Whitehall Athletics Arena, 7.30pm.
Keith Brackstone
Acting Minute Secretary
28 July 2014