A minute’s silence was observed for those members who had passed away during the last year.
Apologies for absence were received from Mike Grocott (Oughtrington) Ken Heaton & Derek Hurdle (Goostrey) Glenise Barnett (KBC) Ann Penson & Celia Brown (Railway) John Glover (Swettenham)
Swettenham & KBC were not represented
24 members were in attendance
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 retiring President and Treasurer for their work during the many years of service, and their contribution to the success of the League. She went on to thank the Secretary for his continued hard work together with the team captains for their support. She confirmed that Knutsford Bowling Club will only field one team this season and urged delegates to ask around the various greens they visit to try to fill the vacancy for the 2020 season. Concluding, she said that the weather contributed to a very enjoyable season, and closed her remarks by wishing everyone good luck for the coming year.
The Treasurer distributed copies of the income and expenditure for the past year, which showed a bank balance of £849.38. This he said was above last year’s surplus and was largely contributed to by Presentation Evening. He briefly went through the figures and as he sees no major changes in either income or expenditure for 2019 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 £18 per team who competed during the 2018 season. Steve Armitage (Victory Hall) asked how the rebate was paid. The Treasurer confirmed that it would be deducted from the 2019 fees.
The Secretary said that he was disappointed that the Jack Bryning competition had to be cancelled because of a back log of league games following the heavy rain just prior to the end of the season. He said that minutes of all meetings are posted on the web site and he urged the captains to tell their members so that they can keep up to date with what is discussed. He thanked Mere for the use of the room for our committee and AGM meetings together with Church Inn, Knutsford Bowling Club and Warford Park for hosting the competitions. Finally, he confirmed that the charity competition held on Presentation Evening had raised £70 topped up by a £30 contribution from the league had gone to support “Lifeboats”
Individual – Chelfod Bowling Club – Sunday 2nd June.
Pairs – Railway Inn – Saturday 29th June.
Mixed Pairs –Victory Hall – Sunday 1st September.
Jack Bryning 4-a-side – from 17th September – Finals day at Mere September 29th.
Proposal to accept the accounts and pay a rebate of £18 per team who competed in the 2018 season
Julie Jenkins (Chelford) seconded by Jill Caveney (Church Inn)
Amend Rule 6.2
Change line 1 to read “Competition Entry Fees and Prize Monies”
add new sub clause
‘(c)’Details of competition prizes are available on the League web site. Prize monies will be agreed at an AGM. They will be paid at the annual Presentation event. Prize winners or their representatives are expected to collect their prize in person. Any prize not collected without a reason accepted by the committee will be forfeited to League accounts.
Proposed League Treasurer. Seconded Kath Perks (Cranford)
Carried
The Officers have for some time been concerned that the number of teams entering the Jack Bryning end of season competition has been declining. A team pairs has been the format in recent years, replacing the original six-a-side team knockout. If the number of available players is the problem would a four-a-side format be more acceptable?
Options
Retains as a Team Pairs- three pairs per team (Team handicap)
Revert to six-a-side team knockout (singles) Using individual handicaps
Change to four-a-side team knockout (singles) – Using individual handicaps
Options provided by League Officers
Option 1 received no votes
Option 2 received 5 votes
Option 3 received 8 votes
It was agreed to trial the four-a-side for 2019
Presentation Evening
Following last year’s “no buffet provided” delegates were asked their views as to whether the league should provide a buffet or for members to provide food for their own tables?
Option 1 the League to provide a buffet
Option 2 Members to provide their own food
Option 1 - 4 votes
Option 2 - 8 votes
Members will bring their own food for the 2019 Presentation Evening
It was noted that there were a number of abstentions and therefore assumed that those delegates were comfortable with the majority choice
The Chairman, Secretary and Auditor agreed to stand for another year, and as there were no nominations for these roles they were reelected.
Nominations had been received for the positions of Treasurer and President. Treasurer Ann Penson proposed by Chris Grice and seconded by Brian Jones with no other nominations Ann was voted in unanimously. President Chris Grice proposed by Carole Critchley seconded by Alan Perks, again with no other nominations Chris was voted in unanimously.
The Chairman informed the meeting that is the Secretary’s intention to retire at the end of this season, so a replacement is essential to ensure that the League continues. She urged the delegates to canvas their members for a volunteer. If it is thought that splitting the secretarial duties would help to find volunteers the role could be split into a League Secretary covering the administration roles and a Competition Secretary looking after all matters to do with competitions.
Honoraria will be increased by C.P.I. (consumer price index) as agreed at the 2012 AGM.
The Secretary said that all players who played any league match in 2018 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 5th April with the first league match.
Will be held at Mere on 22nd November
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 9.00pm
League Meetings were confirmed as follows for 2019. Thursday 16th May, Thursday 13thJune, Thursday 15th August
Delegates were asked to notify the secretary of any changes in their club officials following their respective AGMs.