Datchworth League 2017 Annual General Meeting

Held at the John Clements Sports and Community Centre () on Friday 24th November 2017

Attendees: Aston, Broxbourne, Codicote, Digswell, Gosling, , ,Legends, , St Pauls, Watton, , ,

Clubs Not Present Albanians, Ashwell, County Hall, Datchworth, David Lloyd, Dellcott, Elliswick, HBSTC, , , Kimpton, Lister, Northaw & Cuffley, Odyssey, Orchard, Pirton, Rye Park, St Margaretsbury, , Townsend, Triage, Weston

1. Apology for Absence Diane Coe, Elisabeth Anderson.

2. Minutes of the last AGM The minutes of the AGM in 2016 have been on the web-site, proposed for acceptance by Tessa Terry (Gosling) and seconded by Graham Macdonald (Wymondley).

3. Chairman’s Speech The attendees at the meeting were introduced to the members of the committee. Mark remarked that whilst 14 clubs represented was not a record the attendance was close to the largest for some time as each club had multiple representation, thank you.

The AGM is the one opportunity in the year to raise issues and change the rules in the constitution as the committee is unable to change the rules. During the year there are a number of complaints and everybody was asked to voice any concerns or seek further clarification. Each club represented at the AGM has a single vote.

There is nothing comparable to the Datchworth League across the country with 36 clubs and 1092 people playing tennis in the summer and autumn leagues. During the year there were only 9 voided matches out of a total of 1166 (<1% of the total). The committee has had very little work to do, particularly in the first few weeks, but a few issues cropped up during the season. The smooth running of the league is dependent on the courtesy of the players and everybody involved should be proud of their participation in the league.

Mark expressed thanks to Rupert Russell for all the hard work he puts into the organisation of the league and the Ladies Di and Maria for their rapid responses when the few queries did occur! In addition thanks were expressed to all the captains for the efforts in organising the matches.

4. Election of Chairman, Secretary and Committee Mark Knapper explained the role of the committee, and the expected resignations at the next AGM. This is to be Mark’s final year as Chair and Maria’s penultimate year on the committee. Two volunteers stepped up Graham Macdonald (Wymondley) and Ian Mathieson (Codicote)

The new committee proposed was (club association shown in brackets):

Mark Knapper (Codicote) – Chairman Rupert Russell (Hitchin) – Results co-ordinator Diane Coe (Hitchin) - Secretary Maria Walker (Welwyn) – Member without portfolio Graham Macdonald (Wymondley) – Member without portfolio Ian Mathieson (Codicote) – Member without portfolio

The new committee was unanimously voted in by the clubs present at the meeting.

It was noted that the wake of Bob Anderson (Wymondley) took place today, Elizabeth and Bob regularly attended the AGM and Elisabeth was a member of the committee for many years. Our sympathy was passed on to Elisabeth and her family.

5. Statement of Account The accounts were presented to the AGM and showed the league had a healthy balance although there were a number of bills still to be settled for expenses associated with the AGM.

The full accounts could not be shown as Diane was unable to complete them due to a family emergency. They will be published shortly on the web site. It is expected that the income less expenditure should be up on last year due to the rise in fees.

The accounts were voted for acceptance by David Foster (Codicote) and seconded by Ian Vosper (Watton). The accounts were voted as accepted by the meeting.

6. Presentation of Trophies These were presented by Rupert Russell (Hitchin).

7. Proposed Rule Changes Proposed rule changes were presented to the meeting and discussed,

All team members must be above secondary school age (11+) Wheathampstead proposed that the minimum age for a player should be 14, this point was discussed at length and it was noted that the LTA coaching do not allow youngsters to play with a full ball at primary school as it is deemed to be detrimental to their joints. It was agreed to word the rule as secondary school age,11+, rather than over 14. A vote was taken and a majority of 11:3 in favour of this new rule. So motion carried.

Points discussed but not carried: The number of junior players in a match be limited. When a match is postponed due to weather would it be possible to name your squad to ensure eligibility for the final 3/4 matches in the season via the remarks box.

8. AOB Alan Walker (Welwyn) asked if it would be possible for teams with a large number of squads have an even split over the leagues for home/away to aid court availability. It was noted that the league do endeavour to do just that and a check by clubs when first published for errors would be accommodated whenever possible. Richard Blythe (Digswell) thanked the committee for their hard work during the year.

9. Date of the next meeting Friday 30th November 7.30pm at the John Clements Sports and Community Centre (Codicote).