<p> Minutes of the Annual General Meeting Thursday 20th June 2013 7.30pm, Chapel Gate</p><p>Presiding: Dennis Eveleigh (Chair), John Hardcastle (Secretary), Niall Gaffney (Treasurer) Minutes: Sue Grey Attending: Appendix 1 Apologies: Appendix 1 </p><p>1. Minutes of 2012 AGM Agreed.</p><p>2. Chairman’s Report Appendix 2 3. Questions to Chairman None</p><p>4. Treasurer’s Report Our theme for the future is One Club. Accounts have already been presented to Y&M and Senior committees; this presentation is on behalf of both committees. This year our accounts are subject to examination so there is an even greater scrutiny on us, although we have nothing to hide. We have essentially broken even this season. To help us achieve this outcome the coaching team took a cut; we hope to avoid a repeat of this in the forthcoming season. We have already made considerable strides in gaining new and improved sponsorships for the forthcoming season. Particular points to note:-</p><p> Sponsorship income increased up to £47,000 from previous season, which is good but not good enough.</p><p> Subscriptions need to increase; £13,000 is good but again not good enough. We have enormous potential to improve this.</p><p> Gate receipts again can be improved, £14,000 is good but not good enough. 1  Shop sales are vital and we want to increase them; £1,800 is broadly in line with last season. </p><p> Donations; £9,000 – Niall expressed gratitude to the friends of BRFC.</p><p> Y&M Tournament; £14,000. The tournament has wonderful potential which must capitalised upon. </p><p> Summer Camp brought in £3,000; thank you Fraser.</p><p> 100 Club; £1,400 is good and we want to improve; Michelle Claude has been asked to take control of this. We want to increase membership and intend to change name to 50/50 club.</p><p> International ticket sales – small surplus of £500.</p><p> Match day hospitality; £2,000 which we hope to maximise next season. Players fund – another example of interaction between Y&M and Seniors and working towards One Club. Sports Club – we need to stop complaining and work with them; the situation is not ideal but we have to work with it. We do not have assets so we have nothing to borrow against; this means we can only spend what we have in the bank and cannot put ourselves in debt. The accounts demonstrate there is no wastage. Our challenge is to increase income. 5. Treasurer’s Q&A. Bank with Lloyds; possibility of moving RBS identified – Niall to follow up. Another steam of income is the club website – cash-back for shopping via the club website. Observation of entrance fees at away games shows that they all charge more than we do. This is something we are addressing. Also other activities seem to be more prevalent at other clubs for fundraising. EG, 50/50, raffles. Niall acknowledged that the intention is to start the 50/50 next season but also to consider other activities. Payment to Sports Club; facilities are dreadful. Is this a set amount? Niall acknowledged that we must address this issue – they do have challenges but they must do better. We need to deal with the Sports Club as One Club and be more professional. It is hoped that the changing rooms refurbishment might be possible prior to new season. Q – Will it include a lockable door? Thanks to Niall for open and clear explanation of accounts. Electronic Score Board was sponsored by Goadsby for 3 years sponsorship. We have 6-8 payments left to make. How do we measure effectiveness of the coaching staff whoreceived fees of £26,000? If not can we put one in place? Recognition that voice of players needs to be captured; feedback is vital. Players need to be part of that assessment. Need to have accountability. We should only commit to coaches for a fixed period, eg, one year – performance dependent. Players; how do we insure them against loss of earnings? There is a basic RFU scheme which clubs must commit to. However, this covers serious injuries only. We have investigated cost of putting in a scheme and we are having ongoing discussions. We are very aware of it. Win bonus structure in place? No as we do not have the funds. Not against this in principle but we need to be able to afford a scheme. Club captain will be voted in tonight; their role will be to communicate player desires and aspirations to committee so that we know how they would like to be rewarded – payment is not necessarily top of their list to encourage commitment. Gate numbers? Do we have targets to increase attendance? Yes, although we are in top half of clubs with a regular attendance of approx 3-400. Plans to increase: we need a strategy to promote club through families 2 and friends; we are promoting through Wave FM; we could make even better use of social media; more Y&M involvement would be beneficial. We need to attract new people to rugby – perhaps free admission for one match? It was pointed out that applicants for sponsorship job were not necessarily previous rugby supporters so we are getting known in the community. Already promotion in the Echo has resulted in more interest in BRFC. How about a sign along the Wessex Way? Do people know that the best rugby for 100 miles is at BRFC? Need to make much better use of schools; players into schools? We need to focus on marketing.</p><p>6. Vision for the Future – One Club Colts Report: Mark Palmer – Colts Manager A fantastic season: Colts won U17s D&W Cup putting them through to National competition, losing to the eventual champions – Western-Super-Mare; undefeated in league and won the North v South play-off. Colts will have two teams next year and have many good players ready to move up to the Seniors. Youth & Mini Report: Gavin Fisher – Y&M Chair. See Appendix 3.</p><p>Vision for Future – One Club Presentation given by Niall Gaffney. Key messages:-</p><p> Collaboration between Y&M and Seniors this season is welcome and feels good; closer working can only benefit the club. </p><p> Particular thanks to Jonathan Brookes for sharing previous experience. </p><p> We want to have a consistent club ethos across all sections; integration is key.</p><p> We need to ‘share the load’; we need to increase our volunteer base.</p><p> Our current income is insufficient to match our ambition.</p><p> We need to be more efficient and we need to have a prudent but aggressive business plan. We need to take ownership of our problems and solutions as One Club.</p><p> We want a cohesive club environment which appeals to our members, players, coaches, supporters, sponsors and the general public. </p><p> Our aspiration must be a shared end goal by which all sections benefit from mutual support. </p><p> We want to be a leading force at all levels of rugby. </p><p> Members to be loyal, persevere, participate and consider the club before their section. Key duties of executive committee:-</p><p> Devise and implement business plan.</p><p> Set the direction and manage the day to day activities.</p><p> Lead the members by their words and deeds.</p><p> Be visible within the club and accessible to all.</p><p>3 Vision contribution acknowledgments: Paul Martin, Laith Sabih, Phil Sinkinson, Jonathan Brookes. Q&A:- Club Captain role? Yes, the role will be one of the elected officers on the executive committee. Clarification of Fixtures Secretary’s role; a few felt that this role is required as a specific point of contact for other clubs. Clarification of proposed Management Structure; functions of the elected officers was explained. Clarification of incorporation and the need for this to happen; at this point we will modernise our constitution. Currently we are relying on limited liability of Sports Club. Current constitution will support tonight’s election of elected officers and support the proposed changes. Dual registration of players? We had 3 dual registrations this season. This cannot be done below level 4. Players not wanted by big clubs, does anyone try to encourage them to Bournemouth? This will be for Director of Rugby to look in to. Already sponsors have been approached to open up jobs for players who might want to move to Bournemouth. Director of Rugby – if non-paid then elected for a period of time – how do we ensure accountability is measured? Need to consider review of performance and our ability to challenge. Director of Rugby is not an electable decision tonight so we can examine this in the future. Should we have a paid coach under the Director of Rugby who is on the committee? The purpose of tonight is to elect the elected officers to take forward the proposals, which will include consideration of paid positions. Following Q&A there was general agreement to adopt proposed new Management Structure Categories of membership were explained and agreed: Non-playing; Y&M Parent ; Student (u21/at university); Playing – seniors; Playing – colts, more details to follow.</p><p>7. Election of Club Officers President, Doug Warren, thanked everyone for attending and the retiring chair Dennis Eveleigh for his commitment to BRFC and his enthusiasm for rugby over a great many years. </p><p> Chair. Nomination Dennis Eveleigh; proposed and seconded. No other proposal therefore in post. </p><p> Vice chair x 2. Nomination Phil Sinkinson; proposed and seconded. Nomination Jonathan Brookes; proposed and seconded. No other nominations therefore in post. </p><p> Secretary. Nomination John Hardcastle; proposed and seconded. No other nominations therefore in post.</p><p> Treasurer. Nomination Niall Gaffney; proposed and seconded. No other nominations therefore in post.</p><p> Head of Y&M. Nomination Gavin Fisher proposed and seconded. No other nominations therefore in post.</p><p> Commercial. Nomination Paul Martin proposed and seconded. No other nominations therefore in post.</p><p> Executive Y&M Representative. Nomination Laith Sabih proposed and seconded. No other nominations therefore in post. </p><p>4  Club Captain. Nomination Chris Hughes proposed and seconded. No other nominations therefore in post. </p><p>8. AOB None. Dennis thanked everyone again for attending and closed meeting.</p><p>5 APPENDIX 1 Attending:- Paul Martin, Laith Sabih, Phil Sinkinson, Jonathan Brookes, John Webber, Stuart Cann, Nigel Yeoman, Jo Warren, Doug Warren, Chris Hughes, Dan Connolly, Alan Manning, Olly Smith, Frazer Wilford, Alex Williamson, Callum Forrest, Gavin Hart, Max Higgins, Tony Ebner, Helen Ryan, Stephanie Witt, Bernie Flynn, Bob Strickland, Mark Mulcahy, Michelle Claude, Gavin Fisher, Anthony Williamson, Simon Carkeet, Mark Palmer, Gareth Watts, Michele Hegarty, Greg Pike, Mike Dunning, Alan Gilbert, Howard Burry, Richard Llewellyn, Rachel Smith, Andy Jones, Jared Budnarowski, Ian Moore, Alistair Raworth, Lynne Thomas, John Strachan, Sue Grey, Dennis Eveleigh, Niall Gaffney, John Hardcastle.</p><p>Apologies:- Julie Boddington, Greg Young, Roger Reeve, Mike Dedman, Richard Williams, John Arthur, Tim Hillard, Tommy Booth, Tim Cotton, Keith Berry, Wally Wright, Paul Harrison, David Dunn. The secretary, speaking on behalf of all those present, sent his best wishes to Tim Cotton and expressed his hope for a speedy recovery.</p><p>APPENDIX 2. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT TO THE AGM - SEASON 2012/2013. You will recall that in giving my report last year the club was basking in the euphoria of the 1st team gaining promotion, the 2nd XV having won The Solent Merit Table, the 3rd XV being Dorset and Wilts Champions and many of our youth and mini sides also being County champions at their respective age groups. I stressed the club was moving into uncharted waters with the promotion placing us in the top 2.5% of clubs within the English League system. The management had targeted survival at National 2 South level as our initial ambition so we could genuinely say we were a level 4 club rather than a club that yo-yo’d between divisions. Further ambitions were to remain financially solvent in an environment where the majority of our league competitors were playing and paying on a semi-professional basis, improve our management processes, continue to develop our “one club” approach with more and more dialogue and integration between the senior and junior sections and make sure rugby at Bournemouth was enjoyable for all its stakeholders. So one year on where are we? Let me start with the reason we are all here namely the playing side. The first significant fracture that undermined our ambition was being told by both Hampshire and Dorset and Wilts that our 2nd XV as we were a level 4 club were no longer eligible to participate in either the Solent Merit Table or Dorset and Wilts 1 South. We tried to overcome this by placing our 2nd XV in the Canterbury Shield but although this competition works very well for clubs inside the M25 corridor, the majority of our opposition found excuses frequently flimsy not to travel to Bournemouth or indeed in some cases not able to field a side to host us at their own grounds. Understandably a number of players became frustrated at the frequent cancellations and we haemorrhaged some players to other clubs where they were guaranteed a game. The problems at 2nd team level had a knock on effect for the 3rd XV so frequently we were only fielding a 1st and 4th XV as they were the only two sides with a guaranteed fixture list. What of the 1st team and our initial season at this level. What became very obvious was that the majority of our opposition were paying significant sums to their players and we were virtually unique in continuing at this level to play on an amateur basis. It speaks volumes for the commitment of the players that they stuck to their task and although the season was something of a white knuckle ride we played some attractive rugby and achieved our ambition of cementing our place at this level. Relegation was until that stirring win at Canterbury a real possibility but we proved we are able to compete at this level and had we closed out a couple of games we should have won we would have finished in mid table. Some of the distances travelled meant a very early leave and a late return, when </p><p>6 you consider that our local derby was Worthing it demonstrates the commitment shown by all involved. A very appreciative thank you. We learnt a lot from our first season at this level and should be better prepared to maintain our existence without hopefully giving our supporters quite such a helter skelter ride as we did this season. . With a judicious mix of youth, not so young, and in one or two cases can I say experienced rather than geriatric performers, the 4th XV carried all before it and had won their league with a number of games still to play. Brought to peak condition by Mark Palmer and Simon Carkee,t the 4th XV demonstrated all that is good in rugby being a game for all shapes and sizes to be enjoyed. You will hear a lot more detail about the successes of our junior sides when Bob Strickland reports on the Colts and Gavin covers Youth and Mini activities. To walk round the ground on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday evening, Saturday afternoon or a Sunday morning shows that the club is in rude health. Turning now to the administration and financial side of the club’s activities how have we done against the targets we set ourselves. Firstly thanks to some very diligent housekeeping Niall and Lynne our finance team will be reporting a break even position for last season. When you consider that in conversations I have with numerous chairmen and committee members of our opponents a number are regularly reporting significant losses and carrying forward unacceptable levels of debt and overdraft this is a very encouraging and commendable achievement for which Niall and Lynne are to be congratulated. Some unpalatable decisions had to be made during the season and much as we would like to meet every financial request that is posed of the management we are only prepared to spend what we have and not live in a fool’s paradise where buying success is suggested as being an easy route to financial riches. It never works out that way, witness Rugby Lions, Newbury, Barking and hosts of others. Several of our league opponents admit to having debts in excess of six figures and by that I mean over £100000. This is unsustainable and you only have to read some of the NCA forum postings to see how some clubs are very close to going under by irresponsible spending invariably on playing budgets. We have spent considerable management time on discussions re improving our income position and controlling our expenses, in the last close season we appointed a self employed sponsorship consultant who had some spare capacity and he was charged with the task of generating additional sponsorship for the club. This met with some success and we did increase our income from this source which Niall will be able to demonstrate in his financial report. However unfortunately the gentleman in question was overtaken by other demands on his time and had to resign the position before Christmas. We have recently appointed Emma Tyrer a very enthusiastic young lady to this role and early indications are very encouraging. On the administration front we identified that we needed to streamline our processes to match the requirements of a modern day business for that is what Bournemouth Rugby Club is and you will hear later in this meeting of proposals to continue to drive the club forward in the future. Paraphrasing Winston Churchill never have so many owed so much to so few. I speak here of the enormous workload undertaken by a small group of dedicated volunteers, we often are very critical and wear hair shirts at things that do not quite go according to plan but actually the majority of activities run very smoothly and this is in the main due to the quiet efficient and ‘getting on with it’ attitude our volunteers display. The presentation later this evening does try to address spreading the load and although we have already identified some very enthusiastic new volunteers who have already been very active in helping to formulate our thinking there is plenty of scope for anybody who wishes to help be it in a small or more involved way. Whoever coined the phrase many hands make light work could have had Bournemouth RFC in mind when they said it. I will take the opportunity prior to the election of officers to introduce some of the persons who have been assisting us. As I mentioned earlier we have continued to develop our desire to fully integrate all sections of the club into a One Club approach. Under Gavin’s guidance I am delighted to report significant strides have been made on this integration and although in certain areas it is still work in progress there is absolutely no doubt this approach has huge benefits for every member of Bournemouth RFC be they player at any level or age, supporter, parent or that much loved person The Alickadoo.</p><p>7 In this modern technological age in which we all now live some of the new found technology leaves those of us born BC somewhat confused but under the expert direction of Helen Ryan, Bob Strickland, Julie Boddington, Alex Williamson and many others, our website achieved 1st position on The Pitchhero statistics on a number of occasions last season. For those of you of a technical bent Helen and Niall have some interesting statistics regarding the number of hits which are of course of interest to potential sponsors. To a layman such as myself I am assured the stats are very impressive. Facebook and Twitter now feature prominently in inter club communication leaving those of us reliant on messenger boys with cleft sticks somewhat bewildered. You will have noticed two new outbuildings around the 1st XV pitch. One is Jo’s new emporium where after many years of trading first from suitcases and latterly from what can only really be called a cupboard under the stairs Jo now has space to spare. The fitting out of the new shop was master minded and carried out by Phil Thomas and Gavin for which everybody not least Jo is very grateful. The second new building/portacabin was a kind donation from Richard Pearce which has been fitted out by him with assistance from Tim Collier and John Peart into an additional medical facility for use by Andy and his team. In mentioning Andy we must give credit to him and his team who stitched, massaged, manipulated and patched up our walking wounded. Rugby these days is very physical and attritional and without Andy’s professionalism our injury list would have been even more severe. So now moving on to the future the proposed restructuring is aimed to bring the club more into line with modern procedures in line with RFU recommendations. There are some exciting developments around the playing and coaching structure which we should be in a position to announce in the very near future, hopefully within the next 48 hours. After numerous meetings with the RFU, the NCA, Hampshire and Dorset and Wilts we have resolved the positioning of our 2nd and 3rd XV’s giving both those sides meaningful league and merit table guaranteed fixtures next season. We are optimistic of putting four sides on the field regularly next season. The driving motivation behind the proposed administrative changes are to make rugby at Bournemouth an enjoyable experience for all persons involved with the club be they player, administrator, parent, supporter, sponsor or friend. Bournemouth Rugby Club is the leading club in Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Berkshire a position hard won by previous generations, it is incumbent on us to protect this heritage and build on it so we can pass on to our successors the vibrant thriving club I have the privilege of chairing. Finally as mentioned previously none of this success would be possible without the help of so many dedicated volunteers and my heartfelt thanks goes to all who give of their time so freely in ensuring Bournemouth Rugby Club ticks.</p><p>APPPENDIX 3. Y&M CHAIRMAN’S REPORT. The 2012/13 season has been another successful season for the Y&M section thriving in every age group, with an increase in membership numbers across the age range especially U6. The majority of teams have been successful in their D&W competitions this year with good results all around. The Y&M Tournament was another success this year but with numbers down due to the current economic climate, we hope to build on this year’s entries as this raises much needed funds to keep the Y&M section running smoothly. This season has seen a vast improvement in support from the section for the seniors, with more players and parents supporting the first team games on Saturdays than ever before. This I feel has happened due to all of the hard work that has gone on behind the scenes working towards an inclusive one club approach. I feel that this must continue so we can be more successful on and off the pitch.</p><p>8 We are re-branding the Youth Section by calling it the BRFC Youth Academy; this will hopefully encourage more players to join BRFC and add a more professional approach to developing young players in rugby union, but we will keep an all inclusive approach. This year has seen more coaches than ever attend coaching courses and gaining RFU qualifications, we are now planning on having our own in-house training programmes and regular coaches meetings – this I believe will raise the level of coaching and develop our players to a high standard. We have seen interaction with some of the senior players giving up their time to help out at coaching sessions and sharing their knowledge and input towards the modern game which has greatly developed the sections’ confidence within the game, long may this continue. With the 1st team staying up in National 2 South next season, a lot of work has already gone on behind the scenes with many meetings taking place! This can only happen with people giving up their valuable time, I would like to thank all the Y&M members who have volunteered to drive BRFC forward. I am sure you will all join me in wishing Bournemouth RFC in a successful season next year.</p><p>9</p>