Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Area 7 Royal Caledonian Curling Club Held

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE AREA 7 ROYAL CALEDONIAN CURLING CLUB HELD AT KIRKCALDY ICE ARENA ON

MONDAY 13th APRIL 2015 AT 7:30PM.

President Bob Smith (Inverkeithing) welcomed 26 Curlers from 21 Clubs.

PRESENT: Bob Smith (Inverkeithing), Boyd Houston (Dollar & Devon Vale), Hector Snoddy (Orwell), Graham Lindsay (Forret), Alistair McCabe (Kennoway), Roy Simon (Boreland), Bill Creevy (Largo), John Whiteford (Balcaskie), Robin Park (Dunfermline & Boreland), Bill Linton (Bank of Scotland & Boreland), Bill Whyte (St. Andrews), David Roy (Cupar Province), Harry Mitchell & Jim Mason (Raith & Abbottshall), Anne Buchan (Raith & Abbottshall Ladies), Morag Erskine (Markinch & Pitlessie), Ronnie Wilson (Markinch), Ann Mitchell & Liz Smith (Aberdour), Rob McLachlan (Fossoway), Alan Muirhead (Stratheden), Colin Campbell & Phil Barton (Inverkeithing), Anne McLanaghan (Dalgety Bay), Jennifer Kubrycht (Hercules Ladies) and Debbie Weir (Fossoway Ladies).

APOLOGIES: Iain Rennick & Lesley Rennick (Glenrothes), Eleanor Ritchie & Wendy Smith (Bank of Scotland), Kathleen Brown (Orwell Ladies), Mike Hudspeth (Dalgety Bay), Wilma Wilson (Largo) and John Paul (Rothes)

IN MEMORIAM: While the meeting stood, the Secretary read the following names:- Kitty Smith (Cambo Lds), Tim Connell (Glenrothes), Bill Brown (St. Andrews & Cambo), Allan Milne (St. Andrews & Strathkinness), Roy Robertson & Willie MacGregor (St. Andrews), Robert Graham (Strathkinness), Lyn Kennedy & Jean Ritson (Stratheden Lds.), Bob Howie (Abdie), Sandy Croal (Cupar), Marianne Scobie (Falkland), Helen Anderson, Ella Gallanders, Aileen Thomson & Dora Wardlaw (Dunfermline Lds.) and Myra Muncey (Raith 7 Abbottshall Lds.).

MINUTES: The Minutes of the 2014 AGM having been previously distributed were proposed for approval by of Alan Muirhead (Stratheden) and seconded by Colin Campbell (Inverkeithing).

MATTERS ARISING:

Website - Secretary Hector appologised to the meeting and explained that there were still problems accessing to edit the info on the site, due to various circumstances, but he and Iain Rennick are striving to resolve the situation.

Letter to RCCC - Secretary Hector stated that a letter had been sent stressing the Area’s concern regarding the clash of dates between the Olympics and the Scottish Championships and also the disregard to the membership in the decision to the Indoor Grand Match moving to a ten year cycle. An email had been sent in response from the RCCC stating that the Performance Committee had been re-shuffled and every effort will be made to ensure there is no clash of dates in the future. President Bob attended the RCCC AGM (2014) and reported that after a presentation on the indoor grand match, by the RCCC Board, he raised the issue of changing the cycle without discussion with the membership. The net result, post AGM, is that an Indoor Grand Match will take place in October 2015 and he is the chairman of the organizing committee.

(1) PRESIDENT / RCCC REPORT International Competition Normally a time to congratulate teams but very poor representation this year. Men still struggling through worlds and Ladies could only manage fourth place. Wheelchair team were also below best. Only light on the horizon is the Juniors where Bruce Moaut gained a Bronze Medal and Gina Aitken a Silver Medal in their worlds. Scottish Mixed was won by team Bryce, again youngsters leading the way and perhaps we should forget the present and look only to the future. Selection of representative teams has long been contentious and the new performance director has just issued new guidelines through the performance committee. Complications abound and I do not see a simple resolution. The situation is continually complicated due to the close relationship between Sportscotland, British Curling and RCCC. The coaching staff have been dramatically changed and the elite curlers, particularly podium class, have a lot to think about. In recent weeks there have been well a supported Virtual Clubs’ Bonspiel and congratulations are due to Area 7 members Sandy Nelson who won the Men’s Masters and Mary Barr who came second in the Ladies Masters. In the Seniors Elinor Ritchie is in the winning team which has now qualified for the finals to be held in Sochi.The RCCC has secured four prestigious competitions to be held in Scotland :- 2016 Euro Championships to be held at Braehead, 2018 World Juniors to be held in Aberdeen, 2019 World Wheelchairs to be held in Stirling and 2020 World Men’s to be held at the Hydro Glasgow. Board On a brighter and more supportive note, the new Chairman of the Board, Alistair McNish, President David Henderson and Vice President Billy Howat have a positive attitude to curling at grass roots level. We do not want to see a split in the RCCC but the Board must maintain good contact and explanatory communication with all members. It is supposedly working on it. Retention of Try Curling participants was less than anticipated and new ideas are needed. As far as I am aware the sub stays at £19 for next year. The RCCC AGM will be held at Murrayfield Ice Rink on Saturday 13th June 2015 at 2:00pm. The nominations, no need for elections, are President Billy Howat, Vice President Clive Thomson, Board Members Greig Henderson and Robin Niven. Area 7 Boyd Houston (Dollar and Devonvale) was elected as Junior Representative at last years AGM and I moved to Senior Representative.Thanks are due to Alan Muirhead for his continued service to Area 7 and to ASC. Alan is still on the ASC Structure Review Group. Lees Painting Fully restored thanks to a donor and is now on display at the National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. Your Curler / Communications The staff at RCCC are anxious that there is a two way contact with members and you are urged to air your views through the Your Curler magazine and by use of the website where ther is a substantial amount of information. Indoor Grand Match Thanks to substantial pressure on the Board there will be an IGM this year, 24th October 2015. You will all be involved already, if not you will be, but my position as so-called Head of Organization has been overrun by RCCC staff so I can’t give positive details. I am aware there has been an excellent response- 509 teams are needed and we have450 / 460. Thanks for listening.

Bill Linton questioned the abruptness contained in the report and asked that the President temper his replies when forwarding Area business at ASC. The President took on board these comments and this was accepted. Bill Creevie questioned the £120 per rink entry fee for the IGM. The President explained that the cost was set prior to Alan Steel coming in as a sponsor. The event has to be self funded. Robin Park proposed that a link for the IGM, Board Minutes etc be installed on the RCCC website to club secretaries. The President will take this forward.

(2) TREASURERS REPORT:

The Treasurer read through the balance sheet for Area 7 and the attached notes pertaining to the Swiss Tour. The Tour Fund stood at £2161.77 . The General Fund stood at £587.32 . The Area 7 Bank Account now stands at £2749.09. The Treasurer confirmed that the accounts have been independently audited. The accounts were proposed for acceptance by Bill Linton (BoS and Boreland) and seconded by Robin Park (Dunfermline).

COMPETITIONS: Dates: Inter Province League: To be played at Kinross throughout the season. Inter Province Bonspiel: Sunday 22nd November 2015 at Perth. Fife & Kinross vs Perth: Thursday 29th October 2015 at Kinross and Thursday 5th November 2015 at Perth. George Sinclair Memorial Bonspiel Thursday 14th January 2016 at Kirkcaldy. North vs South Bonspiel: Thursday 11th February 2016 at Kirkcaldy.

Competition Winners:- Inter Province Bonspiel

Winners: - Loch Leven Province +18shots

------George Sinclair Bonspiel

Winners: - Bank of Scotland +9 shots ------Inter Province League

Winners: - Cupar Province

Highest Up Rink: Forret and Pitlessie equal on +1 shot ------Fife and Kinross vs Perth Bonspiel

Fife and Kinross 149 v 160 Perth

Highest up rinks F&K - Dunfermline +12 Perth - Airleywright Ladies +9 on ends

North vs South Bonspiel

North 55 vs 53 South

Winning Side:- Highest up club Not competed for as no club entered two rinks. Highest up rink Hercules Ladies +10 Presented with 4 bottles of wine and trophy. 2nd Highest up rink Ceres +7 Presented with 4 bottles of wine.

Losing Side:- Highest up rink Markinch +8 Presented with 4 bottles of wine.

Secretary Hector stated that he was still finding it very hard to fill all the ice for the various competitions and urged clubs that hadn’t entered previously to consider entering next season.

(3) RCCC AGENDA

No items were raised by the meeting to take to the RCCC AGM.

DEVELOPEMENT PROGRESS Coaching President Bob called on Bill Creevy to advise the meeting re Kirkcaldy Curling School. Bill began by advising that a few changes had been made last year, the main one being each coaching group now had a dedicated coordinator and we have 3 new level 1 coaches all of which has taken a lot of pressure off of me. After the success of the Try Curling session in March we had 33 people sign up for the October Beginners Course, 26 of which attended. With this in mind we did not hold another Try Curling session until January 2015. There were less Drop In coaching sessions as it was felt that we should be encouraging people into the Virtual Club to keep their interest going, 26 joined.There were 15 people at the January Try Curling, 12 of them completed the Beginners Course and 12 0f them joined the Virtual Club. Jim Brydie and his team ran the Curling’s Cool programme with 214 kids participating. Only one session not being filled there were 2 new schools taking part. We also held two festivals where the schools played against teams from other schools. The Junior Club was run by Wilma and had 8 sometime 10 regular players. Two of the juniors played in the Coaches bonspiel at the end of the season. Disability curling was run by Harry Mitchell and his team holding regular sessions for curlers with various levels of disability including one blind curler. He had three regular groups attending as well as two players from D-Ice which is a new club for disabled curlers. There were two corporate events, one for Scottish Water and one for a group from Rosyth who were working on the aircraft carrier. We had three groups of Cubs / Scouts who did curling then skating, 75 attended and all had a great time and some may come back to the Junior Club. The Virtual Club continues to flourish and now have 38 members, 8 are due to leave this year having had their 2 years. This season I organized a series of friendly games against teams from both East and West Fife Provinces, 18 teams took part and the feedback was very positive and resulted in the clubs recruiting new members. The Virtual Club played Virtual Clubs from Kinross, Dundee and Forfar, some at home and some away. Last weekend 2 rinks played in the National Virtual Club Challenge at Braehead and finished first and second in the low road with three juniors in the winning Fife rink. There were a few glitches with the friendly games but these will be sorted out for next season. I have circulated a form and if you are keen to participate next season with these games please let me know. Next season we plan to run a similar programme with maybe a few tweaks but no major changes. At the moment I don’t know if we will still be getting funding from Fife Council but are hopeful. The Curling School is not just for new curlers but also curlers of any age and ability, all are welcome. As you can see the Coaching School can be very busy at times and, at times, our resources are stretched. If you would like to put something back into the game and have some spare time we are always looking for helpers at any of the sessions. In closing I would like to thank the meeting for the opportunity to speak and for their time.

President Bob then called on Hector Snoddy to advise the meeting re Kinross Curling School. Hector reported that, Kinross curlers started the season dazzled by the brightness in the newly refurbished rink. The facility looked great and I feel the ice lived up to the new look and was of a great quality all season which is great for coaching as well as play. My thanks go to Steven and his team. If I may I will run through the coaching activities held at Kinross by Kinross Curling School.We held sessions again for Primary Schools through the Curling’s Cool programme, After School Primary and Secondary sessions, Corporate, Adult Beginner, Family/Social Groups and Club coaching sessions. We even had a group of Ryder Cup fans take to the ice all togged out in their favorite European players Bibs. (4) The Season started with Try Curling and completion of last years ‘Olympic Beginner Course’. Although numbers could have been better 39 attended the Try Curling and a good number converted into the Beginner Course. I think the Olympic Course running into the start of the season was good and The Virtual Club in Kinross benefited from new members keen to get going right at the start of the season. The Virtual Club (KCDC) continued to grow over the season with further additions form another Try Curling session in January and the Beginner Courses. They now have a membership of 42 keen curlers. They had regular well attended coaching sessions throughout the season to further their knowledge and cement good technique. Clinics, Club and Private Coaching – There were 17 sessions involving clubs, corporate, groups and individuals/families this season. We hope to increase these next year and have more contact with the clubs and try and encourage new members through Business Challenge and other Corporate type sessions.KDLB – organized a very successful Ladies coaching day with the RCCC at the start of the season which gave the ladies a chance to start the season on the right foot and gain some insight into the delivery, sweeping techniques and strategy. I would encourage more of this type of events for women men or mixed days. Disability Curling – The wheelchair and Visually Impaired Clubs continued to meet every week throughout the season. The Wheelchair club has a 16 strong membership and VICKS have grown to 8 members enjoying weekly coaching and games. The ‘Curling’s Cool’ programme attracted 374 pupils from 10 Primary schools - 3 schools from Fife and 7 from Perth and Kinross. Feedback from the schools was again very positive and the After Schools Clubs gained new members but filled up quickly as there was a shortage of coaches. Coach cover is a big issue. We cut down on the ice time to 2 sessions along with 1 off ice session held at the school which works well. We also moved to P6 pupils, in the future this will give those carrying on into the afterschool club 2 years to get hooked on the sport before moving up to the Secondary Schools large list of after school activities. Next season we are also looking at holding the sessions early in the season so no schools miss out on time in the After School Club I would like to express a big thank you again to Earnside Coaches for transporting all the schools to the rink. We were lucky with no snow days disrupting the programme this year. Junior Curling – Kinross now has 89 Royal Club Affiliated Juniors, many of which are playing in mainstream clubs as well as their Junior sessions. The After School Clubs held 42 sessions with 75 young curlers attending for coaching and to work to achieving RCCC Skill Awards. The Junior Club are staying strong with 32 members and did very well this year in winning the KCT League, gaining promotion in RCCC Junior Club Challenge and Finlay Campbell being awarded the Jim Aitken Sportsman award at the Scottish Junior Championships. It is great that so many of these juniors are out and about playing in Scottish Schools, U12, U14, U17 and U21 events and doing so well but the shortage of coaches is restricting numbers we can have in the After School Clubs feeding into the Junior Club which is a worry. Next seasons goals are primarily to ensure that the Try Curling sessions are well attended and that transition is made from them and Beginner Courses into the Development and mainstream clubs.The introduction of a Business Curling Challenge and other Corporate curling is a key task and again work at ways to encourage each club to have at least 1 member a qualified coach or helper. Having initial contact with new curlers is a great way to let them know about your club and help them feel part of the sport.Thank you again for allowing me to talk to you all tonight and I wish you all an enjoyable off season.

Fife Curling Centre President Bob advised that he had been informed that the Fife Project had been terminated due to lack of funding etc. He also stated that surplus funds at the closure had been donated to the Kinross Curling Trust. The amount was £2000 - 3000.

(5) Kinross Curling Trust President Bob asked Phil Barton of Kinross Curling Board to give the meeting an update. Phil advised that the first year of the refurbished rink in Kinross had been a successful one. Revenue from the ice and from the bar / catering upstairs had exceeded the figures put forward in the Business Plan. The car park surface had been upgraded. There is to be a meeting between the Kinross Curling and Kinross Curling School to generate a stronger bond and to exploit curling in the area. Alterations will be carried out in the bar and kitchen areas to improve the facility and service. CCTV will be installed over the summer giving live streaming of games on one sheet, probably sheet B, and views of the heads on all sheets to screens which will be in stalled upstairs. They have requested quotations for a lift to be installed from the car park to the bar area thus making it more wheelchair friendly. The Board are considering opening one week earlier and closing one week later in the new season with a view to ultimately reducing the evening sessions from three to two. I closing he thanked everyone for the support shown for the new facility. The president thanked Phil for the report and congratulated him on the refurbishment of the rink.

ELECTION OF OFFICE BEARERS: President – Bob Smith (Inverkeithing) continues as President for his second year of office.

Vice President – Boyd Houston (Dollar and Devonvale) continues as Vice President for his second year of office.

Secretary/Treasurer - Hector Snoddy (Orwell CC), being willing to carry on, was unanimously elected, by the meeting, to carry on.

AOCB:- Area Reorganization

The RCCC had circulated a questionnaire asking this be discussed at area AGMs and feelings fed back to Cairney House. President Bob read out the questions and opened the meeting to the floor. After a full discussion Secretary Hector was to respond to the request as follows:- 1. How successful is your Area / Province at promoting curling? It was felt that our area was very successful in it’s promotion of curling in that the Area, thee four Provinces and both Ice Rinks have a close relationship and work together in the organization of competitions and other events together as a unit. 2. What changes in the way your Area / Province operates would help to promote curling? It was felt that a job description pack could be produced for all functions of the ASC reps, Area and Province office bearers. Also when posing questions / problems to RCCC they would not have a speedy or successful outcome. 3. To what extent do you feel your current Area boundary is “the best it could be” The current boundary is based on that of the Fife and Kinross Curling Association encompassing Cupar, East of Fife, Loch Leven and West of Fife Provinces. It also contains ice rinks in Kinross and Kikcaldy. 4. What changes, if any, in your Area boundary would help to promote curling locally? It was felt that no change to the Area boundary was required. 5. What activities not currently undertaken by your Area / Province would help to promote curling to existing and new curlers? It was felt the Area could organize “Fun Days” in the ice rinks and promote clubs through Local Press etc.. This will be looked into. 6. Do you have any other comments you wish to make to the group to help in its’ deliberations? It was felt that the Area’s development and adaption over the years plus the quality of personnel holding office it is it is as good as you can get. Without being conceited it was felt that the Area 7 set up could be used as a blueprint for other less experienced Areas.

2015 AGM: - Monday 12 th April 2016 at Fife Ice Arena Kirkcaldy. To be confirmed

A vote of thanks to the chair was proposed by Alan Muirhead (Stratheden) There being no further business the meeting closed at 21:30pm Hector M Snoddy Secretary Area 7 RCCC