CHATHAM TABLE TENNIS CLUB
ANNUAL GENERAL
MEETING TUESDAY 15TH APRIL 2008
AT THE HOWARD CENTRE
MINUTES
Present:
Dennis Harrington (Chair) Bernie Winter (Secretary) Tony Carlton (Treasurer) John
Kemp (Senior Coach) Mark Phillips, John Martindill, Malcolm Kay, John Parry, Roger
Chipperfield, Ian Kelly, Martin Birley, Adam Richards and 25 Club Members
1.Chairman's
Opening remarks: The Chairman opened the meeting at 8pm and thanked all for
their attendance.
2.Apologies for Absence: None had been (officially) received
3. Minutes of the last AGM: The Secretary stated that these had been distributed either electronically or in hard copy shortly after that meeting and were also on display prior to this evening's meeting. The Chairman asked for a proposal (from a member who had attended that meeting) that they represented a true record of that meeting. Proposed by John Martindill, seconded by Malcolm Kay. Subsequently these will be entered in the Minutes Record Book and signed by the Chairman.
4. Matters Arising: None were raised.
5. Annual Reports - The Chairman delivered his report as follows:
Tonight's AGM is probably the most significant in the history of Chatham Table Tennis Club.
At last year's AGM, I read a joint statement from our Secretary, Bernie Winter and our Honourable Treasurer, Tony Carlton in which they announced their decision to step down from their respective posts as from the end of the 2007/2008 season.
They have both been in situ since the Club's inauguration in 1999 and I think it fair to say that our success in establishing CTTC in the forefront of our sport, not just in Medway and Kent but also, nationally, has been, primarily, due to their efforts, dedication and hard work. (Applause)
Whilst they are letting go of the reins they both assure me that they will continue to support the Club and enjoy the company of the multitude of friends they have made over those years and I don't think anyone will object if I suggest we declare them both as Honourable Life Members. (This was approved)
I will leave it to Bernie and Tony in their individual reports to explain the groundwork that has been done over the past year that will ensure the continued smooth and professional administration of this Club and I very much hope you will vote in favour of their proposals.
On that note, may I ask our Secretary to present his last report.
Secretary's
Report:
When I stood here last year, following my decision to stand down from this post, 12 months seemed a long way away. But that time has come and my fellow "coffin dodger" and I will seek to take life a little easier in order to retain that description.
Before I outline the proposals to which our Chairman referred, I would like to report on the Club's progress over the past year.
I have in previous reports, explained the strict criteria that has to be met in order to retain our ETTA "PremierClub" and Sport England "ClubMark" accreditations and we are still the only club in Medway to have achieved that status.
You will also recall that in 2003 we were voted Nationally "PremierClub of the Year" and early last year, 2007, we won the South of England Regional Club of the Year title. You can therefore imagine that we were overwhelmed and delighted to be, once again, National winners for the Club of the Year award 2006/2007 and went on record as the first club in England to have won that accolade twice. Tony and I drove up to the National Sports Centre in Lilleshall and proudly collected the trophy that we have on display this evening.
This past season we have had 14 teams contesting all 6 divisions of the Medway League with our usual mix of fortunes.
Ark Royal have registered their highest-ever position by finishing 6th in the Premier Division and have firmly established their right to be amongst the top ranks. (Applause)
Our good friends from Sisalkraft, having won promotion to Division 1 but lost their venue, accepted our offer to join CTTC and "sail" under the Belfast flag. Having languished in the bottom 2 places for much of the season they rallied towards the end and pulled off the best "Great Escape" since that of Steve McQueen!. (Applause)
In division 2 the previous year we were so unlucky to be denied a promotion spot by just 1 point. This year our Cumberland side have put that to rights, finished as Champions and will contest Div 1 next year. Fellow 2nd division outfit Dorset will live to fight another day in that division. (Applause)
Endurance deserved their move up to Division 3 and despite their realisation that the game gets tougher the higher you go, they have secured a middle of the table position. (Applause)
In the much smaller Div 4, Chatham teams were strongly represented by Furious, Gannet, Hector, Invincible and Javelin and have all done the Club proud. A special commendation to the Hector team who finished runners-up and also reached the semi-finals of the Chas Stampe Trophy.(Applause)
Despite my personal campaign to convince the MTTTL committee that Div 5 should be confined to Junior entries, no firm rule was introduced. Whilst they all agreed with the point I was making, it was felt best left to the discretion and wisdom of Clubs to realise that this would be the best format without naming it as such. Needless to say, the only other club with a wealth of junior players available, decided to enter a team in division 5 which included 2 experienced adult players! Please feel free to boo!
Of our junior teams, Kinross performed excellently and finished 3rd with some impressive individual averages. Lincoln and Monmouth will have gained valuable match-play experience and we will have learned, in the case of Neptune, that expectations of such very young players were misplaced.
And so to matters of administration. I have always maintained that in any sport or social club, it is the efforts of the few that enables the enjoyment of the many. If I did not have confidence in your Committee being able to sustain and build upon this Club's success, I would not be able to let go.
However, it became obvious, that being a retired man, I had the benefit of being able to devote a lot of my time in carrying out the multitude of tasks required by a Club Secretary. Many of your remaining committee members are either busy working family guys or are still concentrating on their education or have other important commitments. Subsequently, it was decided to break-up the Secretary's Task Description into several smaller sections.
Whilst these proposals need to be approved at tonight's meeting, I hope you will see the sense behind them.
Tony will expand on Ian Kelly's agreement to follow him as the Club's Honourable Treasurer and I will leave it to him to fill you in on the details of that.
Mark Phillips will be seeking your approval to specifically look after Fixtures and Fund Raising.
John Parry will be looking for you to approve his responsibility for Membership and Malcolm Kay in all matters relating to team selection and player registrations.
I shall also be asking you to approve a new position of Club Captain, responsible for Club Rules and Behavioural Standards in the imposing shape of John Martindill.
Inevitably, both the League and the ETTA require a named Club Secretary and I am delighted that Mark Phillips has kindly agreed to take on that title and become the "first point of contact" in order to devolve matters to the relevant officer. From a personal point of view, I will, of course, continue to offer advice in whatever way I can to whoever requires it.
Now, I am sure this is the word you have been waiting for FINALLY!
I would ask your permission to continue to organise and run our closed Club event, The Penny Summers Handicap Trophy for at least one more year as I have never considered that as a chore but as a job I really enjoy.
That, Mr Chairman, concludes my report. (Applause)
Treasurers Report:
Tony Carlton had distributed copies of the Financial Summary to all those present and proceeded to explain specific items within that summary. Because he had been required to end the financial year some 3 weeks earlier than in 2007, a completely true comparison with last year's results had not been possible. Subsequently these figures showed a final deficit of £470.35 without the revenue from those 3 weeks. He continued by covering items within Income & Expenditure in considerable detail and emphasised that full records of all transactions would be made readily available to any member that may request them. He reminded the meeting that the Club has considerable assets in Equipment values. Primarily made up from 13 TT Tables on free loan to Medway Schools. He pointed out that should schools decide any table was no longer required; it would present the Club with a very serious problem of storage. He strongly recommended that schools should be invited to purchase those tables from the Club and that the "new" committee seriously consider that approach. During his report, Tony said that he and Ian Kelly (Treasurer designate) had closely collaborated to ensure a smooth takeover of all financial matters. The Treasurer then concluded his report and the Chairman requested applause for the excellent work that Tony had done over the past 8 years and that was enthusiastically forthcoming!
Senior Coach Report:
John Kemp reported as follows: "Two significant changes these season; a change of venue and now the retirement of Bernie and Tony from their posts as Secretary & Treasurer. There is a feeling of poignancy with Bernie & Tony leaving their posts but the positive side is the fantastic Club we now have due considerably to their total commitment in making it a success.
The move from CGSB to the Howard TT Centre had been a resounding success with excellent facilities for both match play, practice and coaching. The downside was that we left our catchment area for Juniors in Rochester & Chatham. We must try to find ways to encourage youngsters from these areas to take up TT and join the Club.
The Club will continue with a positive coaching policy and I feel
that improvements can be made as follows:
uEstablish a more direct plan of
action and performance pathways.
uEnsure players acquire early essential basic
skills to aid development in agility, balance and coordination.
uSet realistic
goals for players to achieve
uGive support to the needs of our coaches and
helpers
uForm a coaching sub-committee to help analyse development and identify
actions that need to be taken.
Congratulations to Martin Birley, Nick Comber and Daryl Kitney who will be moving onto University studies. They have been exemplary young members who will be missed. We wish them every success in their future ambitions.
Bernie' report has highlighted team successes this past season but I would like to draw your attention to 3 particular youngsters showing great promise, Alex Cochrane, Tom Law and Sean Weddell whose ability should take them to the top leavels in the future.
I take this opportunity to thank all of the Committee and all of our Members for helping to make our Club such a success. (Applause)
6/7 Resignation of existing Committee & election of new Committee.
With the exceptions of Bernie Winter, Tony Carlton, Martin Birley and Adam Richards, the remainder of the Committee have agreed to stand for re-election, those being as follows:
Dennis Harrington, Mark Phillips, Ian Kelly, John Kemp, John Parry, John Martindill, Roger Chipperfield and Malcolm Kay.
There are 3 new nominees as follows:
Carole Weddell (Parent) Proposed by BW Seconded
by Pat Gates
Aidan Law (Parent) Proposed by BW Seconded by Dave Macaulay
Joel
Shopland (Junior) Proposed by BW Seconded by Matt Connell
The Chairman asked the meeting to approve election of all of those individuals en-bloc and there was a unanimous show of hands in favour. The new Committee having been formed, the outgoing Secretary was allowed to continue proceedings for the remainder of this meeting.
8. Chairman's Players of the Year Awards:
Our Honourable Chairman rose to present his report as follows:
Each year, prior to this AGM, I have the unenviable task of deciding which players should be given these awards. There are 2 main criteria that I try to consider - obviously performance and results, but also dedication to our Club's standards and principles. It is never easy and this year has been no exception because there are always many members who fit those criteria.
ADULT PLAYER OF THE YEAR
This young man joined the club as a junior 5 years ago and by listening to and practising coaching advice, his game has developed so very well. We, unfortunately, will be losing him for the next 3 years whilst he goes on to university and beats his fellow students and we wish him well. I am delighted to present the Adult Player of the Year Award to NICK COMBER
(Applause)
SENIOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
This gentleman was "rescued" from the Black Lion Plus Club by our Secretary just two and a half years ago but what an asset to our club he has become in that short time. Always willing to help out in whichever way he can and is a totally reliable team member. Whilst not renowned for his "graceful" style his energy, enthusiasm and sportsmanship are unsurpassed. Please show your appreciation for the Senior Player of the Year JOHN PARRY
(Applause)
JUNIOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
This young man has achieved the classic example of what we mean by "Junior Development". In the three and a half years that he has belonged to Chatham Table Tennis Club his game has gone from strength to strength and he rarely misses a practice evening. As coaches, we say that sooner or later our prodigies will beat us in match play. If they don't, we are not doing our job properly. This lad has got to that point sooner than most. The Junior Player of the Year Award goes to JOEL SHOPLAND
(Applause)
MOST PROMISING JUNIOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
In my deliberations for this category, I was unable to distinguish between 2 worthy young players. I have no doubt that both will quickly move up the divisions and I predict that it will not be too many seasons before they are winning games for the club at the very top of the league and, hopefully, beyond. My decision to jointly present this award is unprecedented and it goes to SEAN WEDDELL and TOM LAW
(Applause)
9. Any other Business: A member raised a point of order in that the Meeting's acceptance of the Financial Report had not sought. The Chairman apologised for that oversight and gained the Meeting's acceptance.
John Kemp delivered heart-warming thanks to both Bernie and Tony for all the work they had done since the inauguration of CTTC and presented each with engraved crystal trophies. Both Bernie & Tony were overwhelmed!
There being no further business, the Chairman closed the meeting at approximately 9.10pm.
10. Date of next AGM To be announced.