Appleton – with – Eaton Tennis Club

AGM Draft minutes of the Appleton-with-Eaton Tennis club Committee AGM held on Thursday 25th February at 8.00pm in The Plough

Present: Adrian Carey, Alice Parker, Adrian Willett, Vicki Jack, Libby Willett, Andy Eastgate, David Helson, Mike Jack, Nicola Casey, Gary Holloway, John Page, Alan Murray, Mary Carey, Graham Campbell, Katie Ayres, Angie Levell-Collins

Apologies: Jane Bowen-Morris, Alison Jackson, Tina Hodder, Paul Casey, Paul Haines, Peter Coppock

Minutes 

1 Previous Minutes – Minutes of the last AGM held on 26th February 2009 were agreed a true record of the meeting.

2 Chairmans report

AC reported that the courts were being heavily used. With 3 teams playing in the winter and summer leagues, coaching in the spring, friendly matches and tournaments that run from April to September, and club sessions that weather permitting continue all year. A survey/questionaire will go out with the renewal forms for members to share their views with the committee, concerning court usage, fees etc. Membership has fallen slightly this year, possibly due to the increase in the subscription rate because of the extra costs incurred by affiliation last year.

Planning permission for the club house was finally approved in December last year, but applications for grants have not yet come up with anything very hopeful. Grant applications have to go through the PC to claim back the VAT, and they are happy to do this despite the extra work it entails. We hope to raise about £2,000 at the summer ball on 26th June. Tickets are on sale already to club members. We may introduce a 3 year membership subscription if we need to raise extra funds, other donations will be recognised on a plaque, and the lottery may be persuaded to come up with a grant for internal fittings.

The Boodles event last year was very successful and thoroughly enjoyed by all those who went, so this year we shall open it up to all club members. Our annual fund raising BBQ at the Plough was cancelled last year, and was replaced by a 'sausage sizzle' after the junior tournament and village party. This was very successful thanks to Andy, Vicki and Mike for all their hard work. This year the Plough has confirmed that we can revert to having the BBQ on bank holiday Monday. Adrian thanked all the committee for their hard work throughout the year.

3 Treasurer’s Report

Vicki passed round the accounts which showed that the club has £10,480.00 in the current account and £8,201.00 in the sinking fund. She reported the following:

• Income from subscriptions has gone up despite falling membership, because of the price increase. This increase was to cover the LTA affiliation costs of over £1000. Affiliation does however include insurance, which saves us £254.00 a year.
• Match fees are down because the Mens A summer fees have not yet been received.
• The visitors fees box produced £71.00.
• Court maintenance costs were higher this year because of the court cleaning, net adjusters and the notice board.
• Higher tournament costs are due to more people getting their cups engraved.
• The club house costs were architects fees.

Vicki would like to thank her husband Mike for his help with the accounts. AC would like to thank Vicki for her work as treasurer and for presenting the accounts. LW proposed that the accounts as audited by Nick Trinder were accepted, and this was seconded by DH.

4 Match secretary’s report

Alison sent a comprehensive update on the league positions at the end of last year.

Winter 08/09

The Mens A under the captaincy of Duncan Todd came 3rd out of 11 and won promotion to Div 2.

They won 6 and lost 4 matches.

The Mens B captained by David Helson came 4th out of 12 in Div 6.

The Ladies under the captaincy of Vicki Jack came 3rd out of 12 narrowly missing promotion.

Summer 09

The mens A under Dave Stepney won division 5 and aquired a trophy.

The mens B under David Helson ended 7th in Div 8.

The ladies under Vicki Jack ended up 6th in Div 6.

16 friendly matches were played over the summer. However sticking generally to the policy of trying to use non league players meant that we lost more than we won.

Winter 09/10 The season is not finished yet, and many matches have had to be rearranged because of the bad weather. The Mens A are currently 4th out of 12 in Div 2.

Mens B are currently 5th out of 13 in Div 5 and have won 3, drawn 3 and lost 2. The Ladies have won all 7 matches so far in Div 6 and are in danger once again of promotion!

Hanney Floodlit League – Alison tried to put in stronger teams this year after last years dismal results, but many matches have been postponed due to the weather and results so far are one win and two losses.

5 Maintenance

AE thanked the following: DH for organising the court power washing, John Page for cutting the grass throughout the season, AW for his help repairing the net cords, the PC for trimming the trees, and everyone who kindly came and helped on the two maintenance days.

The net posts are moving slightly, but at present this is not a problem, and hopefully they will not move any further. The hedge was reduced in height as requested by a neighbour.

Moss killing is due within the next few weeks once it stops raining.

Planning permission was required to raise the heigh of the netting to 9 metres on the road side of the court. This was applied for and obtained at the same time as the club house permission. Quotes for the work are due in soon, and hopefully the work which will involve replacing the posts, will begin shortly afterwards.

AC thanked AE for all his hard work.

6 Constitution Notice was put in the Advertiser in January advising members that as we were unable to qualify for CASC status, the PC asked us to revise the constitution back to the original version. This was put to the vote, and passed unanimously.

7 Elections of Officers AC asked for any nominations for the official positions from the floor. None were received. The new Committee was voted in as follows:

     Adrian Carey thanked Howard Thomas for all his help and advice over the last year, and also Jane Dymock.

8 Membership Subscriptions

To remain the same as last year – proposed by John Page and seconded by Mike Jack

• Family £110
• Adult £52
• Junior/Students £20

A student is classed as someone up to the age of 18 or 21 if in full time education. The fund raising 3 years at the current rate subscription, was agreed in principle, and will be used if required. It will be non-refundable.

9 Future Plans We must focus on the club house at the present.

10 AOB

Angie Levell-Collins asked about the possibility of using the courts for netball practice, as the school court is not a full size. Although the club is not averse to netballers using the courts it has the following complications:

• Netball lines would mean that we were unable to host league matches
• We actually have no free evenings to offer the netball club during the summer months
• There could be a problem with removing and replacing the nets each time.
• The court surface may not be correct for other sports
• Certain neighbours complain about the noise at present. Netball would be noisier.

Gary Holloway felt that the pool of members who play for the mens B team is too large, and because of this the B team men do not get to play as often as the A team players. He proposed that the pool of players was the same for each team, thereby ensuring that all willing players get the same amount of match play. Lively discussion followed when Alan proposed that the B team should also be a meritocracy and always play the next 4 best players rather than play from a pool. In order to increase match play amongst those who felt they were not asked to play often enough, it was agreed that the renewal form will have two further tick boxes:

1. Would you like to captain a friendly match?

2. Would you like to play in a box league? DH/AJ/LW

The meeting closed at 10.10pm