Southern England Students’ Sports Association

Minutes of the 17th Annual General Meeting

Held on 15 May 2008

At City University

Present: S Dupree Chairman

R Brass Writtle

M Bunn Middlesex

D Cook Middlesex

D Frome Secretary and Treasurer

R Gowar TVU

J Harbrow Anglia Ruskin

B Jawandha Basketball and Football Sixes

R Lord City

D Neilson Anglia Ruskin

K Pearce Football Secretary

R Rogers Greenwich

S Ventre TVU

In attendance:

D P Frome Minute Secretary

David Lloyd Williams FixturesLive

Apologies: S Appleton, S Sipple, C Markwell, A Wheeler

1.2  Minutes of the 16th AGM, Competitions Meeting, Football and Netball AGMs

These were approved as a correct record. There were no matters arising

1.3 Chair’s Report

The Chairman paid tribute to the work of the volunteer organisers who are the lifeblood of SESSA, and said that one of the highlights of the year had been the rejuvenation of athletics. He also thanked the new organisers for becoming involved, particularly Dave Neilson, Joanna Harbrow and Richard Brass.

1.4 Secretary’s Report

The Secretary reported that there had been two meetings during the year. There was no correspondence. A lot of time had been spent with David Lloyd Williams and his colleagues at FixturesLive working on the development of the website.

1.5 Treasurer’s Report including annual accounts 2006/7

The audited accounts for the year ending 31st July were presented by the Treasurer. There was a small surplus for the year. The total assets were £75,500.

There were no questions.

The Executive Committee has asked the Treasurer not to raise fees for 2008/9, and this was approved by the meeting. The Treasurer recommended that since this was the sixth year running that fees had not been raised, that the Committee review the situation during the year.

1.6 Election of Officers

The following officers were elected unanimously.

Chairman Steve Dupree

Secretary David Frome

Treasurer David Frome

Committee Members Martin Bunn

Bill Jawandha

Rowan Lord

Ken Pearce

Rachel Rogers

Stella Sipple

Sab Ventre

1.7 Any other Business - none

1.8 Date of Next Meeting – 14th May 2009

2 Athletics

2.1 Organiser’s Report 2007/8

SESSA INDOOR ATHLETICS

The Indoor athletics event was organised at Lee Valley Athletic Centre on 6th December 2007, supported by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority and administered by Middlesex University.

There were 8 events offered (Men and Women 60 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres, 1500 metres 4 x 200 metre relay, high jump, long jump and shot putt).

96 men and 73 women represented 19 Institutions (14 SESSA members and 5 BUSA): ULU, Kingston, St Marys, Southwark College, Haringey 6th form, SEEC, Imperial College, Middlesex, Essex, Oaklands College, Portsmouth, SEEVIC, Plymouth, Medway, Kent, UC Farnham, West Herts, Anglia Ruskin, Surrey

Individual winners were awarded medals presented by a selection of GB athletes including Simeon Williamson (World Indoor Championships 60m finalist).

SESSA OUTDOOR ATHLETICS

Following on from the successful indoor event, it was decided to organise an outdoor event which again was hosted at Lee Valley Athletics Centre, on 23rd April 2008 and again supported by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority and administered by Middlesex University.

The events offered were:

100m (Men – 4 x heats and Final), (Women – 2 x heats and Final)

200m (Men – 4 x heats and Final), (Women – 3 x heats and Final)

800m (Men – A and B Final), (Women – Final)

3000m (Men and Women – Final)

100m Hurdles (Final)

4x100 Relay (Men and Women – Final)

Shot Putt (Men and Women – Final)

High Jump (Men and Women – Final)

Long Jump (Men and Women – Final)

Javelin (Men and Women – Final)

There were an increase in participants with 139 Men and 87 Women entrants from 26 Institutions (SESSA 12 and 14 Non SESSA):- Anglia Ruskin Chelmsford, Hackney Community College, Bath, Bishop Stortford High School Essex, Cambridge, Canterbury, Headington School, Haringey 6th Form, Hertsfordshire Uni, Imperial, Kent, Kingston, Middlesex, Oaklands, Oxford, Portsmouth, SEEC, SEEVIC, Winchester, St Ives School, Surrey, The Deepings School, UCCA, ULU, North Devon College

This event having been advertised in Athletics Weekly attracted some representation from schools across the country as well as the usual SESSA members and external Universities. Individual event winners were presented with medals by current and past GB athletes.

2.2 2008/9 activities/calendar

Middlesex agreed to run the indoor and outdoor athletics at similar times next year.

3 Badminton

3.1 Organiser’s Report 2007/8

Four institutions entered, each with a team of four people. The event took place over three weeks in two locations with refreshments at the end of each day. The overall winners were NewVIC.

3.2 2008/9 activities/calendar

The same activities were planned for next year with one event before Christmas and one after Christmas. It would be possible for individuals to enter in future.

4 Basketball

4.1 Organiser’s Report 2007/8

This season there were 2 men’s leagues (Premier and div 1) and one women’s league.

The entry for the women’s league was disappointing with only 4 teams competing out of an original entry of 8.

The league was won by Hackney Community College, who completed a league and cup double by defeating London South Bank University in the final.

The men’s leagues had higher numbers entered (originally 12 for each), however we ended up with 8 teams competing in the Premier division, and 7 in division 1.

West Thames College were Premier division league winners, with Bedford College taking division 1.

London South Bank University won the men’s cup defeating Hackney Community College in a close final.

The cup competitions are both well supported with the standard being raised by the BUSA teams, but it is still nice to see our own sides giving them a run for their money (well done to Hackney Community College).

I would also like to thank Chris Morris from HCC for once again providing an excellent venue for the cup finals, and also for finding the elusive umpires.

4.2 2008/9 activities/calendar

Next year the events will run from the end of October to April/May.

5 Cricket

5.1 Organiser’s Report 2007/8

7 Teams entered and NewVIC won after a good day’s sport.

5.3 2008/9 activities/calendar

Steve Dupree agreed to organise the event next year.

6 Football

6.1  Men’s Football - General Secretary’s Report 2007/8

The new season started as usual with the chasing of Institutions for their County Football Association affiliation number. Eventually in Mid July we threw out any application that had not provided their correct number. This now gave us eight Divisions of nine. After the Handbook had been printed and distributed we had four withdrawals, and managed to replace two of them.

From then on, in the main, the season went well. There were 2 or 3 incidents where a game was abandoned due to violent conduct, which unfortunately, does appear to be on the increase. This is a problem for many local Leagues, not just our own. For the first time that I can remember we actually banned a player from participating in any further SESSA Football. All the results of Leagues can be found on the SESSA Website.

The Cups were far better than last year as the weather was so much kinder to us. The early Easter caused a bit of a problem but we arrived at Fords Sports Ground with six Men’s Finals and a Women’s Final. Bob Glozier must be congratulated and thanked on his very successful organisation for the Day.

The Football Committee met on 3 occasions to deal with business of the League and Cup. Thanks must go to Stella Sipple, Sab Ventre, Rowan Lord and Bob Glozier for their valuable input. It is greatly appreciated.

I must also thank Claire at Anglia Ruskin. She updates much of the work on the website and of course has the arduous task of producing the ‘Handbook’. She does fantastically well.

No sooner has one season finished when the next one begins. I have sent out a reminder to all Institutions to affiliate to SESSA and get their affiliation numbers from their County Football Association and send them to me. We shall see if this helps, but I have no doubt that there will be some disappointed Teams in September as they have not dealt with their administration.

Men’s Football – Results Secretary’s Report

In the main the leagues were run successfully. Congratulations to all those who played week in week out. There were too many teams this last season who thought that the games would be played and communication was some magical experience. If the fixture was in the handbook it would take place with no thought to confirming the fixture, venue, kick-off time and team colours. More matches than last year were made void. This meant that matches not played were completed by me but no points awarded.

I am glad to say the majority of teams and organisations were excellent in their administration and communicated with teams and reported results.

There was the usual problem with teams not sending in results to me. By a process of looking at the website, Fixtureslive, calling Ken or indeed as a last resort, the team, and then results were recorded. Too many teams do not realize that both teams should e-mail them in to me. It is more common than you imagine that the scores are different and sometimes winners are actually losers.

No names but, Congratulations to the teams in Premier North, Premier East, 1 South, 2 North and 2 South who completed their fixtures and won only one match between them. The SESSA league is about playing a regular match nearly every week so I am so pleased to report this fact. Even though we all would set out to win the league it is good to know that teams play the game and not just to win at all costs.

6.2 Cup Secretary’s Report 2007/8

The cup finals were again held at Fords Sports club in Romford, but for the last time as West Ham United FC have bought the centre for their first team training ground.

Teams should again be congratulated on their behaviour and were a credit to their institutions. Teams showed a certain pride in playing and enjoying the occasion and I was proud to be part of this event.

Mention should be made of Milton Keynes. They won their division and we put them into the Challenge Cup rather than the Intermediate. They lost one game all year and that was the final and even then the opposing goalkeeper was man of the match.

My thanks also go the Referee and assistants for their efforts. Half the matches went to penalties so they earned their meals on the day.

Challenge Cup

Portsmouth 2 0

Bedford College 2

Challenge Plate

Bedford 2 3

Lewisham 1 4

Challenge Bowl

Portsmouth 3 3

Bucks (H/W) BUSA 2 1

Challenge Spoon

Bucks (Chalfont)SESSA 2 0

West Herts 1 2

Intermediate Cup

Portsmouth 5 3

TVU 2 7

Intermediate Plate

NEWVIC 3

Barnfield College 3

NEWVIC won 5-3 on Pens

Intermediate Bowl

Kinston BUSA 2 6

City 1 2

Intermediate Spoon

UcCA(Farnham) 2

Northampton Booth Lane O

Regional Cup

Hackney CC 2

Greenwich Univ. 2 3

Regional Plate

Anglia (Camb) 1 2

Middlesex Univ. 4 1

Regional Bowl

Barking College 1

Crossways Academy 4

Regional Spoon

Roehampton(Froebel) 1

Kingston BUSA 4 1

Froebel won 5-3 on Pens

6.3 Sixes Report

Another good day at Taplow Utd FC. 18 teams competed for the cup with West Herts academy teams ‘A’ and ‘B’ reaching the final.

The standard of play was high and we had a good mix of teams with the smaller colleges competing against the larger universities.

Well done to Uxbridge College and Enfield College who reached the semi-finals.

I would like to express my thanks to the groundsman who once again produced an excellent playing surface.

6.4 2008/9 activities/calendar

Next years events would the same as this, with the Cup Final venues to be agreed.

6.5 Election of Officers for 2007/2008

President: TBA

General Secretary: Ken Pearce

Results Secretary: Bob Glozier

Competition Secretary: Ken Pearce

6.6 Proposed Rule Changes

None

6.7  Women’s Football - Report 2007/8

The Women’s 6 a-side League was once again a great success. We had five dates before Christmas on which we had between six and twelve Teams attend. West Herts College were the Champions with Newham Sixth Form College the Runners Up. Both of these Institutions have been attending the Women’s 6’s for a number of years and it was great to see them have some success.

The Women’s 6 a-side One Day Tournament went ahead with its lowest entry ever. We had eight entries which was reduced to six on the Day. Mainly, we feel, due to the variation of Institutions Easter break and early exams. Milton Keynes College won the Day with Barnfield College Runners Up.

We cannot let reporting the Women’s 6 a-side pass without thanking Stella and Dai at Middlesex University. They provide the Facilities and the Referees for the Day every single time. It makes my contribution so much easier. Thank you both.