Minutes of AGM held on 21st September 2015 at the Talbot

Present:  Sandy Churms, John Clarke, Neil Davies, Sean Done, Iain Ellis, Shirley Ellis, Luke Evans, Billy Groom, Paul Halliwell, Mike Hillier, Nick Hutchison, Derek Jones, John Kenyon, Craig Lamb, Ray Lamb, John Lea, Sean Littlehales, Bill Lloyd, Jim McClurg, Tina McClurg, Mike Peacock, John Pritchard (minutes), Ted Randles, Trevor Summerhill, Barry Tipton, Gordon Vickers, Nigel Walker, Pat Wallace, Derek Waters, Billy Williams, Dale Williams. 

Apologies: Dave Cooper, Richard Evans, Mike Turner.

The Chairman opened the meeting at 8.10pm, welcomed all those present and thanked everyone for attending. Apologies were announced followed by a brief resume of the Agenda.

1. Election of Officials

The first item on the agenda was the Election of Officials and the following people were nominated, proposed, seconded and elected:-
 

Thanks go to everyone who has re-joined the Committee, and a warm welcome is extended to Sandy Churms, Mike Hillier and Derek Waters who all join the committee this year.

2. Statement of Accounts

In the absence of the treasurer, the chairman presented the Statement of Accounts for 2014-15 and copies were made available for those present.   After everyone had had chance to look at the figures, the chairman went through some of the items, highlighting that the league had made a small profit over the last 12 months despite £50 still being outstanding from St. Theresa's.   Ted Randles proposed that the accounts be accepted as a true record of the league's financial situation, this was seconded by Barry Tipton and carried unanimously by all present.

3. Any Other Business

The chairman informed the meeting that 10 teams were entering the Winter League, and there was a possibility of an 11th.  The ten are Bawn Lodge, Cottage, Cross Foxes A, Cross Foxes B, Royal Oak, St. Werburgh's, Spital Vaults, Talbot, Union Vaults and United Services.   The 11th is St. Theresa's and Gordon Vickers informed the meeting that St. Theresa's were keen to join and this was welcomed ~ subject to them paying fees for last year and this year this week. Gordon has said he will update the chairman on Saturday (26th Sept) and will convey to the new boss at St. Theresa's that the fees must be paid for the club to be included in the fixtures which will be produced shortly.

Proposal discussions

Thirteen proposals have been received for the meeting to consider, and these were discussed, considered and then voted on (all the proposals can be read here).    The chairman said that with so many proposals suggesting differing  league and cup formats, the challenge was to come up with something which was generally acceptable to the majority of people.

League Format
Proposal 1 submitted by John Clarke was to revert to an 8-a-side format, introducing a simpler, traditional  format doing away with bonus points, 6+2 etc.     Some discussion followed and while it was generally accepted that 8-a-side was the preferred option, players from several teams pointed out they simply could not get 8 players on a regular basis.    A vote was taken and the meeting overwhelmingly rejected this proposal.

The next topic covered was the proposal from Sean Littlehales and Neil Davies to change to a point a man format.  Sean introduced the proposal listing the benefits and Neil added that his proposal included an extra option, if 6+2 or 7+1 was retained, players playing again would not get an individual point, but their scores would contribute to the overall team score.   After some discussion people generally liked Sean's idea but slightly favoured the second option.   The meeting voted, Sean's proposal for a simple point-a-man system was rejected in favour of Neil's version of the proposal, which was passed.

To sum up, for the 2015/16 season we will retain the 6+2 or 7+1 format with up to two lowest scorers being allowed to play again.   We will also introduce a point-a-man system where 1 point is awarded for 1st man v 1st man, 2nd v 2nd etc, but when a team plays with 6 or 7 men, the players going again will forfeit the individual point, but their scores will contribute to the team score.

Change name / sponsorship
Derek Waters proposal was to change the name of the league to reflect its status as the only bagatelle league in the world, and to increase sponsorship as a result.   The meeting supported both proposals and votes on re-naming the league and seeking additional sponsorship were both passed unanimously.   Clearly it's important we make the right name change, a definite new name was not chosen, but the name which seemed most popular was "World Bagatelle League".   We can look at this in more detail at the next Committee Meeting, checking available domain names, how to seek extra publicity / sponsorship etc.     Worst joke of the night went to the chairman, who suggested Universal Society of Bagatelle, so that every time you play you would have a USB stick.

Wednesday Cup / Handicap Cup
Dave Cooper and John Lea proposed that no cups should be played on Wednesdays.  John Lea and Ted Randles led those in support of playing all cups on Thursdays, John Lea saying it impacted on landlords incomes on a Thursday night.   John Kenyon pointed out that only 3 teams entered the Thursday cup last year, while 8 entered the  cup played on Wednesdays.    A vote was taken and all bar 2 of those that voted rejected the proposal to play all cups on Thursdays.    The West Cheshire Shield will therefore continue as a Wednesday cup.

Neil Davies proposed that the West Cheshire Shield be converted to a handicap cup, based on last years winter league position.    The meeting voted, and this proposal was passed, so next season the West Cheshire Shield will adopt a handicap format.      Chairman's Note:  The meeting left the committee to decide what the handicap should be, ie. whether this should be 5 points per league position or 10.    This will have to be decided quickly, as teams will need to know the rules before they enter.

Raffle
John Lea proposed that each club hold a raffle to raise funds.   This was seen as a good idea by everyone, John Clarke suggested the proceeds could go to charity, Iain Ellis suggested this might be Age Concern, given the average age of bagatelle players!!!    The meeting voted unanimously for clubs to hold a raffle, no decision was made on which charity might benefit and are happy to let the committee decide.

Knockout / 351 Competition
John Lea proposed to replace the 351 Competition with a team knockout, to be held in every pub with 2 people from each team going forward to a later stage.   The idea was well supported and unanimously approved in a vote.   The meeting agreed that the last week before Christmas would be a good night to hold the knockout in every pub.   There are enough dates to accommodate the knockout without it replacing a cup, and the proposal to get rid of the 351 Cup was rejected.

END OF MINUTES