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ESSEX SQUASH COMMITTEE
2007 MENS DRAFT LEAGUE MINUTES 2007 LADIES DRAFT LEAGUE MINUTES DRAFT 2007 MENS LEAGUE MINUTES Draft Minutes of the Essex Squash Rackets Association Men's League Annual Meeting held at Marconi On Thursday 7th June 2007
Present (committee): Dave Neller, Brian Clark, Lyn Stiffell, Mark Kirkman, Carl George, Carole Henley. The meeting was chaired by Dave Neller, chair. Dave opened the meeting and welcomed everyone, thanking Marconi for hosting the meetings year on year. Minutes of 2006 Men’s League Annual Meeting No points were raised from the floor. The committee reported no solution to the marking/refereeing improvement issue but they continue to review. Acceptance of 2006 Minutes proposed by Goresbrook and seconded by Clements. Men’s Leagues Lyn Stiffell said there was still the on-going problem of match results not being sent in. Two clubs had been lost to the leagues during the year. The leagues operated well and there was a predominance of older players which probably explained the declining teams. The leagues comprised 44 teams in summer 2006, 39 in summer 2007. Summer 2007 season will start one week later than usual to make the cycle more intensive, a 10-week period which is not so spread out to avoid bank holidays. Invoices are sent out annually covering the ES affiliation and the league fees. A discussion took place on whether receipts should be sent for monies paid (Goresbrook). It was suggested Brian could put on the web a list of the clubs that had paid – maybe also including the number of players each club had affiliated (Woodford Wells). It was also suggested that a note could be sent with cheque if receipt required. The meeting was reminded that if payment was not received from clubs they are not entitled to be in the leagues. The committee give their time voluntarily and it was only fait that clubs respect this and help by paying promptly. Brian – later I discovered the query regarding not getting a receipt was not so much from the ESRA to do with the leagues but from England Squash. Goresbrook paid their money sent in their full list of names and then didn’t get anything back from ES. Brian Clark spoke about LMS (League Management System). He was still trying to liaise with England Squash to have results available on line with all the advantages this brings. Progress has not been good. Brian has been trialling with the ladies leagues but there have been problems with the software, and ES have not been too supportive. The company supplying the system had recently spent a day with Brian and ‘snags’ have now been resolved, so a little progress has been made – hopefully to be up and running by next year. It was noted that several other counties have their own systems up and running, but they are not connected with the ES database. It had been agreed that the ESRA would be staying with the ES developed system. Essex and Warwickshire are the only two counties presently supporting this way forward. An England Squash Council Meeting was to be held Saturday 9th June 2007 and Dave Neller would attend as Chair of the ESRA. Questions regarding the LMS will be raised at this meeting – there is a lot hanging on the outcome of this system and ES are to put in a proper project manager. Any Other Business Clements asked if scores could be updated more regularly on the web. Lyn agreed to get information to Brian so web can be updated every fortnight as a target. Action. Woodford Wells would like to identify the poor team responses and Met Police thought that the fortnightly update would reveal this. It was suggested that both home and away send in results. Lyn pointed out the section on the bottom of each result card for completing, so providing a running total – therefore ensuring that missing results are picked up. Results should be in within 14 days of match being played to avoid a fine being incurred. Goresbrook suggested maybe deducting points for late result cards. Connaught commented on the Middlesex web site and how good it was and suggested we take on another LMS until ES was up and running. Brian was aware of other good systems mentioning Buckinghamshire and Surrey . Brian suggested the cost might be £500 per year. It was agreed that they all had a good LMS but none of them were connected to England Squash – eventually they should all link together. Connaught (Gary Sherman) would speak to Middlesex. Action It was noted a new domain had been purchased, but nothing has moved forward on our web. All web sites need an efficient, available imputer. Woodford Wells asked if ES have been set a deadline for the LMS. It had previously been February 2007. ESRA want something back for grass roots squash players from England Squash for all the money annually paid over to ES. ES need to do more positive things for all the counties to justify the sums they collect. Dave closed the Meeting for a brief interval before the ESRA AGM. back DRAFT 2007 LADIES LEAGUE MINUTES DRAFT MINUTES of Essex Squash Rackets Association LADIES’ ANNUAL MEETING 2006 held at Marconi On Thursday 7th June 2007
ATTENDEES: Carey Adams Epping CHAIRMAN: Barbara Sanderson
APOLOGIES: Dorothy Barnby (Saturday Morning League Secretary), Angela Hodgson (Epping),, Joan Witton (Redbridge), Sue Cramp (Bishops Stortford), Zoe Merry (Woodford Wells), Val Neller ( Kingswood ) 1. MINUTES of the 2006 meeting were agreed. 2. MATTERS ARISING: All dealt with under specific headings below. 3. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT: Copies of this report were circulated at the meeting. County League , Sasturday Morning League, County teams and County Closed Championship ran as normal, with the number of entrants in the Closed again being low. Highlight of the season was that the Ladies’ Senior team – led by Lauren Selby – won the Inter-County Championship . In addition, a new competition – the Ladies’ Premier Cup – was introduced to provide more competition for the top 20 women players in Essex . 4. LADIES’ LEAGUE: - There were no strong views about whether to have 2 or 3 Divisions in the autumn, so this will be left to Liz’s judgment, based mainly on the number of teams entering. The meeting wanted the number of players per team to remain as 3. - Val Neller ( Kingswood ) had sent a note suggesting more rules in order to reduce the number of rearrangements (namely:- minimum 10 days’ notice, or else walkover; only ONE date offered for the re-arrangement). A lively discussion followed, with no real consensus. Carey Adams (Epping) suggested a minimum of 2 days’ notice, plus a limit of 2 rearrangement requests per team per cycle. Liz reminded the meeting that it is in order to refuse a request for rearrangement, and that teams should be prepared to play with 2 players only. Action - Liz will review the discussion and draft a proposal for comment by team captains during the summer. The amalgamation of experienced and novice players in a “grey-green” Saturday Morning League was considered to have been only partly successful; more publicity is needed. Action – Carey will email and talk to key people in September/ October when the new Entry Form is issued. The England Squash LMS (League Management System) – which Essex plans to use to run its leagues – has had various snags but these are currently being addressed. Elaine Oddie pointed out that it will require all team players to be NAMED individual members of England Squash. (Currently some clubs pay for members but don’t supply their names, whilst others pay for some members only). 5. ESSEX CLOSED CHAMPIONSHIPS: The poor turnout of “lower level” ladies was discussed. It was agreed that the “B” event should be actively promoted, perhaps with a separate entry form. The following standard was proposed:- A:- Essex League Division 1 or better B:-Divisions 2 & 3 C:- Non-league players Action – Barbara to discuss with Tournament Organisers in October/ November
6. OTHER POINTS:
7. ANY OTHER BUSINESS: It was agreed that the sub-committee for referral of matters on ladies’ general and league squash in Essex for the coming year will be Barbara Sanderson, Carey Adams and Clare Ruggles. The sub-committee for ladies’ county team issues will be the 4 team captains (Senior, Senior II, Over-40 and Over-50)
DRAFT MINUTES OF THE 2007 ESRA AGM & PRESENTATIONS Draft Minutes of the Essex Squash Rackets Association AGM And Presentations Held at Marconi on Thursday 7th June 2007
Present (committee): Dave Neller, Elaine Oddie, Brian Clark, Lyn Stiffell, Mark Kirkman, Barbara Sanderson, Carl George, Carole Henley Dave Neller chaired the meeting, welcomed everyone and thanked Marconi for again agreeing to host the meeting. Dave also thanked Tony Mudd, Kingswood , for his work on the committee, especially with the Essex Closed. Tony had resigned from the committee during the past year. Minutes Minutes of the 2006 AGM were approved. Proposed by Kingswood and seconded by Chelmsford . Chairman’s Report – Dave Neller The county report was circulated which included a section by the Chairman and this covered events during the past year. Dave had attended various England Squash Council Meetings representing the ESRA. ES is in turmoil with many management changes, and with the LMS and affiliation structure / system. They had recently appointed Justyn Price as a full time Regional Manager. Justyn had attended an ESRA committee meeting and appeared very enthusiastic. Ladies had been victorious in the Inter-County Championship – last won by Essex in 1994. All other intercounty results were in the latest Newsletter, issued at the meeting. The Essex Closed had been very successful with very good support and sponsorship and had attracted good players. Each year it seemed to be growing in stature. A Racketball Closed would be held on 13th / 14th October 2007 at Kingswood . Mark Kirkman will send out entries, with posters being promised by sponsors. The juniors are working very hard at the foundation of squash in the county. Dave passed the floor to Barbara Sanderson who again spoke about the great success of the Essex Ladies winning the Inter County Championship and suggested that if clubs were holding an event maybe they could ask our ladies champions to appear. During the past year Chris Vine and Zoe Merry had arranged the Essex Premier Cup with 20 of the top lady players competing in four regions, with the North region winning. This competition had been very successful and hopefully will be continued next year. The matches had been played at Connaught , Ardleigh and Woodford Wells.Financial Report - Elaine Oddie As circulated – prepared by Elaine Oddie. Elaine went through the accounts and balance sheet, reminding the meeting that the ESRA keep 12.5% of affiliation monies collected by ESRA for England Squash. It was noted that an intercounty Racketball competition would shortly be organised and it was thought Essex may want to enter a team. Clements had a query on the ‘adding up’ in the accounts – Elaine to adjust. Action It was pointed out that the juniors may not be requiring their projected budget and discussions were continuing with the junior committee. Acceptance of the budget proposed by Clements and seconded by Epping.
Secretary’s Report – Brian Clark Brian went through his report – there had been six committee meetings during the year with Tony Mudd resigning during the year. Newsletter – two editions were published each year and the current format had been produced for the last ten years by Brian. The cost was £200 per annum, although it was hoped that this could be covered if some advertising could be organised. The Newsletter is reproduced on the web site, so therefore good coverage is provided for any advertiser, as well as the 300 hard copies produced. Affiliation- the new year started 1st June with ES affiliation and league invoices being sent out. Although some have already been paid some clubs did not affiliate last year until April 2007 for invoices sent out June 2006.This caused much unnecessary work. Web site will include names of clubs who have and have not paid – covering both league fees and affiliations. Action Website- it was realised that the web site needs continually to be updated. A new link last year was added to the junior site, which had been a great success. A new domain name had now purchased and will be in use shortly. Sponsorship- is sorely needed for the Men’s team – Dave Lazarus has a continuous problem getting the top players out. They are professionals and to secure their participation greater funds would be needed. Also more time needs to be given to the top players with regard to dates as they get booked up so far in advance. For all the Inter County teams, if anyone would like to be selected to play they should approach the relevant manager whose details are on the website. Chris Vine had spoken to Lee Drew and £250 - £300 per player would be needed to encourage the top players to turn out for the men’s team, committing to two weekends, and £1k for each weekend. It would be necessary to get a commitment early and dates are already out for the 2007 / 2008 season. This was a large increase in the budget and Elaine asked the meeting if anyone was against spending an extra £1k for the Inter County Men’s team. Ballantynes proposed and Woodford Wells seconded on the basis that Dave Lazarus should use this opportunity to get sponsorship. Elaine said this was not a sustainable budget without long term sponsorship and that the money should depend on player commitment obtained early. Action
Development- Carl George Marking & Refereeing- Elaine Oddie had won a Fun Referee and Marking Day held at Woodford Wells by Sue Woodhouse for the Ladies. Coaching Report – A very successful coaching conference had been run during the year – coaches are all to be licensed. Only licensed coaches should be employed in any club. Coaches are to be activated, with four academies to be set up following the example set out by Chris Vine for the NE Essex region. Development- Carl reminded the meeting that there were funds available to introduce girls to squash – details in the Newsletter. Justyn Price ES, our new regional contact, is very willing to help any club that wants funding once they are chartered. Club kite marks are being pushed by England Squash – Bronze / Silver / Gold for Chartered Clubs. Connaught is already a Chartered Club and again Justyn Price will assist with the gaining of Chartered status. The setting up of 3 more regional academies had been organised and coaches been briefed by the coaching committee. Carl then introduced Chris Vine who gave a comprehensive Powerpoint presentation of his work in the NE region. Chris reminded the meeting that Squash is now a Commonwealth Sport. Essex needs more competitions, more players to get in the Inter County teams. Schools now want squash in their schools and they are willing to pay. Government funding is available. Key contacts meet bi-annually. Chris said he is available to talk to anyone about the opportunities that are available. (Brian – not sure if Chris left you with any print out of his presentation). Dave thanked Chris for his presentation. Junior Report – Steve Payne Steve Payne, our Junior Chairman, reported on the junior year. 10th / 11th November 2007, Junior Closed? – Venue to be organised. (I think this should be September 29/30 2007 as in the newsletter) Last year A & B teams had been filled in some boy age groups and our Boys U-15 A team made the finals. The new junior web address was essexjuniorsquash.org
Election of Officers All existing committee members were willing to stand for a further year – 2007 / 2008. These were unanimously re-elected. It was realised that the committee need someone to handle promotions and communications – a publicity officer.
Presentation of Trophies Barbara Sanderson presented the trophies to the winners of the ladies leagues. Lyn Stiffell presented the trophies to the winners of the mens leagues. Kingswood ladies, as league winners represented Essex in the national Inter County League Winners competition, but England Squash had messed up – Kingswood withdrew to be replaced by Bishop Stortford (Brian – not quite sure about this, sorry). The men’s winner was Bishop Stortford and ES would not allow Connaught (2nd) to be our Essex representative. Thanks to Liz Downey for her continuous role as Ladies Essex League Administrator.
Any Other Business Racketball I/C – we need someone to run it, maybe Zoe Merry or Dave Millane. 29th / 30th September (Brian – not sure whether this was the closed or a competition with 5 mixed team members, sorry again!)Action Division 6W – it was pointed out to the meeting that Goresbrook had won by 3 points, picking up 10 points for having qualified markers – a reminder how important marking can be. Brian reminded all attendees to make sure they had signed their club in for attendance at the AGM to save incurring a £50 fine for league clubs. Dave thanked everyone for attending. Clubs Attending
3 League clubs not attending: Courage Hall, Walthamstow, Woodham.9 Non-league clubs not attending: Ardleigh Hall, Brentwood Centre, Brentwood School, David Lloyd Basidon, Harlow, Holmwood School, Saffron Waldon, Wick Lodge, Witham back
LIST OF ESSEX LICENSED COACHES back to admin These coaches are licensed by England Squash. This means they are qualified at the various levels and have attended the listed courses
COUNTY CONSTITUTION RATIFIED AT AGM ON JUNE 27 2000back to admin
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