| Chalfont Park Sports Association | Amersham & Chalfont Hockey Club | Chalfont St. Peter Cricket Club | Chalfont Park Softball |
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CHALFONT PARK SPORTS ASSOCIATION MINUTES OF BOARD MEETING HELD ON 2ND FEBRUARY 2005 AT 8.00 PM Those Attending: Chris Blamey (CJB) Caroline Chipperfield (CDC) Dave Peters (DP) Zoë Scott (ZAS) Neil Turner (NT) Andrew Watts (ASJW) 1. Apologies Alison Spicer (ACS) Peter Banner (PB) Simon Seabrook (SS) Warren Scott (WPS), Chris Yoxall (CY) 2. Minutes of Meeting held on 12th January 2005 The minutes of the previous meeting were approved. 3. Finance (DP) DP stated that the cash balance is roughly Ł2,000 with money from Uniq still outstanding. The VAT Return has been completed for this quarter. DP is still to go through CDC’s list and ensure all companies hiring the Club have been invoiced accordingly. We are getting through the Loan Scheme Draw catch up, but are still 4 behind. DP has spoken to Peter Colwell regarding the closing down of the 200 Club. This is still outstanding as it appears Peter has to chase up outstanding information from Keith Galletly. ASJW stated that he felt the Playing Sections need to be targeting organisations outside of the Club who provide sporting grants as this is a way that extra revenue could be brought into the Club. 3.1 Outstanding Annual Subscriptions (DP) DP had circulated a list of players who have not paid their annual subscriptions prior to the meeting. ACS had stated that she would like Board involvement immediately, knowing that the Captains have been chasing unpaid players to no avail in some cases. ACS suggested that players who have not paid are contacted this week by herself asking for immediate payment at this weekend’s games. Their Captains will also be informed of the situation and if they do not pay they will be ineligible for selection from Saturday onwards. The Board agreed with this course of action. DP stated that he felt there would be other men’s players who are not on his database and would like WPS to forward the playing database to him asap in order to check the position. ZAS stated that she had been contacted by Adam Laubser who informed her that he has membership cheques from new player Louise Stockdale which will be placed in the safe this weekend. She therefore needs to have her membership start on the 12 month rolling basis as of January 2005. The following actions were agreed: Action - WPS to forward playing database to DP - ACS to liaise with DP and WPS to ensure correct players are spoken to - ACS to contact all unpaid up members direct informing them of requirement to immediately - ACS to contact Captains and Playing Representatives to ensure they are aware of subscription situation and potential selection issues 4. Hockey WPS was unable to attend but had provided the following report: • Outstanding annual membership was being worked on but had been taken over by other priorities and progress had been delayed – now overtaken by Board’s decision to chase up this evening. • The Men’s Section is still struggling but attendance / availability has improved since Christmas. • The Women’s Section is still going strongly and now has 3 full time coaches in Dave Peters, James Heath and Adam Laubser for the top 3 teams. • Regarding Cup games the mixed team progressed from the First Round beating Ashford 2-1; the Men have their first Vase game this weekend and the Ladies have a bye through to the next round of their cup, the opposition having pulled out the evening before the game. • Presidents Day is set for the 16 April taking the same format as last year; a Ladies match against an invited Presidents side, Vintage against Under 18, Men’s 1s against Presidents side. The End of Season Awards are also being looked at and rules / process will be in place during February. • The Committee are looking at roles for members next Season, WPS will be stepping down but currently has no one in mind to replace him (although hopefully Bob Hance will be as keen as he was last year). • The first First Aid night was held at the Club, attended by about 10 people due to unfortunate short notice it was a real success and future nights are planned. Nobody has yet been reimbursed for this. DP stated that there was no cost to the evening. • Regarding the Thank You Party, although it appears that a few do a lot this is not the case when it is looked into in detail. The list is still being worked on and WPS is aware that there are several umpires and Juniors helpers to be added to a current list of 53. • WPS has been approached by the Cricket Committee to ask if they could ask the Hockey Fixture Card Sponsors to sponsor their Fixture Card as some of their sponsors have dropped out this year. WPS is not happy with this and feels they should look into other possibilities. Perhaps there should be a discount for a second advert with the Cricket Fixture Card but this will need to be discussed at Hockey Committee level. CDC stated that she has tried to co-ordinate both Sections Fixture Cards and the selling of the advertising boards, but unfortunately had not received feedback from the Cricket Section when their Card was compiled last Season. The Board agreed that there should be individuals from each Section putting together their fixture cards and making the contacts, but there should be a co-ordinated approach and package that can be sold. This would come under the remit of any Corporate Director, which unfortunately is still an unfilled role. ASJW stated that he had been thinking about the comments made by WPS at last month’s meeting. He feels that following the merger of the Amersham and Chalfont Hockey Clubs we are now in a “settling period” of the Men’s Section generally and the Men’s 2s specifically. He said this team was very strong when the 2 Clubs merged and now, looking at who those players were, many have left. DP stated this was also the case when the Cricket Club merged with Chalfont Saints. Further, looking at the current Men’s 1s players the majority of them were recruited into the Club rather than coming through via the Junior Section and we seem to have more Juniors playing Men’s hockey than first thought, which can only be a good thing. WPS’s focus on not losing the Men’s 5s is very important and now that they have a Captain and games are not being cancelled this certainly seems to be improving. DP stated that there is a 4 Counties League which incorporates local teams, where the aim is for older players to be able to continue playing and to introduce younger players into the adult game. This may be a good league to enter our Men’s 5s into next season. Regarding Juniors, ASJW said that the Under 16 Boys beat Maidenhead in the Cup which is excellent and the Junior Section just played their first every Under 7s game which is a great achievement and shows how our Junior Section is growing. Currently there are just under 100 paid up Junior members. Our Junior volunteers are intending to help out at the Under 12s Thames Valley Selection day, from where it is hoped we will be able to find new members and Sarah Watts is working on the Club Mark Accreditation. Once this is gained it will cover the whole Club and is the equivalent of ISO 9001 etc. ASJW felt that a suggestion for bringing juniors through into the adult game is by having older, more experienced players mentoring the younger players. This idea would need to be developed further by the Hockey Committee if they felt it was a good one. Perhaps identifying 8 – 10 youngsters and then identifying who in the Club would be a good mentor for them. This would be something for WPS to take back to the Committee to discuss and develop. ASJW has made contact with Hockey England South Regional Office. He feels that we pay them a lot of money in fees for which we don’t see any return. He has told them that he would like a presentation made to the Hockey Section, including Committee, Captains, Junior volunteers etc about what help, coaching, assistance etc they can offer us. As a Board we need to see what comes out of this so that we can support what the Hockey Section feel is relevant to aid their development. He is waiting to hear back from the office regarding the proposed presentation. 5. Cricket CY was unable to attend and MS had e-mailed ZAS in advance of the meeting as follows: • AGM is scheduled for Friday 4 February 2005, all positions have people willing to stand except CPSA Board Representative and Fixture Secretary (Dan Webb will continue over the Summer as Fixture Secretary but has stated he is taking a break after then). • Regarding names for the Thank You Party he is unsure of the action against his name. ZAS stated that she had responded to this point direct with MS. DP also stated that the Cricket Committee are discussing how to bring Juniors through into the adult game at that level as this is something that has been identified as needing a lot of work on. 6. Softball (NT) NT stated there have been 2 “unofficial” training days, but training proper has been delayed due to Hockey cup matches. It should kick off properly at the end of February. NT and Martin Cartledge attended the League AGM in January, where it was confirmed that we have been promoted to the Wednesday night league and we have accepted the promotion as it is optional. NT is currently trying to work out the rulings with regard to running 2 teams and the league selection policy. If the Softball Section does run 2 teams it must become a Club proper and needs to have a Constitution and run a Committee. The League are trying to develop an insurance policy, it is currently being looked into and the cost is likely to be added on to league fees as it will be compulsory. There was an article in the Bucks Ad this week which was very good, but as yet has not produced any new players which is a shame. Martin has got a couple of leads on new players from the Chalfont St. Peter Village Forum who will be contacted. NT also wants to run a local poster campaign around March time. NT will be going to the AGM of the British Softball League. He wants to enter the Club into the qualifying rounds of the National C Grade Cup and cannot do that if he does not attend the AGM. NT is also going to the next Cricket Committee meeting to discuss pitch requirements. Regarding the suggestion last month by DB of putting down astro squares this is a non-starter. Neither Martin nor MS feel it is a good idea due to wear and tear on the ground where the square meets the actual grass. There was not a lot of damage to the outfield last year even though there was some bad weather. Will be able to alternate corners this season to minimise damage and if this is not possible then the location of the square can still be moved. NT has spoken to a Softball Rep who states that there are problems with sliding onto the home plate when it is an astro square (players in shorts and astro burns apart) and concrete generally has to be put down under the astro. ASJW asked if there is any plan to develop a Junior Section. NT said not this year, possibly next. He is unsure of the possibilities of juniors playing in the local area and this needs to be looked into before starting a specific Junior Section. NT stated that there may also be funding / grants available from the BSL in the future that will need to be identified as this could aid the starting up of a Junior Section. Finally, NT stated that Martin has identified Chris Yoxall as a potential GB player to be put forward for selection into the GB Youth Team. 7. Events (CDC) CDC stated that the ruby is starting this Saturday, the new projector having been put up ready for this. Regarding external bookings the Club is nearly fully booked every available Friday and Saturday night from February through to April. There are now 6 weddings booked for the Summer, the 2 original ones which are unfortunately the same day as 1st team games, the new 4 are all on 2nd team games as requested by the Cricket Section. The Club is also booked out over the Easter period, which is great as this is a time when the Club is very quiet due to tours etc. The Board felt this is a great achievement, bringing in much needed revenue and we are now at a point where our prices can be reviewed as necessary and we can also be more selective over which events we chose to book. ZAS reported that the bar extensions applied for for Annual Dinner, original date of Life Members Dinner (now Thank You Party) and 2 weddings have been granted. She has also applied for the blanket extensions around bank holidays offered by the Court and these dates were passed to CDC. ASJW stated he has been thinking about WPS’s comments from the last meeting regarding socialising at the Club and the need to attract members to stay on the free Saturday evenings as opposed to organising specific “social events” for members. This has been discussed slightly on the forum, the return of the projector being a concern. As this is now back, ASJW suggested the he purchase some hockey DVDs to be shown on Saturday afternoons when they come back for teas. He also knew that there had been a suggestion in the past of buying some board games for people to play while they are at the Club. ZAS stated she had bought a Question of Sport and a puzzle type game which were in the back office, which as far as she knew had never been used. ASJW said these should be out on show. He also suggested getting hold of a Giant Jenga game, perhaps PB would be able to contact Guinness as they have had them in the past to see if they will supply us with one. NT stated that he intends to organise a darts competition for late February / early March, after one of the rugby games. ASJW further stated that he has been told that social began failing when it was taken over by the Board, from being run at Section level. He suggested having a social rep from each hockey, cricket and softball team to meet once a month with a member of the Board chairing the meeting. This way we have a pool of people for ideas to be bounced around. Each team can come up with an event to be taken to the meeting, or there can be a pool of ideas for the meeting to pick from, each team organises an event and has a dedicated meeting of other members who can go out into the Club and sell the event. The Board felt this was a good idea, with the current ticket reps being asked to be at the meeting. There will only be one event for their team to organise and they will be there for selling tickets. It was agreed that ACS should Chair the first meeting. NT also suggested a “Social Suggestion” box be put on the bar for people to add any suggestions they feel would be good for a social night. These suggestions can be added to the pool of ideas for the meetings. Action - PB to contact Guinness to see if they can supply us with Giant Jenga - WPS to ask Hockey ticket reps to attend meeting with ACS to outline the above and start things off - ACS to organise and Chair first meeting - CDC to provide available dates for events 8. Astro / Marketing (ASJW) Regarding the Astro Project ASJW stated he has not written to the School as there appears to have been no further development on the Newlands sale and is unsure of how long this may take. He has also heard that there is nothing happening with Dr. Challinors Girls regarding their planned astro due to lack of funding. Regarding marketing there is not much happening currently, Cricket feel their flyer drop last Season did not work so are not planning another one this year. ASJW said he had not heard anything from Cricket about an Open Day so has not been able to plan anything for that yet. DP stated it was likely to be the 16 April 2005 although that was yet to be confirmed. 9. Operations (CJB) CJB stated that the outside lights have now been fixed and the new projector has been put up. The work day is approaching, although hardly any people have signed up with him. He will need to contact DB to find out how many people have signed up with him for the food to be confirmed. As the car park has not been sorted out CJB intends to add this as a job for the work day. Obviously, how much gets done depends on how many people turn up, outside work will also be weather dependant. 10. Grounds DB did not attend and no report / action updated had been provided in advance. The Board had a brief discussion regarding the purchase of machinery from the Golf Club that had been brought up by DB at the last meeting and how that would fit into what we currently own. It is unclear as to what we have and therefore how we will know what expenditure in the future is necessary. The Board would like an inventory of the current machinery and its use so that it can be looked at in line with anything offered to us at a good price by the Golf Club (or anybody else for that matter) so that a view can be taken on it as required. Action - DB to compile inventory of current machinery and its use 11. Outstanding Actions Update Outstanding actions / non-responses remain on action sheet and completed actions are as follows: ASJW - Instigate liaison with Board members via e-mail as to what should be shown on the Honours Boards; ZAS has done this see AOB 12.3 CDC - Compile guidelines for external hire with Sandra Taylor; done WPS - Advertise working party on the forum; done NT / CJB - Advertise working party in forthcoming newsletters; done CDC - Liaise with Sandra Taylor re provision of a hot meal at end of working party day; done numbers will need to be confirmed with ST WPS - Review pitch slot times for teams, consult with Jo Peters; not possible, it would make already difficult organisation too complex ASJW - Ask Bucks Ad if they will do story re typical afternoon at CPSA Clubhouse; done non-starter WPS - Pass contact details of Financier to DP / PB to arrange initial meeting; done ASJW - Pass Police check contact details to Matt Stevenson and Sarah Watts; no longer applicable re Hockey the Hockey England Rep is to come to Club and do check in person, unsure of situation re Cricket but presumes same will occur NT - Provide list of invitees for Thank You Party to ACS by Friday 28.01.05; done CDC - Liaise with Sandra Taylor re Thank You Party buffet (Sandra to liaise thereafter direct with ACS); initial contact made, ACS to follow up ZAS - Prepare item for newsletter re lost property sale; done CDC - Liaise with Adam Marquee re Tsunami Fundraising event; date set for 2 April. Sandra Taylor organising with Adam direct. He will pay for bar staff to cover her costs, we will retain all bar profits but not charge for hire of the venue NT - Check Softball Regulations re astro squares and revert to DB; see Softball Section 12. Any Other Business 12.1 Club House Clearout (CJB) Following the clearout of the office last weekend, CJB asked that rather than the cupboards the garage is the next place to be cleared out. There are a lot of boxes etc on racking that he is unsure of what they contain and a lot of machinery badly placed. Particularly, if the fuse box goes while Sandra is at the Club on her own, she will have to clamber over the machinery to sort out and this is definitely a health and safety hazard which must be addressed soon. The Board agreed that this should be the next area for clearing (ZAS said she obviously was unable to do this) and a date for clearing to be set at the next meeting. 12.2 Forum (ASJW) ASJW asked the Board not only to look at the postings on the forum but also to post themselves as this is a great tool for getting the Board’s message across and making us all more visible. 12.3 Honours Board (ZAS) ZAS had sent out a suggestion for the Honours Boards for discussion, being 4 Boards showing: CPSA: President, Chairman; Hockey: Chairman, Men's 1st XI Captain, Ladies 1st XI Captain; Cricket: Chairman, 1st XI Captain; and Softball: Chairman, 1st XI Captain. There was a general discussion regarding this, MS had responded by agreeing in principle stating that he felt that all the Boards would need to be in annual rows as pure dates of positions held (eg 2000-2004) would not look good. He agreed that the starting point from the opening of the new Clubhouse and the inclusion of only Chairman and 1st XI Captain was a good compromise, although slightly harsh on older members and people serving in other positions. The Board agreed that there needs to be a starting point for the boards in the upstairs rooms, it is a shame to lose the history of past positions held but we need to start somewhere. If the Sections want to research who held which positions and have retrospective boards made up, to go in the downstairs corridors etc, that would be fine. Annual rows for positions held was also agreed upon. ASJW said he had spoken to a contact who had said that getting boards made up and then given to a sign writer is the easiest way of getting boards. CJB stated that he knew someone who may be able to both make up the boards and do the sign writing and he will contact them. Action - CJB to contact person re Honours Board and sign writing 13. Date and Time of Next Meeting The next meeting will be held on the 2 March 2005 at 8.00 pm. |
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