Minutes of a Committee Meeting held at Chester RUFC Clubhouse on Thursday 21st May, 1992.

Present; J.M.Young (in the chair), J.N.Lenton, F.R.Povall. I.D.Charnock, D.Western, D.Gilligan, J.Wyatt, H.Midddlebrook. G.Kennedy. W,Gott, D.Jones, D.B.Py~, M.Farr. M.R.Williams~ L.Davies. M.J.Hamlin, C.Hughes, M.Cohen, W.Buckland, J.Davies. D.Ewing, B.Ewing, M.J,Lord, D.Mason, S.Cole, H. Leyland, P.Cornelia, G.P .. Hughes, R.Haslehurst, C.Hughes. N.Morris. D.l.Adams.

Apologies; C.Coventry, J.Pinnington, F.Price, A.F.Koenen, H.V.Middleton, B.Baister. G.Cox.

Minutes: The Minutes of the ·Meeting held on 5th March, 1992 having been circulated were confirmed and signed.

Matters Arising: 25 Blazer Badges have been ordered for Committee members to purchase at a cost of t7 each. They will be as per the sample show~ at the last meeting except that the words 'Founded 1876' will be included so as to distinguish the badge from the players badge. The Meeting unanimously confirmed the recommendation hY the Finance Committee that the County accepts the offer made by Steve Lyon (Portland Public Relations) to assist with the County's marketing. press and PR activities. This will include a weekly press release or photocaption story on various aspects of Cheshire rugby - County and Clubs - personalities. youth news, competitions etc. He will take over the printing of match programmes and will endeavour to increase sponsorship. It is essential that County Sub-Committees and Clubs keep Steve Lyon informed of aIl important rugby news. (Portland Public Relations. 2nd Floor Ryder House, 2, Clinning Road, Birkdale, Southport, PR8 4NU. Tel; 0704-66508 FAX 0704- 66467). After a lengthy discussion and some corrections, the Meeting approved the amendments to the Bye-laws recommended by the appointed sub-committee. Acceptance of the changes will be put to the vote at the A.G.M.

Hon. Secretary's Report: A let ter was sent to West Hartlepool RFC to extend our sympathies on the sad death of John Howe which occurred during a 1st XV match. Chris Coventry has stepped down as Senior Vice President due to pressure of work and family commitments. ICI Wolfhounds RFC (Proposed Birkenhead Park FC, seconded Sale FC) and Altrincham (Kersal) RFC (proposed Bowdon RFC, seconded Old Salians RFC) were accepted as members of Cheshire RFU. Altrincham (Kersal) on condition that the "(Kersal)" element of their name is removed at the end of their centenary season in 1997. The Sanatogents RFC have been accepted as members of the RFU. A let ter has been received, from the parents of an Colts player, which is very complimentary regarding the behaviour and hospita1ity of the Cheshire Colts party who were on tour.in Italy at the same time as England Colts. Peter Turner (Past President) has written to the secretary of the RFU complaining about the bad language used by the Orrell captain in the televised programme "Up and Under". His letter, and Dudley Wood's reply, was read out and the secretary was asked to write to Peter expressing our approval and support of his action. The fixtures for next season are;- December 5th V East Midlands Chester December 13th v Staffordshire Burton-on-Trent December 19th v Notts, Lincs & Derby Wilmslow 'The AGM of the RFU on lOth July will be asked to consider a motion by Gateshead FeIl RFC seionded by Darlington RFC. Clubs \.' who are not sending a representative to the AGM and who wish - to register a vote should send their proxy vote form to your RFU Representative or Hon Secretary. Doug Hill of Winnington Park RFC has been reinstated as an 'amateur to take part in football i,e he can coach, select, organise. administer or promote the game below National representative level, but cannot play or referee. North Committee Report - The North team will tour in Namibia and Zimbabwe in July/August. Fixtures have been arranged against Leinster in Dublin on September 9th, Wales 'B' in, Pontypool on October 14th and South Africa at Elland Road, Leeds on November lOth. Walter Gott (North Division treas~rer) gave a report on the North Division finances and asked the members present to approve a resolution that the Division should in future retain its own monies instead of returning this to the Counties and then immediately claiming it back as a 10an. Approval was given.

Hon. Treasurer's Report: M. Cohen presented the Accounts and Balance Sheet for Season 1991/92. These were unanimously accepted.

R.F.U. Representative's Report: Cotton Traders - after much discussion a new pattern of shirt was decided upon, subject to one or two further alterations. As a result the threat of a court case does not now apply. English Rugby County Association - it ,was agreed that there should be an Annual Forum between ERCA and RFU. Depending on the success of this maybe in future holding two a year. A report from Oswestry Orthopaedic Hospital suggests that many more neck injuries were appearing as a result of rugby accidents. The RFU is to investigate further. G.Cooke has been reappointed England Team Manager. The Competition sub-Committee proposaI for the structured season from 1993/94 (based on the '5 Building Blocks') has been approved despite a request by the ERCA Association to defer the decision.

------Courage Club Championship Report: Mike Lord congratulated ail the Cheshire Clubs who have achieved promotion. 13 club leagues are now in place for next season. These leagueswill remain ev en if certain club amalgamations take place. Player registration is now centralised on a computer and ail registration forms are to be sent to Bob Archer in Durham. Club subscription remains at 120. New rules are being dec~ded on eligibility and movement of players.

Youth Development Officer Report: Chris. Hughes' gave a report on his activities during the past few months. He works mainly on 'Start Rugby' courses - an introduction to coaching - and the Preliminary Award Course. He targets schoolteachers and pupils at Junior schools, but future plans involve getting into secondary schools, making use of Induction Days etc. -He has also been busy at Leisure Centres introducing 'New Image Rugby' into the general activity and play schemes. 220 boys from Cheshire went down ta Twickenham for the County Championship final. dlubs are reminded that the Y.D.O.is available to help them with their Youth development and they should make use of his services.

Under 21 Report: This committee is now a weIl structured and active body, but there is still a vacancY for a member from a~ East Cheshire club. Chris Thompson, Jos Baxendale, Rob Davies and Jonathan Cooke have'been accepted to attend the 'Young Players" coachingweek at Trent College in July, Chris Thompson played for England U.21's, and Thompson, Cundick and Saverimutto played for the North side. Tony Atherton will attend the Northern Division Coaching Course at Leeds Poly in JuIy.

Colts Report: Jonathan Goodyear, Gordon Banks and Chris Parsons played for the North of England side-and James Metcalfe and Nick Yardley played in Divisional trials. A very enjoyable tour to Italy was completed in Marcb with three games played resulting in one defeat, one win and one drawn game. The Junior Colts (U.17's) finished up as Northern Champions for the second season in succession. They won the N.W. section and then had a walk-over against Durham (NE Champions) who could not field a team on the date agreed with the RFU.

Mini & Junior Report: The results of the U.16 Clubs' XV are as follows;- Beat Buckinghamshire, Lost to North Midlands and to Lancashire. The results of the Youth Cup Competitions are:­ U.17 Final Macclesfield beat Davenport U.14 Final Caldy beat Winnington Park U.13 Final Davenport beatWinnington Park Next Season these cup competitions will include the U.15 and U.16 age groups and the games will be played on a knock-out basis.

Cup & Plate Report: In the Cup Final Macclesfield beat Sale and in the Plate Final New Brighton beat- Wilmslow .. The Cup Final was weil organised with ample assistance -from Wilsmlow, the hast club. The attendance was a record. The Plate Final, aiso played at Wilmslow as a result of a toss of a coin, was a shambles due to a junior tournament taking place at the club prior ta the Final.

C6aching Report: A meeting of aIl coaches has been arranged for Monday 22nd June at the Y.D.O. 's office in Northwich. The arrangements for the Chester College week-end course for coaches on July 10.11,12 are progressing smoothly and 26 applications have been received for the Prelim. Award Course and 11 for the Inter. Award Course.

Disciplinary Report: The follo~ing players -have appeared. before the Disciplinary Sub-Committees siuce the last County Meeting:- J c Cross of 'Lymm suspended for 28 days B. Paul Lymm 28 days A. Booker (U.14) Winnington Park 21 days D. Allcock Winnington Park 28 days J. Gray Sandbach 28 days J. Valleley Ashton-on-Mersey 28 days K.P. Harrison Northwich 42 days K.Mehtar Davenport 14 days E. Màlone O.Anselmians 30 days A. Gill Oldershaw 60 days

Any Other Business: Mary Cox has been providing refreshments for Committee members for a great many years and she is retiring from this voluntary dut y in July, It has been decided ta hold a special dinner in her honour at the Old Hall Hotel,Frodsham,in September, and aIl Committee members are invited ta attend (cost E17).Exact date ta be announced at the July meeting.

Next Meeting: The next meeting will be held at Chester RUFC on Thursday 9th July following the A.G.M.