Minutes of Annual General Meeting 2017
Held at: The Bakers Arms, Martock at 8.00 pm Friday 2nd June 2017
Roll Call
The meeting was attended by representatives of 16 teams. Apologies for absence were received from
Bakers Rogues, Lord Nelson B, Monkey Spankers, Wyndham Arms, Half Moon, VIPs, Bell Ash A, Lord Nelson A and the Levellers.
Review of Season 2016-17
The Chairman Kevin Fowler was not present as he was away on holiday. Barry Cullimore chaired in his absence. He stated that the league had an uneventful season with no complaints or other issues arising.
Formation of League for 2017-18
Dave Jones reported that all teams had indicated that they will continue and that the League will comprise of 30 teams in 3 divisions of 10 teams as this season.
The Drayton Movers have now made the Crown, Fivehead their permanent alley and will be renamed as “The Crown”.
The finals of the Nomination Shield and Memorial Plate competitions will take place on Saturday Nights this season in line with the other finals. This will enable more full fixtures to take place on Fridays.
Treasurer’s Report
Pete Wescott presented the accounts for the season (appended to these minutes) showing a balance of £383.99. This is a considerable reduction on last season’s balance of £1218.84. There are two main reasons for this.
- Firstly, the two new first round losers competitions involved additional expenditure – the permanent trophies cost a total of £170 (non-repeatable), the food for the semi-finals and finals cost £206 and the individual trophies around £100;
- The overall cost of the other trophies was around £500 more than last season. Pete indicated that he had seriously underestimated the engraving costs of the glass trophies which were the main component of the increase;
There was some discussion of the type and quality of trophies which would be acceptable to keep costs down in future. It was generally agreed that it was a bit of a waste spending lots of money on stuff that often gets relegated to drawers and cupboards. Pete agreed to look at this and also consider giving medals rather than trophies for some of the awards.
League Fees
It was agreed that the league fees would remain at £100 for next season. This should be adequate with cost saving measures.
Commencement of Season
Assuming that 30 teams enter the League for the forthcoming season it was agreed that the first League game would be on Friday 8th September 2017. It was agreed that the Coronation Cup qualifiers would take place on 1st December with the last League game of the first half of the season on the 8th December.
Rule Changes
No changes to the Rules were proposed.
Presentation Night
It was generally agreed that the Presentation Night had been highly successful with both the Coronation Cup and Knockout Cup finals being closely contested and with a large audience for the Coronation Cup. Turnout was high and almost all trophies were collected on the night.
It was agreed that the current format for Presentation Night should be retained and the Committee was thanked for the night and its organisation.
Election of Officials for 2016-17
Pete Wescott stated that the combining of the General Secretary and Treasurer roles was still working well and he was happy to continue to do both for next season.
As Ian Mattock has moved away and no longer has any connection with the league, it was proposed that Richard Wharton be elected as President in honour of his services to the league over many years. This was agreed by acclamation. Keith Brice will continue as vice-president.
Mandy Cornelius and Steve Kemp are stepping down from the Committee this year. The meeting thanked both for their service. Keith Brice and Tim Nobbs kindly agreed to join the Committee in their places.
The following posts were all agreed without a vote:
| Chairman | Kevin Fowler |
| Vice Chairman | Barry Cullimore |
| Match Secretary | Dave Jones |
| Treasurer/Secretary | Pete Wescott |
| President | Richard Wharton |
| Vice-President | Keith Brice |
| Committee | Tim Nobbs, Keith Brice, Graeme Whittle, Andy Shire |
Honorariums
No changes were proposed for any of the posts. These continue as:
| Chairman | £60 |
| Treasure/Secretary | £400 |
| Match Secretary | £260 |
Any Other Business
There was some discussion of the number of fixture books to be printed and handed out to each team. Some team captains felt that most of the books circulated were not used – whilst others insisted that all of their team members would want a book individually. Dave Jones agreed to look at what cost savings could be made by reducing numbers printed
There was also discussion of setting up a website or Facebook page to publish fixtures, results, tables etc. Pete Wescott took an action to investigate the cost and feasibility of a website to be up and running at the beginning of next season.
A comment had been received from a (non-attending) team that Cup draws seemed to favour certain teams. It was not clear whether this was intended as a serious comment. However, the Secretary stated, on behalf of the Committee, that any Captain may, and are always welcome to, attend any Committee meeting – including witnessing draws. The cup draws are drawn openly by Committee members (who are also team captains!). It was agreed though that Committee meeting details would now be circulated to all Captains before each meeting in case any wish to attend.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 8-50 pm.
Pete Wescott
General Secretary
