Minutes of meeting held Thursday 28th January 2016 at Mere Parish Club
The Chairman opened the meeting and welcomed everyone and wished them a Happy New Year.
Apologies for absence All clubs were represented except Mobberley Victory Hall. Peter Hindle (Swettenham) Julie Bason (Cranford) sent apologies
- Minutes of previous meeting held 13th August 2015 were read and accepted. Proposed John Leah (Chelford) seconded by Brian Jones (Railway)
- Matters arising There were no matters arising
- Officers Reports
The Chairman had nothing to report this being the closed season. The Secretary said that he was discussing with Ross Kavanagh who developed the website for our league to enable us to self-report the weekly results. He said that this was a simple task that would enable the web site to be up to date even during the holiday season. He said he would advise members of the progress at the AGM. The Treasurer presented the annual accounts, which showed a balance in the bank of £674.80 up by approximately £400 on the previous year. He explained that this was due to a small profit from presentation evening; no annual rebate paid to member teams in 2015 and the cancellation of the individual competition therefore no prize money. He said that given that we retain the same number of teams our guaranteed income from greenage and competition entry would mean that no increases would be necessary in 2016. He went on to inform the meeting that he intends to propose at the AGM that the bank balance retention be raised to £400 from the present £200 - rule 6.3 refers. This he said would leave a little more float after the payment of early season expenses insurance, printing etc. If this is agreed he would propose to rebate all teams competing in the 2015 season £11 per team.
- Competition Venues
The Secretary advised the dates and venues for the 2016 competitions and asked the delegates to confirm that their clubs were prepared to host them.
Individual – Church Inn Bowling Club – Sunday 5th June
Pairs – Knutsford Bowling Club – Saturday 2nd July
Mixed Pairs – Oughtrington Bowling Club – Sunday 4th September
Jack Bryning – Victory Hall Quarter-finals on from 19-23rd Sept – dependant on entries
- Team Knock-out
The Secretary said that for the past two seasons 3 teams have progressed to the quarterfinals without playing a single game as their opponents from the previous rounds have withdrawn. He said that all matches were scheduled for a Friday evening, our normal playing night, which begged the question do we want a team knockout? Ideas and proposals for the AGM please
If it were decided to cancel the team knockout this would “free up” 3 Friday evenings giving us some different options:
- We could start the season later and finish earlier.
- We could return to holding prelims of the three competitions (Individual, Pairs & Mixed Pairs) on Friday
evening using a number of greens to have a final day on the Saturday or Sunday following with the last 16. This may attract larger entries, as Friday is the day members expect to play and the final day would be played in a shorter time.
Ideas and proposals for the AGM please.
- Possible Proposals for AGM
Handicaps
Is our present handicap system fit for purpose? A couple of years ago we voted to reduce division 2 players handicaps by 2 points to try to encourage more to enter. Because of the nature of our league all the best players don’t all play in division one, in fact more than one player in division 2 play in the Knutsford men’s league in division 1. In these instances this makes the players where we were trying to “level the playing field” even further disadvantaged. Ideas and proposals for the AGM please.
The Secretary advised the meeting that while reading the rules regarding pairs competitions he realized that the 2 points handicap reduction has not been applied as he mistakenly thought it only applied to the individual competition. However, he thought we ought to review this – see example below
Division 1 pair –4
Division 2 pair +4 +2 (handicap reduction) = +6
To reduce the length of games all players start of +5. Therefore division 1 pair start of (-4 +5) = +1
Division 2 pair start of (+6+5)= +11
Is this fair when we all know anything can happen in pairs?
If we retain the present handicap system the Secretary said he would propose that the 2-point advantage is not applied to the pairs competitions.
Jack Bryning
A discussion took place regarding the future of the end of season-floodlit competition for the Jack Bryning trophy. The Bryning family would like it to continue in any format decided by the league that would encourage friendly competition. It was generally agreed that the pairs format was an acceptable compromise over the original singles, which kept the same number of players, involved, but the final was over too quickly since all three matches commenced together. Ken Barker suggested that the semi-finals and finals be played on the same night. Playing semi-finals and the final at night might prove too long. How about a Saturday or Sunday? Ideas and proposals for the AGM please
- Any Other Business
Derek Nicholls (Warford Park) informed the meeting that they hoped to still field 2 teams in the second division. He said that a number of players had left the club but he still had a nucleus but would welcome another two or three players. Anyone interested contact Derek Nicholls 01565 874181. If there is no reply leave a message and Derek will call you back. Prior to the season he is planning a holiday so don’t be concerned if the response isn’t immediate.
The Chairman reminded the meeting of the AGM to be held on Thursday 25th February at 8pm
where nominations for the posts of President, Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer would be welcome.
The meeting closed at 8.55pm