MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING

BLACK LION HOTEL

12/12/06

MINUTES

Present: Paul Millman (PM) (Chair), Simon Tunley (ST) (Secretary), Karl Manning (KM), Fiona Western (FW), Chris Markham (CM), Mike Tonge (MT)

Action

1. Apologies for absence Ian Robinson (IR), Dave Bennett (DB) Jenny Wagg (JW) and John Parr (JP) 2. Minutes of previous meeting/Matters Arising The minutes from the 19/09/06 were accepted as an accurate record. The committee wanted to pass on their best wishes to JW and hoped she made a quick recovery . 3. Website KM stated things were running smoothly and he aimed to update the system in the Xmas period to incorporate the ghosting rule. He mentioned he had some interest from Dorset SRA to buy the system but they decided to purchase an alternative. KM did suggest it might be worth at looking to reduce the licence costs for the system, to make it more attractive to potential buyers. PM and the committee agreed this was a good idea. KM raised the issue of the England Squash (ES) grading system and the fact he had no feedback still from them. PM stated there might be now an opportunity to create links with ES due the change in personnel. ST agreed to contact Zena Wooldridge about the system. 4. Senior/Junior County Closed Limited feedback from the senior county closed although Middleton did agree it could be done better. They have asked to run the event next year and would include age groups. CM raised the location issue but it was felt, if Middleton were keen it was worth keeping the event located there. ST raised his concerns that the event although attracting some sponsorship had in fact gone backwards especially with the dropping of events. PM agreed that next years event needed more direction from the Committee/IR. ST agreed to contact Middleton to get the results of this year’s event. Junior county closed happened again and FW said it was a well attended event. She mentioned that with Tim Vail leaving the area Vanessa Prosser would be running the event next year. ST agreed to chase up results for 2005/06. 5. Hon. Treasurer’s report JP sent through up to date balances of the accounts. JP is waiting to hear from Vanessa Prosser about an update on the junior budget and would like clarification on whether VP is still looking after the account. The £240 income under juniors is from the clubs entering the junior league. JP is still keen to formalise a junior development budget for expenditure, which would tie in with MT proposal and ensure we cover any future planned clinics. MT to draft a budget. All league fees and club affiliation fees have been paid, but there is still doubt on player affiliation fees and whether clubs are ensuring all team players are ES members. Committee agreed this was a difficult area to police and therefore at present we would not be chasing clubs. JP was keen to know who was looking after the junior teams. ST confirmed that TV was looking after the boys U19, U17 and U15 and the girls U19. GS was looking after the U11 and U13 boys and girls. Naomi Duthie was going to manage the U15 and U17 girls. JP confirmed that the county teams had set budgets. 035 £100, 045 £75 and 055 £50. JP is not keen to change these amounts. ST did ask whether there could an exception if one of the teams was hosting a weekend. 6. League Reports/ Knock Out Cups CM stated all had gone well in the first half of the season. Some fixtures were not put on the website straight away however he had chased these up. CM said he worked on trying to get all results posted within seven days of a match. He was receiving only 30% of the cards by post. The committee discussed the implication of not having hard copies of cards and it was agreed that for next season cards did not have to be sent in. However a result could not disputed if there was no hard copy of the match. ST/CM to ensure this is raised at the AGM. CM mentioned teams had still managed to change fixtures, however he was monitoring this and making a decision on whether he would allow this or not based on circumstances. CM raised the ghosting rule and as mentioned above KM is to tweak the LMIS system to account for this and show players who have only played two matches. Players can only play a fixed number of games each half. It was also agreed that for next season 07/08 teams could not be promoted above teams that had dropped out. ST/CM to ensure this is raised at the AGM. Discussions were had concerning Chichester 1sts men’s team pulling out of the premiership. It was discussed whether the premiership should be disbanded especially as many division one teams did not want to go up, as they felt they could not compete with the better players. It was agreed that the premiership seemed to have less pros playing this year plus it was hard to define who was and was not a pros and therefore it would always be hard to prevent teams from fielding them, even in a revised division one. The committee agreed it would try and encourage teams to up, but if they had a justified reason for not being able to they will not be forced. CM asked KM if he could check the latest rules were on the website. FW agreed to circulate the ghosting rule for this year again. FW said the women’s leagues were going well and that the knockouts had got to the semi final stages. 7. County Teams/ Organisers No results sent through apart from the senior men who won their first stage. 0’35 and 0’45 are in the relegation zone for the next half. ST to chase up results. 8. Junior Coordinator Post/ Juniors Leagues . JW stated all was going well with the junior leagues and clubs seem happy with the new format. Two clubs Bognor and Southdown had pulled out as they could not field an U13 team. JW keen to establish a ranking list and get the results added to the LMIS. MT stated things were moving forward with the development side. He was keen to run more Level one coaching courses and was going to contact ES, as there was a shortage of coaches. Paul Butcher from Bognor has offered to help Mike on the west side of the county with development. MT has also agreed to take on the role of junior chair. John Millard, CSC, has sent through a report on the work he has been doing (see attachment), MT at the moment is helping to direct him to areas where there is limited junior activity. ST also got feedback from Naomi Duthie. MT has produced a junior contact list that ST has posted on the website. ST has also updated contact details for the county coaches. Discussions were had again about formalising a junior committee to try and improve communication, as there is limited feedback/coordination between the development side and the junior county squads and what they are doing. MT to coordinate. Thoughts are to include Paul Butcher, Graham Stevenson, Jenny Wagg and Tim Vail. ST mentioned Naomi Duthie was keen to manage/coach the girls U17 and U15 squads but still needed some direction. ST suggested she contact Graham Stevenson and Tim Vail for advice. Unfortunately at present there are very few girls in this age range playing the game, hence numbers are very low. Plus the U17 girl’s team had to be pulled out of their respective county weekend, which Sussex was meant to host. MT still keen to try and meet with ES to discuss funding options. 9. England Squash PM stated ES were looking to replace Nick Metcalfe in the new year. PM mentioned IR felt there was potential for funding from ES for MT’S proposal. 10. A.O.B Date for next meeting the 27th February 2007at the Weald SC. ST to book

KM ST IR ST ST MT CM/ST CM/ST FW MT ST

Enclosure

REPORT FROM COMMUNITY SQUASH COACH JOHN MILLARD

Summary of Activities

October/December 06

Crawley District

Taster Days - Seymour and Southgate Primary schools (years 4) - St Francis of Assisi and West Green Prim schools (years 4 & 5 )

Festival Days - Dragons Gatwick

Beacon District

Taster day - Bonners Primary School, Maresfield (years 4/5/6)

Festival day- Crowborough

Brighton District

Taster days - Mile Oak, Peter Gladwin and Benfield Primary schools (years 6) 

Festival Day - Portslade LC

Horsham District

Taster days - Jolesfield Primary Sch, Partridge Grn. (years 3/4/5/6 )

Festival day - Horsham SC

Burgess Hill District

Taster days - Copthorne Prim Sch.

Festival day - Dragons Gatwick, Copthorne.

Working with the various PDM's ( Partnership Development Managers ) in W.Sussex ( Crawley, Littlehampton, Bognor and Burgess Hill ) and Competition Managers in E.Sussex ( Beacon, Rother, Eastbourne and Brighton ) my targets for spring/summer terms is to assist those clubs with their junior development.( Littlehampton, Bognor, Crowborough and Cooden SClubs to name a few )

 After meetings with the various managers as above, they then forward me a contact list of all primary schools interested in having mini squash taster days using the portable walls I have available. Festivals are then arranged with these schools at a squash club linked to that area and already which maybe running mini squash coaching.

The spring/summer terms I anticipate being my busiest period yet since my employment in April 05 as I have 22 schools to contact from West and East Sussex for taster days, of which 7 I have bookings already and another 3 from the summary list above to do further year groups.