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Bristol and District Squash
AGM Minutes 2011
Tues 17th May 2011
David Lloyd (Westbury-O-T)
Agenda
1. Chairman’s Welcome and Report – Jeremy Burns.
Jeremy welcomed everyone and confirmed he would chair the AGM in the absence of an elected Chairperson from the last AGM, he expressed that the committee hoped to elect a Chairperson this evening. He asked all present to ensure that only one person from each club voted and for the record anyone speaking to give their name and club. He also thanked David Lloyd Westbury for the use of their facilities for the AGM.
2. Apologies for absence – Gillian Rich, Sarah Brown – David Lloyd
3. Approval of AGM Minutes 2010 – proposed Alan Brown, seconded Richard Tookey
4. Matters Arising. - none
5. Treasurers Report – Rob Livingstone
Rob LivingstonThere had been a steady year; however there was still a problem with the collection of League Fees, currently standing at £2,000. A separate income and expenditure report was handed out. There followed a long debate from many attending on how this problem should be overcome
6. Election of Officers
Chairman – nomination, Martin Cornelius, nominated Richard Tookey, seconded Alan Brown
Treasurer – Rob Livingston agreed to carry on as no nominations,
Mixed League Secretary – Jeremy Burns agreed to carry on as no nominations
Ladies League Secretary – this position to be shared, Ruth Drysdale (winter league) proposed by Richard Tookey, seconded Alice Clark and Pat Sherwood (summer league).
Secretary – Paul Tanner agreed to carry on as no nominations.
7. Presentations for 2010-11
Presentations were made by Jeremy to the various league winners, these details are attached on a separate sheet.
8. Role of Honour
Most Improved Player - Joe Milkins
Player of the Year – Peter Joyce
BaD Squash most contribution – Richard Bickers
9. Mixed League Report – Jeremy Burns
Jeremy found his first year a league secretary quite challenging, it being a steep learning curve. He had made an effort to visit clubs during the year to meet people. A number of issues had been highlighted and he has put these into proposals for rule changes to be voted upon.
A number of changes had been made to the website and he hoped the improvements have been noted but would however appreciate feedback. He thanked the current committee for their support as well as Alan Brown and Rob Watkins.
Jeremy also thanked all the clubs that acted as hosts for the play offs, feedback showing the play offs went really well. He also thanked Alan Brown and Rob Watkins for their help with the League as well as all captains and players.
The league had lost some teams but there would be 3 new teams in the winter league. Bristol and District Squash being in a strong position with a feasibility for new teams that would add depth to our league.
Spring Season – this had gone really well but in Div 4 due to the number of teams a knockout tournament was held the winner being BLTSC H.
There had been great team performances from Gordano A 8 out of 8, David Lloyd Thirds 10 out of 10, and BLTSC A 10 out of 10 matches won
10. Ladies League Report – Pat Sherwood
Summer League last year had 8 teams with 2 teams based in the heart of Bristol at Redland and Kingsdown and the others at Thornbury to the north, Cheddar to the south, Chippenham to the east and Weston to the west. For the first time the Avon U15 girls put in a team winning 11 games and the League in fine style. Needless to say this year they have a handicap.
Winter League unfortunately had only 15 teams, making 2 divisions. BLTSC A ran away with Div 1 in the autumn half, winning all 12 games and leading the runners up, the B team by 27 points. What’s more they did it again in the spring half, winning 12 of the 14 games and beating David Lloyd into second place, again by 27 points.
In Div 2 the autumn half was won by BLTSC C, who were ahead of Thornbury by 50 points. Both these teams went up into Div 1 for the spring session, while Redwood A
dropped down and proceeded to win the Div, beating Kingsdown by 52 points.
BLTSC A are therefore the undisputed champions for 2011, having topped Div 1 for both halves of the season. In Div 2 playoff Redwood A beat BLTSC C 4-1 to become the overall winners.
The season has shown up the huge variation in ability across the league. The Avon Girls have shown us that there is some new blood coming into the sport and I hope they continue to play in the league and keep the rest of us running.
As you may know, I will be giving up running the winter league this year and Ruth Drysdale fro BLTSC will be taking over. Please be as nice and as well-behaved for her as you have been for me. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to boss you all around! I will still run the Summer League and will still be playing foe as long as I can! Thank you all for your support and my thanks to Ruth for taking over.
11. Doubles League Report
Jeremy reported that Thornbury were the Div 1 doubles winners but subsequently it was discovered that David Lloyd were the winners and this would be recognised at the 2012 AGM.
12. Rule Change/New Rule Proposals 2011
Please note that due to the proposed number of new rules and rule changes it was decided during the discussions that a rules sub committee would be formed to decide on rules changes, a representative from each club would be invited to become a member of this sub committee. Where rule changes were agreed at the AGM this is noted below.
Proposals Rule changes 1 – 11 Jeremy Burns
1. Rule 1 change - Any existing, or new, team can enter the BAD Squash League providing its club has paid the appropriate league fee within 30 calendar days of the first match being played in the season any team wishes to participate in, has 5 players available to it and can provide hot food refreshment for the visiting team after the match during the Autumn and/or Spring Seasons.
Any new team entering in to the mixed league must start in the lowest division.
The level of payment required to be paid by any team is determined by whether, or not, a club is represented at an annual AGM meeting. Any club failing to pay the appropriate fee will result in their respective team(s) being withdrawn from the season currently being played.
OUTCOME: REFER TO SUB COMMITTEE
OUTCOME: - Any existing, or new, team can enter the BAD Squash League providing its club has paid the appropriate league fee within 30 calendar days of the first match being played in the season any team wishes to participate in, has 5 players available to it and can provide hot food refreshment for the visiting team after the match during the Autumn and/or Spring Seasons.Any new team entering in to the mixed league must start in the lowest division.The level of payment required to be paid by any team is determined by whether, or not, a club is represented at an annual AGM meeting. Any club failing to pay the appropriate fee will result in their respective team(s) being withdrawn from the season currently being played. After considerable discussion particularly in respect of the treasurers comments regarding payment of league feed the rule to be amended as follows: FEES TO BE SENT IN WITH APPLICATION FORM FOR EACH TEAM OR 30 DAY DEADLINE FOLLOWING APPLICATION.
2. Rule 2 change - Mixed League matches (teams all men, or mixed) are normally scheduled for a Wednesday night. However, matches may be required to be played on a Tuesday, or a Thursday night, depending upon court availability at the Home teams venue. Ladies League (ladies only) is played on a Thursday night.
OUTCOME: LEAVE RULE AS IT IS
3. Rule 3 change - NO REARRANGEMENT of any fixture is allowed once published on the website (www.badsquash.co.uk) unless there are extreme weather conditions, or the courts are unplayable (e.g. due to maintenance work or damage). The only exceptions to this are the University teams who may rearrange a fixture which falls outside the University term dates or coincides with a BUSA match, if the team that would have played in the original fixture consisted predominantly of students attending that University and those students are used in the rearranged fixture. If that is not the case then their arrangement will not be allowed.
Rearrangement requests will only be agreed to by the League Secretary and not by the opposing team captains, providing the League Secretary is notified, as soon as possible, of any such rearrangement due to extreme weather conditions, or unplayable courts, and of the revised dates (which must fall within the timeframe of the season currently being played). The League Secretary may require proof of the players who are unable to fulfil the original fixture to ensure that the above criterion is being adhered to.
OUTCOME: REFERRED TO SUB COMMITTEE NO REARRANGEMENT of any fixture is allowed once the fixtures are published and finalised on the website (www.badsquash.co.uk). Any rearrangement request will only be agreed to by the League Secretary and not by the opposing team captains, providing the League Secretary is notified, as soon as possible, of any such rearrangement due to extreme weather conditions, or unplayable courts. The revised date for any rearrangement must fall within the timeframe of the season currently being played.
4. Rule 4 change - Matches start at the time advertised on the website. It is the club captain’s responsibility to see that this is accurately displayed. Failure to have a player ready to go on court within 10 minutes of the start time could lead to the opposing team claiming the tie if a complaint is referred to and upheld by the league secretary.
Play must be continuous. Once a match is in progress, players must be changed and ready to go on court within three minutes of an existing individual tie being completed. Failure to do so may lead to the opposing team claiming the first game of the next tie to be played.
OUTCOME: REFERRED TO SUB COMMITTEE Matches start at the time advertised on the website (www.badsquash.co.uk). It is the club captain's responsibility to see that this is accurately displayed. Failure to have a player ready to go on court within 10 minutes of the start time could lead to the opposing team claiming the tie if a complaint is referred to and upheld by the League Secretary.
Play must be continuous. Once a match is in progress, players must be ready to go on court withinthe maximum of 10 minutes of an existing individual tie being completed. Failure to do so may lead to the opposing team claiming the first game of the next tie to be played. Any repeat offenders to be notified to the League Secretary who has the discretion of either issuing a warning, or issuing penalty points.
5. Rule 5 change - Teams MUST play in order of merit, i.e. the strongest player at number 1 and the weakest at number 5. Players may only move one place per match in the club order of merit relative to the other players who played at that time. This is best explained by an example:
OUTCOME: REFERRED TO SUB COMMITTEE Addition to the current wording for this rule. The wording being ... a player must not play significantly out of order by more than 2:1 to the ranking level of the player above them.
6. Rule 6 change - Clubs with 2 teams in the same division may choose to play with two parallel teams rather than two sequential teams. The League Secretary MUST BE NOTIFIED of this before the start of the season, and the two teams will be given distinctive names, e.g. Xclub Larks and Xclub Thrushes. Each team may draw up players from a lower division when necessary, but any player so drawn up may play for only one of the two parallel teams. The top 5 players in each of the parallel teams may not play in a lower division. Similarly, players from the club’s next higher team may be drawn down, but any player so drawn down may play for only one of the parallel teams. The top 5 players in the higher team may not be drawn down.
7. Rule 7 change - The home team is responsible for providing sufficient court time (40 minutes per tie) for the match to be completed. If time runs out because the visiting team was late then the uncompleted tie(s) will be awarded to the home team. If the match started promptly then the uncompleted tie(s) will be awarded to the away team.
OUTCOME: REFERRED TO SUB COMMITTEE
No change
8. Rule 10 change - Teams MUST play with a full complement of 5 players. Teams without a full complement of 5, or 4 players, should play 3 players for the match to be played. Any team without a team of 5, or 4 players, will be deemed to be without the lowest ranked player(s). Teams unable to play 3 players can not record a NO SHOW for the match to be played, but will incur a 9 point penalty. Any team unable to play 3 players on more than ONE occasion will be withdrawn from the season being played.
OUTCOME: REFERRED TO SUB COMMITTEE No change
9. Rule 13 change - Match scores must be entered on the website or, in an emergency only, notified to the League Secretary, within FIVE calendar days of the match date. Failure to do so WILL incur a 5-point penalty.
OUTCOME: CARRIED ALMOST UNANIMOUSLY
10. Item for discussion - ITEM FOR DISCUSSION >>> EITHER ....
A) Only players who have already played for a team at least twice during a particular season may play in the final two matches of the season and any subsequent playoff.
B) Players must play twice in a season before the last two matches, but if a team captain can not raise 5 players, the team captain can play a player who is lower ranked than the player he, or she, is replacing. Team captains MUST notify the League Secretary of the player being replaced and obtain the acceptance of the League Secretary of the player taking that players place. OUTCOME – B CARRIED ALMOST UNANIMOUSLY
11. Rule 17 change - Divisional champions will be decided by a play-off between the winners of the autumn and spring seasonal leagues. Details of dates of the play-offs will be communicated by the League Secretary when the spring fixture. Details of locations of the play-offs will be determined and confirmed by the League Secretary once the pay-off teams are confirmed.
OUTCOME: TO BE LEFT TO THE LEAGUE SECRETARIES DISCRETION
12. Amendment to Rule 1 – That food after the games in the Winter League be dispensed with. Alan and Sarah Brown.
OUTCOME: NOT CARRIED ALMOST UNANIMOUSLY
13. New Rule - That we use the ranking system to assist identifying out of order players. We have a rule which states that team should play in order of merit but there have been quite a few occasions when teams are playing significantly out of order - like a player at string 4 being more than twice as good as the player at string 3 - and that isn't fair on those teams who do play in the correct order. The ranking system isn't perfect but 2:1 is a big difference. Richard Bickers.
OUTCOME: REFERRED TO SUB COMMITTEE See rule 5 above
14. That we allow results to be left out of the ranking would need to agree to keep it honest but these injuries do cause havoc with calculations if the match was abandoned due to injury. Both captains the ranking system and it can take 2-3 matches to recover. The knock-on effects can go some way beyond the two players immediately affected as well. REFERRED TO SUB COMMITTEE Sub committee ran out of time, main committee to discuss
13. General; discussion items
Items for discussion/rule changes 15 – 22 Mark Regan
15. Let all ladies teams enter the summer league. Outcome – Nothing in the rules to prevent Ladies entering mixed summer league except previously they had been told not to.
16. Revisit PAR 11 for Prem A (I’m not sure all the relevant teams were asked) Outcome – no decision.
17. End of season playoffs all at one club (different every year with prize giving) Outcome – to be decided by main committee.
18. Universities and Tuesdays. Outcome – no change
19. Knockout cup. Outcome – Generally felt there was insufficient time during the year
20. BAD Open/Closed tournament – sanctioned (ties in with item 22) Outcome – Insufficient time to fit in.
21. Trophies(are there any – there may be in which case ignore) Outcome – A decision had been made to move away from trophies in the past some had been lost
22. Merge with ES. Outcome – this would require an AGM vote after proposals put forward
14. AOB
1. Ruth Drysdale thanked Pat Sherwood for all her hard work over the years running the Ladies winter league.
Please note these minutes were typed in Word and the formatting on the web alters the layout. A Word copy can be sent to anyone requesting it. Attachments of attendees and winners will be available at the AGM. I will also ask Bicks to add them to the "About" section of the website.
