Committee Meeting

Monday 2nd December, 19:00 Kingswood School

Minutes

Present: Tim Graham (TG), Dudley Bartlett (DB), Pat Ost (PO), Jon Kirby (JK), Trevor Prentice (TP), Mike Horton (MHo), Sean Sutton (SS), Shelley Pike (SP), Michelle Hares (MHa), Penny Bromley (PB), Phil Edmonds (PE), Mark Blackham (MB)

Apologies: Gordon Opie (GO), Alanna Rice (AR), Melanie Carosi (MC), Grant Sable (GS), Yeng Ping-Ng (YPN)

1. Introduction From Chairman

The Chairman opened the meeting at 19:00.

2. Minutes Of Last Meeting

The minutes of the meeting on 4/11/02 were accepted as a true record

3. Matters arising

The 100 Club draw will now take place at the Christmas Party on 14th December 02.

A letter has been sent to Kingswood School by MB but no reply had been received.

SP brought to the attention of all present that recently the University pitches have been in a poor state before matches. The goals are in a poor state and are not being set up prior to matches. Leaves and mud have been found on the pitch and access to the pitches is particularly muddy. MB was asked to write a letter to the University. [action MB]

PO informed the committee that the rota of 1st and 2nd XI players to assist with junior training was working well and that parents were very happy.

PO also informed the Committee that Sally Divall had still not attended the junior coaching sessions. It was decided that she would be again politely asked to attend or to reimburse the Club for the coaching course. [action SP]

4. Team Reports

Mens 1st XI - Not available.

Mens 2nd XI - PE stated that there were a few unhappy members of the 2nd XI. Some thought that they should be in the 1st XI and some were generally unhappy with the way the team was performing. The 2nd XI desperately needs a goal scorer. Matt Rodgers was behaving himself and had not been cautioned by umpires for two weeks.

Mens 3rd XI - MHo told the Committee that the team had only been defeated once in the month and they had beaten the top team in the league. Sam Ferris and Ben Voutt are showing themselves as potential future 1st XI players.

Mens 4th XI - SS told the members present that the 4th XI had won 1 and lost 3 but had beaten the top of the league team. He said that the team was playing too much expansive attacking hockey but the team was happy.

Mens 5th XI - TG gave the current status of the 5th XI. They were unlucky to lose again and that there were too many players available. This means that the team is always changing and that some players were not getting a regular run out. TG thinks the Club might consider bringing back the 6th team next season if a suitable Captain could be found.

Ladies 1st XI - SP told the Committee that they are top of the league on goal difference

Ladies 2nd XI - MHa announced that her team was second in the league by one point and that they were playing well and that there is a good atmosphere.

Ladies 3rd XI - PB told all present that she is Captain of a cheery team and currently occupying 4th position in the league.

5. Finance

In the absence of FVG, TG reported that some player's annual subscriptions were still outstanding and that Captains should be asked to remind their players to pay their subscription even if they have not received an invoice. FVG and MB to provide a list of outstanding non-payments. [action MB&FVG]

6. Umpiring

The umpiring discussion evening went well, although numbers were slightly disappointing, and went on until 11pm. TG thanked TP for organising the event and all present members echoed this.

The Club is still short of umpires, especially ladies. Natalie Retallick, Yeng Ping-NG and Melanie Carosi should be encouraged to finish their credit games and become qualified coaches. They should try to umpire some of the friendly matches over the Christmas period. [action NR,YPN,MC]

TP congratulated MHo for recently umpiring a county youth match.

Umpires had been booked for a match at the university pitch for 9.30am but the fixture was actually at Golden Hill at 2.30pm. There had been an obvious breakdown in communication and TP would discuss the matter with MC. [action TP/MC]

TP asked MB to mention to Kingswood School that the semi circles making up the D at both ends required repainting. MB will draft a letter to KWD. [action MB]

A recent match had to be abandoned for bad light after the match was started at 3pm. It was decided that no further matches would be booked to start later than 2.30pm. MC will be informed.

7. Coaching

Senior Coaching

GO told the Committee that planning permission had been granted for the training lights at Kingswood School and requested that MB draft a letter to Caroline Cundy to push for an early implementation. This will enable the Club to use more slots since the pitch would inevitably be cheaper. GO, SP, GW, DB and Richard Westgarth should meet to discuss the best way to arrange the training across the two sites and different evenings. [action RW, GO,SP,GW&DB]

Helen Barrett has joined the club recently and is a qualified coach and umpire and is happy to help out where possible.

SP stated that more balls are required for training after the University had lost some during storage. They have offered to replace them but in the first instance TG asked SP to try and locate the missing balls and ask the University to make good the loss. Currently SP and GW have about 30 but would like another 2 sets of 24. [action SP]

Junior Coaching

PO says that the new rota for 1st and 2nd XI players to assist at junior coaching was working well which is good as the numbers of junior players had swelled this season.

8. Social Events

MHo gave a brief appraisal of Social Events and planning.

The 100 Club draw would be held at the Christmas party on 14th December.

There may not be a bar extension at the LTC due to an oversight by the LTC Secretary. The Secretary would try his utmost to get the extension but the final decision would not be known until the 12th December. TG said to assume that we would not get the extension and arrange to start the evening at 6.45pm. Captains had been given a sheet to record numbers and deposits. This must be completed and returned to MHo by 7th December. MB suggested to the Committee that members not attending the event should be politely asked to provide a raffle prize or buy a raffle ticket. All agreed that this was a good idea and that Captains should mention this to players. [action Captains]

The recent quiz night had raised £120-130. MHo was thanked for his efforts. MHo thinks that a non fund raising event such as a skittles night could be arranged. He would investigate and get back to the committee with ideas. [action MHo]

9. Development

MB had discussed with B&NES and HEL about hosting a coaching course. GO told MB that the KWD facilities would be available for the required dates but that the pitch would be split into three tennis courts. MB will mention this to B&NES and HEL and see if this is a problem. MB handed out a sheet with a breakdown of recent developments, including the successful campaign to gain Club Quest accreditation and that in the next few weeks' sponsorship proposals would be sent out.

10. Publicity

JK promised that a newsletter would be ready before the Christmas party.

DB requested that MB send him a copy of the Club poster to distribute locally. [action MB]

11. Any Other Business

PB mentioned to the Committee that her keeper did not have a full set of equipment. TG could lend her some equipment and MB could donate some of his old kit. [action MB&TG]

Captains appear to be doing too much chasing of players and DB stated that players should be looking at the website and the Chronicle or call their Captain for fixture details. GW and SP have been asked to remind players of this at training. This does not affect the Mens 5th XI or Ladies 3rd XI who usually field a scratch team. [action SP&GW]

DB thanked FVG for providing the funds to support the Mens 1st trip to the Exeter indoor tournament.

New Years Day matches will be arranged this year by TG, DB and SP. Teams would be made up from Ex-officers of the Club, VP's and invited guests. [action TG,DB & SP]

12. Next Meeting

Next meeting would be 6th January. The meeting closed at 20.05.