Minutes of the Policy Meeting

ST. GEORGE DISTRICT NETBALL ASSOCIATION INC.

MINUTES OF THE POLICY MEETING

Held on Wednesday 17 September 2014at Club Rivers, 32 Littleton St. Riverwood

commencingat 7:00pm ______

CHAIR: Linda FreeMINUTES:LaraMina

PRESENT:

Executive:Linda Free, LaraMina, DavidWatt, Cathie Bolton, RobynEllis

Life Members:

Margaret BensleyRobynCoppleman

Club Delegates:

SteveTrevitt (Arncliffe Scots)ZaraTrevitt (Arncliffe Scots)

BarbaraHay (Kyle Bay)CathyMercer (Oatley RSL)

SallianneFaulkner (Ramsgate RSL)SachaEfstathiou (Ramsgate RSL)

VanessaHijazi (Titans)HannahHijazi (Titans)

TamlynHoltz (TuKaha)AnaLewis (TuKaha)

Observers:

TennesyHoltz (TuKaha)KellyHoltz (TuKaha)

Apologies:

O’Bray Smith (Executive)SarahHay (Executive)

Marguerite Goodman (Executive)Jacqui Bridge (Executive)

AlexFraser (Kardinia)JulieSpika (Kardinia)

NatalieMorris (Kyle Bay)CarolBresnahan (Oatley RSL)

The President declared the meeting open at 7:10pm

St. GeorgeExecutive

1. ADOPTION OF 2014 CALENDAR

Discussion:

MargaretBensley (Life Member): Sub-Committee closing dates were queried for the Grading Committee as grading was scheduled prior to the February Council Meeting when Sub-Committees are elected.

Ramsgate RSL: Ramsgate RSL felt that the closing date for registration was too close to the end of school holidays. Clubs will also have to grade earlier.

Secretary: At the time of publication of the calendar, dates as part of the Netball NSW calendar and competition schedules were still unknown. This information is now available and will impact the calendar. The Netball World Cup has impacted this calendar for 2015, however it is expected that dates and timeframes will return as normal for 2016.

Junior Competition Co-ordinator: Competition will be played during school holidays.

Kyle Bay: Clubs will need to reinforce days of play with their members. Most people don’t appear to be interested in the Netball World Cup.

Arncliffe Scots: How have other Districts structured their competitions for 2015?

Kyle Bay: Most people are not interested in the Netball World Cup. Players will continue to go away during school holiday periods. The Association will need to manage forfeits etc. during these periods.

Outcome:Motion:Adopt calendar with changes.

Moved: SecretarySeconded:Kyle BayCARRIED

The following recommendations for By-Laws, Rules and Policy are to be voted on as submitted by St.George Executive, Life Members and Clubs:

CARRIED

• Feedback has been received that with three selectors it is very easy for one of those selectors to be out-voted. Four selectors would require three opposing views and should the votes be divided the team’s Head Coach would be given the deciding vote on whether to accept the player or not.
• This would also encourage the involvement of the Head Coach or Coaching staff in the selection process.
• In the case of a Development Squad where there are two teams, our view would be the two teams would be selected and if there was a divided opinion on a particular player, the deciding vote would go to the respective Head Coach for the particular team.

Discussion:

Secretary: As a member of the Senior Selection Panel, no one on this Panel was consulted on this motion. In speaking with members of the current Panel, we are very happy for the Panel to continue with three (3) members. In order to reach a majority decision, the Head Coach would need to be consulted in every instance.

There should be an odd number on all Panels where decisions are required. The Senior Selection Panel does not support the change. It has worked well with three (3) members. There is a clear decision and all members are privy to all discussion while on the bench. This ensures a quicker response/decision from the three (3) members.

We are talking about a 6% majority difference regarding decision making with the Head Coach involved. It is too hard to reach a majority decision with four (4) members. How will this work for Co-Coaches? If coaches are not appointed, as is often the case in Seniors because the Appointments Panel is often looking to appoint coaches following the commencement of selections. Seniors are also selecting squads before teams - how does this then apply?

Seniors are not selected in the same way as Juniors. Juniors are selected based on age and skills whereas Seniors need to take into consideration status and skill.

Ramsgate RSL: In the domestic competition, any Sub-Committee or Tribunal where a decision is required has an odd number. They believe the Panels should remain unchanged at three (3) members. Feedback should be obtained from coaches regarding their involvement on the Panel.

TuKaha: This gives the coach more to say with regards to the selection of the squad/team. It is essentially a five (5) person Panel.

Outcome: Motion: Amend to include Junior Selection Panel only.

Moved:TuKahaSeconded: Arncliffe ScotsCARRIED

• During the 2014 season, Divisions 17/18 were split prior to the completion of Round 1.
• The impact of splitting this division was not taken into consideration at the time and it was not explained in detail prior to each Club been asked to either agree or disagree to the split.
• This resulted in a team having three (3) byes and all other teams only having two (2) hence being disadvantaged. At the last meeting there was an attempt made to rectify this by awarding the team draw points to make up for the game they had not played.
• There was some confusion as to why this proposed split had come about and more specifically whether it was following the request of a particular club at the time.
• Division 17 (9A) then only consisted of only five (5) teams and hence included a bye round. The impact of splitting these divisions early and including a bye round resulted in some teams not playing for up to five weeks in a row.
• Transparency of re-grading.

Discussion:

Ramsgate RSL: Don’t agree with proposed changes. If there are more than eight (8) teams, two divisions can be made from this. Grading was skewed and grading of the 9 years division is always an unknown. They agree that decisions to split grades need to be made earlier and a review to be conducted at the end of each round. This should only apply to combined divisions which are designed to be split.

TuKaha: The split in the 9s division should not have occurred before Round 1. There is nothing in the By-Laws or Policies regarding the split of divisions hence the reason for the inclusion. Splitting of divisions should not occur before the end of the round. CARRIED

CARRIED

• The role of Community Liaison Officer has no ability to make decisions in regards to financially assisting players. These requests can go directly to the Executive Committee and/or Finance Committee.
• The larger Clubs are able to deal with these issues in-house.

CARRIED

• To encourage more Clubs to be involved in the grading process.
• To avoid a monopoly of members across both Junior and Senior Grading.
• To establish a more transparent and all-encompassing view of the grading process.

Discussion:

Ramsgate RSL: Members should not be prohibited from being on both Committees if they so nominate to be on two (2) Panels.

Junior Competition Co-ordinator: She nominated for the Senior Grading Panel to assist the newly elected Senior Competition Co-ordinator in her role. TairuaBen-Vavia was the only other person to be on both grading panels this year. CARRIED

• Transparent grading of teams.
• Clearer guidelines for all teams to follow when requesting grades at registration.
• In the 2014 season, an undefeated team in Division 12 (11A) has a 12 Representative Player and an additional 12 year old in their team.
• Stronger representative players.
• In the 2014 season, an undefeated team in Division 13 (11B) had at least two players who made the 11’s Development Squad.
• Consistent pressure on representative players to perform above their respective age division. Constantly challenging players to improve and strive to be better.
• Each ‘A’ Division should hold the strongest players for the age; these players will trial for representative level and subsequently represent St.George. This ensures they are playing the strongest teams and receiving as many games as possible through out the season to encourage and build confidence.
• There was a lot of disruption to play in the 2014 season. With wet weather, public holidays and school holidays this resulted in some teams not playing a game in five (5) weeks. Having no bye round in the A Division at least would lessen the impact of those games cancelled due to wet weather.
• It was also brought to our attention during the 2014 season the S1 and S2 divisions, being a five (5) and seven (7) team competition respectively, finished their first round at different times and as no requests were received by the Senior Grading Committee, these divisions were not reviewed and/or re-graded. However, Division S1 consists of a team that has not won a game and S2 an undefeated team.

Discussion:

TuKaha: They would like to amend their proposal.

Ramsgate RSL: Putting Representative and Development Squad players in A Grade will be an issue for most Clubs. Teams will be loaded.

TuKaha: Players are able to play up.

President: How will affect small Clubs who do not have teams in A Grade but what to retain their players?

Titans: How would this work for small Clubs?

The President asked that each clause be voted on separately,

Outcome: Amend to read