A minute’s silence was observed for those members who had passed away during the last year.
Apologies for absence were received from Geoff & Mary Owen (Mere) John Glover (Swettenham) Swettenham & Victory Hall were not represented
The minutes of last year’s AGM were posted on the web site and agreed to be a true and proper record.
The Chairman thanked both the Treasurer and Secretary for their continued hard work together with the team captains. She went on to say that the competitions were well supported with the exception of the Jack Bryning Team Pairs and asked the clubs to promote the event and do a bit of “whipping in” She went on to thank the clubs who hosted the competitions, Railway Inn, High Legh, Mere and the Victory Hall, and closed her remarks by wishing everyone a good season.
The Treasurer distributed copies of the income and expenditure for the past year, which showed a bank balance of £661.04. He briefly went through the figures and as he sees no major changes in income or expenses for 2018 he proposes that green fees, competition entry fees and prize money remain unchanged. To comply with rule 6.3 (bank balance to be restricted to £400) he would propose a rebate of £11 per team who competed during the 2017 season.
The Secretary thanked the captains for posting the results on the web site promptly which enabled everyone to see the latest league positions. He said that minutes of all meetings are included on the web site so that all members can keep up to date with what is discussed. He thanked Mere for the use of the room for our committee and AGM meetings and Geoff Owen who usually sets up the room for us. Geoff is not too well at the moment and he sent word to him from the league for a speedy recovery. He closed his remarks by confirming that regular reports are sent to the Knutsford Guardian particularly when competitions are held, but has no control over whether they are published or not.
Individual – Church Inn Bowling Club – Sunday 3rd June.
Pairs – Knutsford Bowling Club – Saturday 30th June
Mixed Pairs –Warford Park Bowling Club – Sunday 2nd September
Jack Bryning Team Pairs – Knutsford Bowling Club from 17th September
Rule 1.2 It will be managed by a committee elected at the Annual General Meeting each year consisting of the President, Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary plus a representative from each team. The President, Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary shall serve a maximum of 5-years, although there is no restriction on an officer applying for re-election following a 5-year term.
Proposed League Officers. Seconded Molly Sutton (Church Inn)
Carried
Amend Rule 8.1
Present rule reads – Qualifying games: 2 games for new players, not regular players in the previous season
Propose change to: Qualifying games: 2 games for new players, previous seasons players to have played a minimum of 6 league games.
Proposed by League Secretary. Seconded Brian Jones (Railway)
Carried
Propose a rebate to member clubs of £11.00
Proposed League Treasurer. Seconded Kath Perks (Cranford)
Carried
The were no nominations for officers and each had confirmed that they were prepared to stand again they were unanimously voted en-block
President Ken Barker
Chairman Carole Critchley
Secretary Alan Perks
Treasurer Chris Grice
Auditor Tony Wein
To provide for a timely sucession of league officers, and to ensure that all changes don’t happen at once the Chairman said that the President and Treasure will retire at the end of this season, and asked the delegates to see if anyone in their respective clubs would take on the positions. The Presidents role is mostly advisory and not time consuming, but needs to have a good knowledge of the local clubs and our league rules. The Treasurers role while a little more involved is well documented and Chris is happy to help settle in the new incumbent, or better still work along with them during this year. She went on to say that the Secretary will retire at the end of the 2019 season and herself the following year and all these posts need to be filled if the league is to continue.
The 2012 AGM voted to increase honoraria by C.P.I. (consumer price index) however, in recent years this has been so low the meeting was informed that no increase has in fact been awarded since 2014. Therefore for 2017 this has been raised by 5.24% which is approximately the C.P.I figure combined since 2014.
The Secretary said that all players who played any league match in 2017 would automatically be registered for 2018. Those who were registered last year but did not play will NOT be registered unless the team/clubs advise him accordingly in writing (e-mail is acceptable). If clubs/teams have new players these again should be advised in writing together with their BCGBA and CCBA registration numbers. He stressed that players must not play without being first registered otherwise their result will be recorded as zero.
The season will commence on 6th April with the first league match.
The Chairman said that she was forming a small sub-committee to discuss the format of Presentation Evening. Any club interested in participating please contact her directly.
Jack Stant (High Legh) proposed a vote of thanks to the Officers for their work and continued support of the league.
The meeting closed at 9.15pm
League Meetings were confirmed as follows for 2018. Thursday 17th May, Thursday 14thJune, Thursday 16th August
Delegates were asked to notify the secretary of any changes in their club officials following their respective AGMs.
A question was asked from the floor regarding the minimum age to participate in the league, The Secretary confirmed that we have no written rule, but 12 years has been the guide in the past. It was unanimously agreed that providing they were capable of giving an opponent a game they could play providing they were age 12 in the current bowling year, and accompanied to matches by a parent.
Although it would not in most cases affect the delegates present, they were advised of the CCBA (Cheshire County Bowling Association) intention to make it mandatory for every club to appoint a named Safeguarding Officer- more details can be found on the CCBA website