MANAGEMENT
COMMITTEE MEETING
Weald Squash
club
27/02/07
MINUTES
Present: Paul Millman (PM) (Chair),
Simon Tunley (ST) (Secretary), Karl Manning (KM), Fiona Western (FW), Chris
Markham (CM), Ian Robinson (IR), Naomi Duthie (ND)
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Action |
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1. Apologies for absence Justyn Price (JP), Dave Bennett (DB) Jenny Wagg
(JW), Tim Vail (TV) and John Parr (JP) 2. Minutes of previous meeting/Matters Arising The minutes from the
12/12/06 were accepted as an accurate record. . 3. Website/Newsletter KM stated things were running smoothly and
ghost player rule seems to be working; it has achieved the aim of getting
more people playing to ensure players stay eligible. KM to look at the
ghosting rule on the LMIS over the summer to make it more bullet proof. CM
mentioned email about a rival system to ours. Km stated said it did look
prettier but had the same functionality and was more costly so did not feel
it to be a threat. ST agreed to contact Zena Wooldridge again
about linking the ES grading with our system. FW suggested we look at producing a
newsletter for the county to help improve the dissemination of information to
the clubs in the county and improve communication. FW showed a couple of
examples she had obtained from other counties. PM agreed it was a very good
idea and it was agreed we would look at trying to produce one or two editions
a year. Perhaps one at Xmas and another at the end of the season. FW agreed
to go away and get costings on the production, which PM felt the budget
should support. ST mentioned it could also be in a downloadable format off
the web site as well 4.
Senior/Junior
County Closed Still no real feedback form the county closed over who won etc. ST had
spoken to Richard Rogers but as yet had no real detail. Middleton happy to
host again and feel with a longer led in have a better chance of improving
the event. It is believed that Vanessa Prosser would be running the event next
year. ST agreed to chase up results for 2005/06 and confirm this 5.
Hon. Treasurer’s report JP sent through up to date balances of the
accounts. JP had heard from Vanessa Prosser about junior account and had
confirmed with her their present balance. He also agreed to subsidies the U13
boy’s county team who had reached the national finals to the tune of £810.
Congratulations should go to Graham Stevenson and the team for their efforts
on reaching the final. JP asked the committee for approval to pay the next
£1000 invoice towards the Community Squash Coach. The committee agreed to
this on the basis it was imperative to support the development side. ST to
confirm this with JP. 6.
League Reports/ Knock Out Cups CM stated all was going
ok. However there had been an issue with one match in division 4 east
concerning Dolphin 3 playing against Burgess Hill 1. The concerns raised were
over a ghost player and the fact the team turned up 20 minutes late. KM
agreed to contact Burgess Hill over the ghosting rule to clarify the
situation. The committee agreed it was very hard to make a decision on
lateness, however it was agreed that CM would highlight to clubs that timing
is crucial and that there could be action taken against a team if they were
reported more than once for being late. This would also be stated at the next
fixture meeting in May. FW raised a number of
issues in regards the ladies leagues. She asked the committee on their ruling
over one specific match between Dolphin 1 and Dunnings 1 where both teams
turned up with 4 players; even though in theory Dolphin could have had 5. FW
was keen to give Dolphin a walkover at fifth string. However the committee
agreed it was a null fifth string, no points should be awarded to either
side. FW stated there was
also an issue over the provision of hot food at Corals where only one of
their two teams provided it. FW asked if it was compulsory to provide hot
food as a number of teams had complained. Committee stated there was no
stipulation on having to provide hot food. FW stated the KO cup
event had been partially successful and had managed to get finalists. She
asked if she needed a neutral venue to play the matches. She asked if there
was a budget for courts as Dunnings had asked for £30 to host the event.
PM/ND suggested Crowborough as an option. FW to look into. 7.
045 and 035 are
believed to have avoided relegation. Phil Ayton has taken over the running of
the 045 team. 8.
Junior
Coordinator Post/ Juniors Leagues . JW stated all was going
well with the junior leagues although no games played at the U17 level. JW
had concerns that FW/JW raised the option
of holding another junior county tournament. Committee felt this a good idea. MT/ST had met the New
ES Area Manager Justyn Price and feedback from the meetings can be seen in
the attached document. The key focus is to try and build on the chartered
clubs in the county first and make these the feeder clubs for the schools
taking part in mini squash taster days. Also encourage them to run mini
squash events/tournaments. Only chartered clubs can be approved mini squash
centres. John Millard and MT to continue to develop club links with schools. The committee agreed
there had been some positive dialogue however they were still keen to see a
formalised proposal from Justyn stating how we could improve the development
of squash in the county. Justyn has agreed to produce for the next meeting 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. PM questioned the
option of establishing both a club and coaches forum to try and engage more
people into the process. It was felt one of the keys issues are to improve
communication amongst clubs in the county and try and get them onside with
building up junior squash. PM was not keen to commit funds until there was a
clear structure in place with commitment from ES and local clubs. ST raised again the
fact that we had very few girls playing county squash and FW stated that all
the U13 girls were also playing in the U15’s team, which was not ideal. ST
also mentioned that they had difficulty finding an U19 team recently for a
county match. ND stated she had now managed to formulate a database of girls
playing squash and was hoping to get a number of squad sessions going before
the end of the season. FW asked if TV would be
managing/coaching the boy’s teams next season. IR/ST agreed to speak to Tim
to confirm what his plans were for next season. 9.
IR has been re-elected
to the board. IR hoped area forums would come back and that there was a new
replacement for Adrian Christy and a new membership manager. 10.
A.O.B Date for next committee
meeting the 1st May 2007at the Weald SC. ST to book. Fixture meeting to be
held on the 31st May 2007 venue to be confirmed. AGM to be held on the 7th
July 2007 venue hopefully to be |
KMST FW ST ST KM JP MT ND IR/ST ST ST |
Dear Simon and
Mike
Thank you for
the time that you both gave last week to discuss Junior development in
1. The
environments that we direct young people towards must be appropriate, and as
such our first step should be to get clubs and leisure centre to become Mini
Squash Approved Centres (I have attached a criteria document).
2. I suggest
that we encourage the SSRA to support clubs who wish to work towards and/or
refresh their Charter Club Status. This could be in the form of part funding
courses required by clubs to achieve stand, such as Safeguarding and Protecting
Children.
Simon has
agreed that the University based club will work towards the charter. I suggest
that we could then look to work with Chichester (whose charter is fairly
recent) West Worthing Club, Horsham Squash Club, Bognor Regis Squash Club, LA
Fitness (Copthorne), Crowbrough Tennis and Squash who have all chartered in the
past but I would like to support in revisiting the criteria.
3. If we had
just 5 centres who were Mini Squash
Approved/Chartered and they each organised a Mini Squash Competition at
FUNdation, Improver and Pro level, that would make a circuit of 15 competitions
for new aspiring players, I have attached an Events Template document.
4. It is my
proposal that we all agree to work on these proposals to develop effective,
accredited, fun and safe environments before applying for any grants, so the
money we apply for in the future can be focused on feeding new players into an
infrastructure which is "fit for purpose".
5. When clubs become chartered I can then link them with whole families of schools which fuel their junior sections and we could look to support these links with mini walls and teacher training courses.
6. The links
between Charter Clubs and Schools could be developed through the deployment of
John Millard and Mike Tonge (if he would like to be used in this way?)
7. I believe it
would be very valuable for the County to support/put money towards some generic
Sports Coach
8. As our
playing base develops and widens we need to have a clear and transparent
process for any child that enters through Mini Squash at any age to progress
through to the county teams if that is appropriate. This means considering the
cost of being involved in the county and whether this could be a barrier to
some very talented children.
Whether their
should be a series of events and trials for players so that progress can be
monitored?
Whether clubs
are grouped to form clusters which hold development training cells?
9. I think is
essential that we look to organise Mini Squash Leaders Awards to start priming
the Coaches of tomorrow, we should focus on juniors who are 14-17.
I wish to
support the county in its development to the very best of my ability and I hope
that these notes capture the essence of our discussions.
Kind regards,
Justyn
Justyn Price
Area Squash
Manager - South East
South East
Office: 01273 644103
Email:
justyn.price@englandsquash.com