MG/RFL/RMLMG/200813 STRICTLY PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL NOT FOR PUBLICATION MINUTES OF THE REGIONAL MEN’S LEAGUE MANAGEMENT GROUP MEETING HELD AT THE MACDONALD TICKLED TROUT HOTEL, PRESTON AT 18.30 ON TUESDAY 20TH AUGUST Present: David Gent (Chair) RFL Steve Manning BARLA John Jefferson & Terry Barker Barrow & District RL Fred Baker Midlands RL Martyn Coyd Tier 4 Adult Leagues Jason Grant & James Shuttleworth North East RL Neil Girvin & Ron Girvin North West Counties ARL Stuart Prior North West Men’s League Anthony Atherton SW & West of England Men’s League Apologies: Tim Fellows Midlands ARL Trevor Hunt National Conference League Sue Taylor Pennine ARL Stuart Sheard Yorkshire Men’s League Absent: Hull & District ARL Iggesund Cumberland ARL RFL Staff in Attendance: Ralph Rimmer Chief Operating Officer Matt Birkett Head of Community Game Programmes David Butler Tier 3 & 4 Competition Manager Alan Davidson Club & Competition Manager John McMullen Club & Competition Manager David Raybould Club & Competition Manager Michelle Gibson (Minutes) Executive Assistant ITEM ACTION 1.0 WELCOME AND APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE DG welcomed JG, JS and RR to their first meeting. Apologies were noted as above. 2.0 APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the meeting held on 14 May 2013 were approved as an accurate record. 3.0 MATTERS ARISING 3.1 Communication DG confirmed that minutes from recent Community Board meetings were now available to view on the RFL website. It was agreed that minutes from Regional Men’s League and Youth & Junior Management MG 1 meetings would also be posted on the website for reference. In addition, it was agreed that an email would be circulated to the secretaries of all clubs advising how to access the minutes. MG FB requested that links to the minutes also be made available on MG League websites. 4.0 COMMUNITY BOARD UPDATE MC provided an overview from the Community Board meeting held on 24 July 2013. The following presentations were received: Brian Barwick was introduced to the meeting and provided a summary of his first six months as the RFL’s Non-Executive Chairman. Hazel McCluskey, the RFL’s Relationship Manager at Sport England, attended the meeting to present the background and criteria for Sport England’s “high performing NGB”. Sarah Williams, Equality & Diversity Manager, presented an update on equality and diversity activity taking place across the sport. DG presented an overview of the recent Festival of World Cups tournament, which was considered a great success and everyone involved in the staging of the tournament was congratulated for their considerable efforts. RR provided an update on the sport’s on-going Policy Review. BJ Mather provided a summary of the Coach Development Plan from 2013 to 2017 and the Coaching Qualification framework. The Board also approved a draft Code of Conduct for the Community Board and noted the new direction for the RFL’s HE/FE offer from September 2013 onwards. It was noted that the next meeting of the Community Board was due to take place on 16 October 2013. 5.0 SEASON REVIEW DB reported that Club and Competition Managers would shortly be commencing a thorough review of the season, which would cover all areas of the Community Game. The review would primarily focus on the views of players, whilst also including coaches, match officials, leagues and management groups. DB requested feedback on any specific issues that the review should cover. SP suggested that the review could explore the reasons behind the increasing numbers of teams being defeated by large margins. It was noted that accurate figures could now be obtained on the number of non-fulfilled matches and the reasons behind cancellations. DB reported that the average completion rate was 77%, with the highest rate recorded at 88% over the weekends of June 8th, 22nd and 29th. 2 SP asked whether accurate figures were available on the number of participants playing the game. MB replied that an annual trending report was being compiled from data received on 31st July, comparing 2012 with 2013. Registered participants had increased by 4000. MB added that a report was being prepared for the National Conference League on number of fixtures fulfilled and the average squad size in every division. It was noted that, on average, 42 different players were used per squad during the season. In addition, it was possible to establish the retention and drop off rates across every age group. RG expressed concern that some clubs had over 100 registered players and suggested that any players who were not participating on a regular basis could be encouraged to join teams that were struggling with numbers. MB felt that some of the high numbers of registered players could be due to coaches not updating their records and removing players who were no longer part of the squad. FB stated that it was important to be mindful of the different attitudes of players nowadays in terms of their approach to team sports and to also take into account the impact of social media on their views. 6.0 POLICY REVIEW RR outlined the background and core principles behind the RFL’s Policy Review and proposed changes to the competition’s structure (see details in presentation attached). It was noted that consultation had taken place with Super League, Championships and Community Board constituents and it was hoped to draw the consultation process to a conclusion at the end of September, with subsequent recommendations to be presented at an Extraordinary General Meeting of the RFL Council. RR stated that RFL was seeking a fully integrated solution that would maximise opportunities for the whole sport, with appropriate activity at the Community Game, semi-professional and professional levels. This would also result in a ratio of fixed income being distributed to each tier of the game. The proposals for an integrated player pathway were noted, as follows: A two level system with a licence of six years would be introduced, with players having the option of either a full-time Academy or a part-time alternative through the schools and colleges network with Centres of Excellence There would be a reduction in the number of Super League Academies and investment into high quality Academies to achieve a better return on investment. Centres of Excellence would be accessible to everyone and these players would be retained in the non-professional environment. As dual registration would be compromised under a promotion and relegation structure, an U23 competition was proposed for clubs operating an Academy to provide players not selected for the first team with regular playing opportunities 3 Dual registration between the current Championships and Tiers 3 and 4 would need to be adopted to allow free movement of players between these leagues It was hoped that this structure would reduce the number of players being taken from community leagues by professional clubs. FB enquired whether all of the Academies would be linked to professional clubs. RR confirmed that a tender process would take place for clubs wishing to run an Academy and joint applications from more than one club would also be welcomed. In addition, FB queried what would happen to current Academy players that were not selected by one of the new Academies. RR stated that once current contracts had expired, these players would enter a free market. RG expressed the view that dual registration was not as effective as it could be with teams such as Swinton Lions comprising largely of Warrington’s reserve players, which clearly was not appealing from a fan’s point of view. Anyone with further comments or feedback on the Policy Review was invited to contact RR or DG. 7.0 COMMUNITY GAME OPERATIONAL RULES DG reported that all leagues had been sent a copy of the draft Operational Rules for consultation and all queries would receive a response in due course. The consultation period was due to close on 16 September, after which a final set of Operational Rules would be issued to the Community Board on 16 October for formal adoption. TB expressed concern that U16s were being signed by professional clubs and then returning to amateur clubs other than their own. In addition, TB felt that these players should be competing for teams within areas where they were domiciled. There was general agreement that clubs should return to the community club they had originated from and players should be playing for their local teams. DG encouraged everyone to also review their Competition Rules, as All these would not be covered in the revised Operational Rules. 8.0 COACHING AD provided an update on the Coach Development Plan for 2013-2017. Leagues were reminded that the Coach Licence period was valid for three years. From January to March 2013, 56 CPD workshops were organised but only six took place due to low attendances, which would result in 3,100 coaches not meeting the licence requirement in December 2013. It had since been agreed that the coaching licence would be valid for three years, with no need for annual renewal. Coaches would be 4 required to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, attend a Safeguarding and Child Protection workshop and sign a Coaches Code of Conduct to retain a Coaching Licence. It was also highly recommended that coaches undertaken a First Aid qualification. SP felt that £250 was costly and this could act as a deterrent to potential coaches. DR pointed out that some coaches were not in contact with children during their role and might not see the need to attend safeguarding courses. RR stated that at some point the majority of coaches would likely come into contact with children and it was appropriate that they undertake the course.