*** DRAFT *** NBA AGM Minutes

NORFOLK BADMINTON ASSOCIATION MINUTES of the Annual General Meeting held at East Tuddenham Victory Hall on 1 June 2017 at 7.30pm

Present: Maureen Lincoln (President), Simon Piff (Chairman), Sally Piff (Treasurer), Robin Cole (Nch & Distr League),) Robin Cooper (Registration/ Coaching Secretary), Helaine Wyett (Secretary).

Also present: Mike Stevenson (Committee member and Selector) and Andy Royles, BE Relationships Manager.

Apologies

Louise Culyer (Fixtures Secretary), Coral Warren (Selector)

Minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 2 June 2016, were approved and signed as a correct record.

Matters Arising

None

Treasurer’s report

The accounts were circulated, showing a loss for the year of £622.27 but with funds carried forward of £12974.69. Income is largely from affiliation fees and squad training/match fees. Unfortunately there were contributions outstanding towards the accommodation costs involved in the final weekend of County matches from some 2nd team players. The accounts were duly accepted and Maureen thanked Sally for her work and Simon for auditing the accounts.

County Affiliation Fees

Simon and Andy Royles referred to the BE restructured membership fees that, in essence, might mean that many players would be paying less for the coming season. Clubs would pay a block fee of £50 for 1-10 members, £70 for 11-15 members and £100 for 16+ members. In addition, each player would pay £10 or a £20 Compete fee if they played ICC matches (incl Masters), BE sanctioned tournaments, Junior circuit or ICT. Currently the Shires League was not included. Junior club members would be free, apart from those competing in BE sanctioned tournaments who should pay the additional Compete fee, and Junior clubs would pay the the same block fee as senior clubs. There was improved insurance involved. It would be up to clubs to decide if or how they would pass on the club fee to members. It was agreed that the NBA fees should remain as last year for adults, ie £6, but would scrap the Junior fee of £0.50 for the coming season. The fee for coaches remains at £40.

Reports

1. County Squads: Mike Stevenson noted that an end-of-season questionnaire had been circulated amongst players. He reported that the final weekend of play, when the absence of some key members, affected all the teams, had resulted in the 2nd team being relegated, but the 1sts remain in their division and the 3rds were 7th out of 8 teams. The weekend had highlighted Child Protection issues with so many juniors involved, and thanks were expressed to those who acted in loco parentis. The selectors wished to acknowledge the best efforts made by all players, especially over that weekend. Maureen thanked the selectors: Mike, Coral and Robin Cooper, for their work and commitment.
2. Tournaments: The Norfolk Restricted results were MS: Jack Taylor, r/up Mike Philpott; GS: Amy Hayhoe, r/up Serena Verney MD: Chris Piff, Jack Taylor; r/up Ian Murphy, Huan Chan WD: Louise Culyer, Toni Sturgeon; r/up Serena Verney, Lucy Curran MX: Jack Taylor, Louise Culyer; r/up Ian Murphy, Helen Newstead. PLATE: MS: Josh Dunstone; r/up Aidan Parfitt LS: Katie Witting; r/up Lucy Jarvis MD: Tom Boardman, Adam Simmons; r/up Josh Dunstone, Tom Hinks WD: Amber Neilsen, Katie Ruthen; r/up Steph Buttle, Joyce See MX: Huan Chan, Joyce See; r/up Adam Simmons, Serena Verney Next season’s dates: The Restricted – 30th-1 October 2017 Unfortunately the planned Masters had not taken place due to low entry number. Simon and Sally Piff were thanked for organizing and running the tournament.
3. Juniors: Robin (Cooper) reported that squad training had been well attended, especially the U12s and U14s. All teams in the Shires Leagues had come mid-table. In addition, Maureen commended the U17s coming 25th out of 35 teams at the recent ICT tournament. Great efforts had been made by Junior members and their parents in fund raising. 14 year old Jess Batemen was especially thanked for raising over £500 through a sponsored badminton session with teachers in her school. County trials for U14s and U18s would take place on 2ndJuly. The other age groups TBA.
4. Schools: see attached results. Once again Maureen commented on the poor organisation by BE of the former Center Parcs schools tournament, with little notice being given resulting in many schools being unable to arrange teams or transport, in particular some of the strongest and keenest ones. Andy Royles noted her comments. Julie Pike had offered to ‘host’ the County rounds and the Regional round for the coming season, as she had done for 2016. Fakenham had represented KS3 Boys and KS4 Girls, with Downham representing KS4 boys and Dereham Neatherd KS3 girls doing particularly well, to come 2nd in the Regional finals at Thetford Leisure Centre. Andy Royles commented that BE were reviewing this competition as it only attracted the best players rather than involving the regular school players. v) Masters: No report was available. It was noted that Suzanne (Benton) had previously posted her intention to step down as Over 50s Masters organiser. It was undeerstood that Jenny Longmuir would take over this role and that Suzanne was hopeful that an Over 40s team would be run.
5. Website: Alex had notified that, as he was moving from the county, he would be happy to continue as webmaster, but had requested that someone else be responsible for responding to enquiries. Simon and Chris Piff would do this vii) Development/Coaching: one Level 1 Coaching award (organised by Active Norfolk) is running.
6. Registration: according to BE listing, Norfolk had 889 members but it was thought that there were many duplicates, triplicates, even quandruplicates. Robin Cooper, himself, is listed 4 times!
7. Norwich & District League: all league matches had finally been completed and results were on the NBA website. The Ladies Divn 1, Eaton Eagles Divn 2 and SOS 3 Divn 3. The Mens’divisions had been won by SOS(1), Beccles (2) and Beccles 63 (3), SOS3 (4) . The Mixed divisions had been won by SOS1, Eaton Eagles and SOS respectively. The two Top Team tournaments had been very successful, with SOS winning both the Mixed and the Mens.

Election of Officers

No notification of resignations had been received apart from Suzanne Benton as Masters Secretary. Maureen proposed that all Officers and Committee members be re-elected en bloc. Officers were unanimously elected. There was a vacancy as Masters Secretary. No-one had been proposed to replace Norma Bowen as Child Welfare Officer. No Committee members had resigned although it was noted that Christian Neilsen had not attended a meeting for several years. It was agreed to remove him from Committee. Coral Warren, Mike Stevenson and Serena Verney remain as Committee members. Helaine proposed that the Constitution be amended to allow removal of non-attendance by Committee members. This to be discussed at the next meeting and proposed at the AGM in 2018. She requested that meetings be held in future on either a Monday or a Tuesday. Whilst not suitable for all, it was agreed that meetings be held on Tuesdays from the July meeting onwards.

Appointment of Honorary Auditor

Simon agreed to continue

Any Other Business

Andy Royles, formerly our Partnership Manager, has been involved in BE restructuring and is now Relationship Manager for Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. He highlighted the changes in funding, with approximately £10 million from Sport England, the majority of which was for grass roots play. The focus will be on Primary schools (KS1-KS4) with a new product: ’Racket Pack’ replacing BISI, providing kit focussing on throwing and catching skills, cards and lesson plans aligned to the National Curriculum and teaching staff being trained to deliver the first 3 modules. The 4th module would involve a local junior club. A limited number of kitbags were available at a reduced price of £225. Simon proposed NBA purchase 2 packs for use with junior development. Agreed. Andy stated there were also other pots of money available under various headings and he would provide more information on on these. Simon reported that there was a tournament for beginners and improvers (adults) at Mixed, Mens and Ladies doubles, being held at the refurbished Wensum Sports Centre to celebrate the signing of a 20 year lease. 16- 17th July.

Provisional date of next AGM

5th June 2018. The next NBA meeting would be on Tuesday 18th July, 2017. The next meeting of NBA will be 21 July 2016.