General Committee Meeting on 28 September 2008

toolball England held a General Committee Meeting in the Renshaw Room at Wivelsfield Village Hall on Sunday 28 September 2008 at 11am.

Present

Stoolball England Officers:

• John Price (Chairman)
• Kevin Hilliard (Vice-Chairman)
• Kay Price (Hon. Secretary)
• Rick Mason (Web site Administrator)

Vice-Presidents:

• Delia Saunders
• Richard Emsley
• Mick Cawley who was accompanied by his wife Janet

Leagues, associations and clubs represented:

• Chanctonbury Stoolball League: Vic Laker
• Coastal Stoolball League: Pat Wyatt and Kaye Turner
• Mid Sussex Mid Stoolball League/Lewes Mixed Stoolball League: Rick Mason
• Sussex County Stoolball Association (SCSA): Kay Price
• Central Division (SCSA): Elaine Berry
• Mid Division (SCSA): Daphne Hunt, Pauline Hurley and Trevor Parsons
• West Division (SCSA): Kevin Hilliard
• North Division (SCSA): Sybil Voller and Marion Campbell
• Sussex County Umpires Association: Fred Newland
• West Kent Ladies Stoolball League (WKLSL): Richard Emsley

Apologies for absence:

• Shirley Reed (Stoolball England President and Wessex Friendly Group)
• Peter Cheesman (Stoolball England Treasurer)
• Michael Ledwich (Stoolball England Insurance and Rules Co-ordination)
• Melissa Mantle (Stoolball England Coaching Development Officer)
• Toni Wheatley (Stoolball England East Sussex Friendly Teams Co-ordinator)
• Barbara Fitzpatrick (Stoolball England Marketing and Publicity)
• John Fitzpatrick (Umpires Officer)
• Marion Stanbrook (Vice-President)
• Anne Peck (Vice-President)
• Gwyn Griffith (Vice-President)
• Brian Johnson (Vice-President)
• John Pritchett (Vice-President)
• Michael Hearn (East Division, SCSA)
• Joy Mans (Mid Division, SCSA)
• Jenny Keates (West Kent Ladies Stoolball League)
• Mandy McGachie (Surrey Ladies Stoolball Association)
• Sally Morris (Hailsham Mixed Stoolball League)
• Pam Wood-Hill (Mid Sussex Mixed Stoolball League)
• Cindy Cavie (Eastbourne Red Triangle Mixed Stoolball League)

The Chairman, John Price, welcomed everyone to the second part of the day’s proceedings – the General Meeting.

Minutes of the last meeting

The meeting approved the minutes as a true record of the meeting held in March and were duly signed by the Chairman.

Matters arising

It was agreed that any matters arising would be covered by the document highlighting the activities of stoolball England since the 2007 Annual General Meeting in Item 6 of the Agenda.

Financial report from the Treasurer

With the financial year due to finish at the end of September, the accounts circulated were close to those which will be independently examined for the AGM in November. Sales of equipment showed a small increase over the 2007 figures and the end of season stock levels were not so high. There had been a good uptake of Public Liability and Personal Accident Insurances. The net surplus for the period was £2,705.

Chairman’s report on the activities of stoolball England (SE) during the year

A three page document highlighting the activities that the Management Committee has undertaken since the 2007 Annual General Meeting was circulated to members. The Chairman spoke briefly about the progress stoolball had made during the year. He stressed that it was important for SE to capitalize on the inclusion of stoolball in the National Curriculum and to work hard to build up contacts with local schools.

In this respect SE were greatly indebted to Melissa Mantle and Connie Chapman who have completed a set of Year 7 lesson plans which will be circulated to as many schools as possible during the winter months. These lesson plans will greatly raise the profile of stoolball and hopefully persuade a large number of them to include stoolball as a curriculum sport.

The “donate a bat” scheme has progressed well and currently five schools and a YMCA summer camp in Cumbria have used equipment loaned by SE. To date 4 sets of wickets, 20 bats and 6 balls are being loaned out. In addition, during the summer several groups of cubs/scouts/companies have loaned equipment for “fun days”.

On the final page of the document, “projects in progress” have been outlined and it is hoped that some of these will be completed in 2009. In particular, the bi-fold leaflet is eagerly awaited. The Vice-Chairman, Kevin Hilliard, spoke about the Club Accreditation Scheme which he hoped a number of clubs in membership would seriously consider during the winter months. Club Accreditation is an essential benchmark for clubs seeking funding.

Finally, the Chairman spoke of one vacancy that urgently needed to be filled in the Management Committee. He stressed that stoolball needed more press coverage in local and regional papers and if someone could be found to concentrate on this aspect of the game, it would greatly increase the profile of our game and well as providing some much needed publicity. All present were asked to look for an appropriate candidate.

General Committee members’ feedback and suggestions

Sybil Voller (North Division SCSA) told the meeting that she had written to 10 schools in the Haywards Heath area and five schools had replied stating an interest in stoolball. However, although help had been offered, there had been no further response from these schools. A further “follow-up” was recommended.

Delia Saunders (Vice-President) spoke of the need in stoolball for a simple, modified set of rules which could be downloaded by a teacher from the internet and easily digested. It was agreed that this would be worked on during the winter months.

There were no further comments from General Committee members.

Any other business

1. Posters for clubs to advertise for players were circulated to league/association representatives.
2. Notes on funding opportunities for clubs were also circulated. It was very interesting to note that there were a number of schemes suitable for clubs and in particular the “Grassroots Grants” which is a three year scheme aimed at very small local community groups and a club can apply more than once until they have received £5,000 in total. For more information on funding and filling in the forms, Karen Coomber from the Sussex County Sports Partnership will be only too willing to help on 01273 644129 or email [email address available when you sign in]. In the smaller funding streams it also only takes about 6 weeks to find out whether your application is accepted.

The meeting closed at 12.45pm.

Kay Price, 14 October 2008

Appendix: What’s been happening since the last AGM

December

• Shirley Reed took over as President following the death of Rosemary 2007 Hobbs.
• John Fitzpatrick joined the National Stoolball Association (NSA) Management Committee at the AGM and Richard Emsley, was elected a Vice-President following his retirement as the NSA Insurance Officer.
• The NSA joined up to BingoLotto, a fundraising scheme due to be launched in February 2008.

January

• NSA Vice-President Margaret Childs died. She was a long-standing 2008 member of Wonersh Stoolball Club, an Umpire and Chairman of Surrey for over 20 years.
• Indian Stoolball Federation was formed and the NSA was helping to promote the game in India.
• Our Treasurer, Peter Cheesman, announced that he would not be standing for election at the next AGM.

February

• EGM was called for 9 March 2008 so that the Constitution could be updated to state that the NSA “was a non-profit making organisation”. This was necessary to confirm the NSA’s inclusion in the BingoLotto Scheme.
• Plans for 3rd Stoolball Convention in March were finalised.
• BingoLotto launched on 29 February.
• Indian Stoolball Federation ordered bats, balls, rule books and scorebooks. It was their intention to manufacture/print their own supplies in India.
• Insurance hand-over from Richard Emsley to Michael Ledwich completed.

March

• Sport England confirmed the “recognition” of stoolball as a sport.
• This was an added bonus following the inclusion of stoolball in the National Curriculum at Key Stages 3 and 4 from September 2008-11
• 3rd Stoolball Convention at Wivelsfield Village Hall
• Kevin Hilliard introduced the NSA Club Accreditation Scheme
• Melissa Mantle gave a presentation explaining the role stoolball would play in the National Curriculum.
• Barbara Fitzpatrick and Pauline Hurley spoke about the NSA website and what a publicity tool this could be for everyone if used effectively
• Michael Ledwich and John Fitzpatrick led an open discussion on the Rules of stoolball and spoke about the next rules review which was due to take place in Autumn 2008
• Kay Price submitted an application to Sport England to gain approval of the NSA as the governing body of stoolball

April

• First phase of BingoLotto concluded
• Sport England – publicity for stoolball following their “recognition”
• National Governing Body (NGB) application to be assessed in July
• Ice Packs added to the list of equipment provided by NSA
• Rick Mason produced an excellent discussion document on Logos

May

• Newsletter circulated
• Central Council of Physical Recreation (CCPR) meeting at Woburn House – NSA members met with Jennie Price, Chief Executive of Sport England
• Donate a bat: There has been an excellent response from clubs who have exchanged old bats for a new ball. The refurbished bats are then being loaned out to schools on request.

June

• SABR (Society for Baseball Research) AGM in London – this featured the film which included stoolball, cricket, bat & trap and rounders. This film was the result of the trip last summer to England researching the roots of baseball. It is an hour long film and stoolball has a 10 minute slot with interviews.
• Meeting with Sport England on NGB application – it was agreed to withdraw the application temporarily to enable more changes to be made to the Constitution. Otherwise the application was found to be satisfactory.

July

• CCPR Annual General Meeting at St. James’ Palace
• Year 7 Plans completed for circulation to schools. Our thanks to Melissa Mantle and Connie Chapman in the creation of these documents
• First NSA sponsored school coaching session
• NGB Forum held at Falmer by the Sussex County Sports Partnership
• Petersfield School Sports Fair – organised by Louise Harris, the local School Sports Co-ordinator with the aim of improving school sports opportunities for the nine primary feeder schools in her area. Stoolball invited to be part of this occasion.
• Five Year Plan circulated

August

• Cricket and Baseball Memorabilia Exhibition at Lord’s Cricket Ground, MCG in Melbourne, Australia and Cooperstown, NY in 2010 – Stoolball asked to provide history and memorabilia by Beth Hise, the Australian co-ordinator of this event. David Grantham (grandson of WW Grantham) contacted and agreed to supply an original WW smock as part of stoolball memorabilia.
• Visit to Hunts County Bat premises in Huntingdon.

September

• EGM notifications sent out with a copy of the draft Constitution. If approved on 28 September, the NGB application will be updated, additional supporting documents added, ie: Year 7 lesson plans and Five Year Plan.

Projects in progress

• Bi-fold leaflet
• Music to go with a video clip of stoolball for the website
• New logo
• Coaching booklet
• Lesson plans for primary/junior schools

Actions for clubs and leagues

• Clubs to look at the Club Accreditation Scheme during the winter months
• Look through your bat bags in support of the “donate a bat” scheme

Promotional items available from the NSA

• Car stickers
• Posters to advertise for players
• “Let’s Play Stoolball” DVD
• Pack of two Coaching DVDs

List of equipment now supplied by the NSA

• Bats (Hunts, Gray-Nicolls and Newbery): £36
• Balls: £7
• Large Scorebooks: £4
• Tournament Scorebooks: £2
• Rule books: £1
• White Spray Paint: £8.50
• Ice Packs: £1
• Boundary Flags (currently out of stock)

Item needing urgent action

• Lack of Press Officer

Tags: funding, meetings