Minutes of AGM on the 31St January 2017

Minutes of AGM on the 31st January 2017

Opening of meeting

Phill opened the meeting with an introduction of officers and committee to the membership and thanked them for their support throughout this last year .

Present

Alanna Sturley ,Phill Thomas ,Sharon Thomas ,Ceri Wilson ,Colin Griffiths ,Bob Adams ,Trina Bowen ,Ruth Williams ,Keith Thompson ,Laura Lewis ,Francis Bunker ,Julian Orchard ,Dorothy Morgan ,Coral Howlin ,Helen Hilary ,Lynn Tobin ,Hilary Edwards Cath Cumine ,Tania Rogers ,Kathryn Lee and Fay Omnet .

Apologies

Jane Lee ,Sarah greenwood , Jamey Williams ,Dani Busby ,Jenny Llewellyn ,Sarah Jones ,Nicola Griffiths ,Tracey Johns ,David Thompson ,Lucy Evans ,Anna Williams ,Nicky shanklin .

Approval of minutes of last AGM

It was proposed by Cath Cumine that all minutes were correct and a truthful account of events .

This was seconded by Phill Thomas .

Matters arising out of the minutes

There were no matters arising and all issues had been dealt with .

Chairmans report

Welcome to this year’s annual general meeting of Pembroke and district ASC and to hear the chairman’s report .This will be the ninth year that I have the pleasure of delivering my report and I thank you for your time today . The 2016 season has passed by with such pace it it feels only like a month since we had the last Annual general meeting . Last year I reported on the success and progression the club had made and it is a similar position again .

Club numbers continue to grow with our Water dragon’s squad in particular seeing the largest growth of all . The coaching team had to review the squad structure in the middle of the season and like all good clubs make adjustments in order to get the best out of our swimmers and maximise our pool time , this has made a significant and positive improvement .

The current structure and delivery of our sessions has been reviewed by our coaching team and work schemes are being developed to improve on the great work already taking place, this ultimately will give our swimmers from bottom up a higher standard and quality going forward in their swimming careers .

The committee has worked extremely hard over the year putting on social events to rise for its membership .

A significant investment has been made in equipment with new lane ropes and 5 new track start diving blocks a first within Pembrokeshire .

Investment has also been made in funding Safeguard and welfare courses for all volunteers at club , and ensures that at Pembroke and District, we are current with our governing body’s best practices in this subject .

I feel very positive going in to the 2017 season with the healthy membership we have and the talent we are seeing in the pool . However I must point out we are not without our weaknesses and sustainability of volunteers in particular coaches must be a high priority within our development plans this year .

I believe we can achieve and improve on existing success by providing strong leadership ,a stable and structured base ,continued friendly and approachable atmosphere and opportunities for all of our members .

I would like to thank all our volunteers of the committee and coaching team sincerely as without your support time and effort we simply could not function or have the successes we enjoy .

I should like to pay special thanks to our Treasurer Mrs Hilary Edwards who keeps us on the straight and narrow with finances

I should like to thank our secretary Mrs Alanna Sturley for keeping our correspondence and communications spot on . Also for her fundraising efforts with the block appeal .

I should like to thank Miss Coral Howlin our membership secretary for her work in renewing old membership and opening new membership for Pembroke .

I should like to thank Mrs Ruth Williams and Lynn Tobin the clubs safeguarding officers for their work both on and committee . I would like to say a huge thank you to one of our hardest working volunteers who has supported the club and me for many years but stands down this year and that is Mrs Tania Rogers . Tania has been a steward on our club desk selling thousands of pounds of kit dealing with meet entries and membership enquires and along with Mrs Tracey John has been the face of the club , Tania’s support will be greatly missed .

I should like to pay tribute to our swimmers who continue to work hard and achieve success for themselves and club and to congratulate all swimmers that made County squad selections this year .

I should like to pay tribute to two senior swimmers . Abbie Williams who achieved a GB selection in triathlon . We are very proud of Abbie and believe this journey is just the beginning for her . Also Chloe Edwards for a GB selection in underwater hockey . Chloe is heading out to Australia to compete in the under 19’s age band and is just 15 years of age . Well done and good luck to both .

My highlight of the year has to be Pembroke wining the Tudor shield against some very strong opposition , without the club being at full power due to other events being held on the same day . It was a great achievement seeing our younger swimmers stepping up ,some swimming up an age band and beating the best in the county .

The vision for the club – “ Working together for success “

Thank you

Phill Thomas ( club Chairman )

Coaches’ report

Good evening to you all

May I first say a big thank you to all the coaches and helpers that have helped me and the club over the past year , again this year I am fully aware that there would be no swimming club without them . The club has lost a few coaches over the last year and some coaches have other commitments which often leave us short on poolside cover . However we have gained a few new faces to help coach on poolside and we welcome them to our team . I have said this at many AGM and committee meetings that this is key area we must improve upon and the club must recruit more committed coaches willing to take on sessions on a regular basis. A big thank you to all the older swimmers who have helped on poolside , your help is much appreciated . It has been very nice to see younger 9-10 year offering to help demonstrate to the water dragons on a Friday , please continue with this it is a great help .

2016 saw a shift from Pembroke being the top club in Pembrokeshire . There are many reasons for this . Other clubs have made big strides to improve and in one key area have a greater volume of swimmers coming into swimming club from the LTS programme .We are in the process of addressing this and over the last 4 months increased our intake from LTS programme at the younger end of our club . In the pool we still had some good results . We retained the Tudor shield again by a good margin even though we had several of our top swimmers missing . This was not easy and our swimmers produced some fantastic swims against a very strong Haverford west and Llanelli teams . We unfortunately did not retain the junior RAOB or County shield but we were very close runners up . Congratulations to all swimmers who have moved up to County squads , we wish them well .

It looks like we are starting to get better entries into open meets and championships which are good to see and shows we are moving in the right direction . A big thank you from the club ,me and the swimmers to all who have helped in getting these entries and the help given on poolside .

The club ran the RAOB gala again this year but as this was always a county event it has been handed back for county to run from 2017 and I assume it will now be held in Haverford west pool .

Our programme of long course training in Swansea did not continue and at present no plans are in place to resume this , although this can be looked at again if anyone would like to volunteer to take this on .

The lane ropes reel holder has been repaired and new lane ropes purchased . Our new start blocks are ready for use and we are the only club in the area to have this type of block with a back foot rest which shows commitment to the future .

During the middle part of the year I resigned as head coach but still wanted to help on poolside . I felt at the time I was not doing a good enough job as head coach for the club or the swimmers and did not deserve the title . At the time it was all getting a little bit too much for me receiving emails nonstop, emails trying to arrange who should cover sessions at late notice .

During the latter part of the year I have been more involved in planning for the future and I am willing to continue as head coach if the membership feels they wish me to do so . I have detailed some of the plans so far and plans I wish to implement .

Part of this planning has been to revamp the squads so as to remove the platinum squad and move older swimmers on to the less stressful aquatics squad that’s far less often .This has been in part a request from the swimmers . The gold , silver and bronze squads have been enlarged and often merge into each other during sessions. This so far has seemed to work but may need a bit more of a tweak . The Friday sessions with Water Dragons has also been changed . They now all follow a county coach supplied structured programme as a group with one coach leading the session and the coaching team all working within their own lanes .The session plans may alter in future to better suit our squad . The overall plan is that the coaching team will discuss the water dragons to see how it is working before making any changes . If elected to head coach I would make it my job to look at all our old squad session plans and bring them up to date as soon as possible . In my opinion we have had session’s plans that worked and we had more swimmers getting into county squads using these plans than we have now , we have not used these plans for a while . I feel we could improve our swimmers fitness and skill closer to country level following the session plans I have in mind .

Overall the future of the club from a coaches view point looks good but we must push on if we are to maintain our very high standards .

Keith Thompson ( Head coach)

Treasurer report The accounts are in being audited by Gill Orchard again this year, and as soon as she signs them off I’ll email a copy to committee. Thanks, You Gill Very much appreciated Income for the year was twenty two thousand, three hundred and fifty two pounds. * Biggest income was from Gala Entry, six thousand and seventy one pound. * Swim Wales’s membership, three thousand, and six hundred and twenty four pounds. * The Swim Shop took two thousand, nine hundred and sixty five pounds * Club membership took one thousand, one hundred and sixty four pounds. * Donations/Fundraising In total Donations and fundraising comes to eight thousand, five hundred and one pound, an amazing increase on last year of six thousand, six hundred and sixty six pounds well done to the fundraising committee especially Alanna for doing such a great job writing all those letters. This includes * The County donation of nine hundred pound. This will go towards our volunteers’ WASA membership. * Bonus Ball raised four hundred and ninety pounds a big increase on last year. * Block fund total came to six thousand, two hundred and seventeen pounds. * Raffle sales in total for the year were four hundred and eighty pounds. Expenses during the year ,twenty one thousand, six hundred and three pounds. * Gala entry cost we’re five thousand, four hundred and thirteen pounds which includes Poolside passes of three hundred and fifty six pounds, relay entries of one hundred and eighty pound * Swim Wales fees were four thousand, eight hundred and thirty six pounds. * Six thousand and forty five pounds was spent on new equipment including two new lane ropes, starting blocks and a repair on the lane rope wheel. * Kit purchase for the year was three thousand, four hundred and seventy three pounds. We have one thousand seven hundred and twenty seven pounds of stock. * Medal’s and Trophies came to five hundred and forty six pounds. * Pool hire came to four hundred and eighty six pound. ROAB, Tudor shield and our club galas * Training Course came to sixty pound for putting three volunteers on a Safeguarding course. * Office was one hundred and sixteen pounds for the printing of the gala programmes, paper, envelopes, stamps and the updating of the poolside register. * Christmas Party Cost two hundred and ten pounds which was for hall hire and the disco. * Gifts and Prizes were for one hundred and fifty nine pound which includes sixty six pound for the children’s selection boxes. As you can see from the hand out we have Six thousand, nine hundred, eighty seven pounds and sixty two pence in the bank. If you turn over your handout, that shows a more detailed breakdown on all the money raised by the club for the year and what it was spent on and how much is left. Election of offices

Office Nomination Proposed Seconded President Trina Bowen Phill Thomas Alanna Sturley Vice President Dorothy Morgan Phill Thomas Alanna Sturley Chairman Phill Thomas Alanna Sturley Jamey Williams Vice chairman Keith Thompson Tania Rogers Tracey John Treasurer Hilary Edwards Alanna Sturley Tania Rogers Secretary Alanna Sturley Tracey John Jamey Williams Competition Kirsty Thomas Alanna Sturley Tracey John secretary Head coach Keith Thompson Alanna Sturley Tania Rogers Child welfare Lynn Tobin Phill Thomas Alanna Stulrey officer Child welfare Ruth Wiilams Phill Thomas Alanna sturley officer Membership Coral Howlin Phill Thomas Alanna Sturley secretary General Cath Cumine Alanna Sturley Tania Rogers committee member General Tania Rogers Alanna Sturley Phill Thomas committee member General Laura Lewis Alanna Sturley Tania rogers committee member General Sharon Thomas Alanna Sturley Jamey Williams committee member General Colin Griffiths Alanna Sturley Tania Rogers committee member General Jamey Williams Tracey John Tania Rogers committee member General Dani Busby Phill Thomas Alanna Sturley committee member General Sarah greenwood Phill Thomas Alanna Sturley committee member General Ceri Wilson Phill Thomas Alanna Sturley committee member General Jenny Llewellyn Phill Thomas Alanna Sturley committee member General Cath Lee Phill Thomas Alanna Sturley committee member General Tracey John Phill Thomas Alanna Sturley committee member

Invited Questions from the membership

Phill Thomas asked the membership if they had any questions they would like answered

Francis Bunker was first to ask a question

What is happening about Land Training? It seems to have dropped off and Francis expressed to the room how important this was alongside the swimming to build core .

Phill Thomas responded to Francis’ question by telling the room of the difficulty he has had in trying to set up a meeting with Gary Nicholas and centre manager Darren .

Phill continued by saying that Francis was correct that this was a very important part of the swimmers development and will try again this week to arrange a meeting as soon as possible . He went on to tell the room how he would like to see this activity included in the direct debt and that what is included in the direct debt can vary from centre to centre. Lastly Phill finished off by stating the gym is available to children of comprehensive age and lots of our swimmers do use this facilitate .

Francis added by saying Jeff Richards is happy to take on these activities on behalf of the club .

Phill questioned his availability as the club has been let down in the past .

Dorothy Morgan had the next question

What are the figures and gender of the clubs growth this year especially the water dragons ?

Phill Thomas responded by stating that historically swimming was a female heavy sport in Pembrokeshire and we find it hard to attract boys to the sport when competing against football and rugby . Phill went on to say Pembroke has gained more boys this year to last and have accepted older boys in to the club as well . Phill stated this was due to British Olympic swimming excepting boys later , with the average age of the Olympic swimmer now being 24 and a half years old and the new youth being 21 years old . Phill stressed he was happy to take older boys into the club and move them up the squads quickly as their skills increase .

Keith stated that we still had a 70-30 to female split here at Pembroke .

Trina Bowen was next to ask a question

At what level can a swimmer join club from learn to swim ? .

Phill answered this by stressing there was a huge variety of the level of swimming lessons across the counties leisure centres , but we at Pembroke take children who are working towards level 6 or nearly completed it . Phill went on to say that his self and Keith had taken a small number of swimmers from level 5 that had real talent and had shown promise .

Trina then asked about the clubs equipment and was it locked away when not in use ?

Phill confirmed to the room that all club equipment was stored tidily away in the blue create in the corner of the pool deck when not in use.

Trina stated that she had asked that question because of the state of the first aid room .

Phill stated the only thing that belonged to club in that room was the locker stack which was tucked away in the corner , but he will mention it to Gary /Darren in the forthcoming meeting .

Francis Bunker asked the next question

Is there a coaching register re swimmers medication ?

Phill stated there was not a register of medication at this time .

Keith continued that it is not the coaches’ responsibility as they are not trained to deliver medication it was the job of the lifeguard and centre staff .

Phill told the room that coaches are aware of one child who has serve allergies and carries an epipen and the parents always remain on site ,so are always available if a problem should arise . Phill finished off by adding that medical information is subject to the data control laws and would not want to be sat on swimmers medical files .

There were no further questions and the meeting closed at 8.35pm