ESMBA Annual General Meeting (AGM), Open Forum and Rules Revision Meeting (RRM)
AGM Report
The ESMBA AGM, RRM and open forum was held on 6th July 2019 at Solihull Indoor Bowling club. A long day was expected by all with such a large agenda.
Forty six people were in attendance with forty one eligible to vote – 32 representing County Associations and 9 Committee members.
The Chairman, Barry Hedges, welcomed everybody and outlined the procedures for the meetings.
The AGM received the minutes and the reports of the Officers and approved them. The Accounts and accountants report were unanimously approved. The ICC organiser’s report was not well received and comment was passed on the performance of the organiser and how much he had relied on other committee members to cover his role. The Chairman explained that the committee was a team and worked together to ensure the smooth running of all events and accepted that you are only as strong as your weakest link.
There were no constitutional proposals to consider. The suggested management fees were accepted by the meeting. No increase in the annual subscriptions was supported by the meeting.
The election of Officers and Committee members proved troublesome. Volunteers for the position were sparse and the meeting took some time to reach a viable conclusion. The following people were duly elected;
President – George Clarke
Chairman – Barry Hedges
Treasurer – Simon Willies
Competition Organiser – Brandon Whittaker
ICC Secretary – Steve Bailey
Coaching Director – Brian Baker
Umpire Director – Joseph Newsome
Membership Secretary – James Smith (Newly elected)
Committee Member – Nicky Tressaden
General Secretary – Vacant
Development Officer – Vacant
Committee Member – Vacant
Roger Green was thanked for his work as Membership Secretary over the last 3 years.
As an interim the meeting agreed that the General Secretary position could be shared between a Minute Secretary and an administrator. Elaine Willies said she was willing to take on the role of Minute Secretary (non-voting) and Rachel Hedges agreed to provide administrative support to the Committee (non-voting).
The role of Development Officer was not filled however, the meeting suggested the committee investigate the possibility of getting some professional help with a cash limit of £5,000 per annum.
The remaining Committee member position was left vacant.
Murray Smith were re-appointed as the ESMBA accountants for the following year.
The date of the AGM was set for next year – 18th July 2020.
Open Forum
Some interesting topics were discussed and the Committee given suggestions on how to proceed.
North Yorkshire suggested that given the success of the Over 55 Pairs competition an Over 55s Triples event should be arranged. It was recognized that the calendar is already congested and could cause problems with fitting another qualifying date in. It was agreed this should be explored further at the Seminar in August.
A review of the ICC format was discussed. There seemed to be a feeling that the biggest concern was the length of travelling to games especially at the knockout stages also there was an agreement that the format needed to be refreshed especially for the Premier level. The Committee were tasked with working up a proposal to share with County Associations for their views.
ESMBA officials expenses policy was discussed. It was agreed that those working on behalf of the ESMBA should not be out of pocket. The present policy seemed to represent a fair remuneration for work carried out.
A discussion took place on the Committee’s role in the setting of rules and appendices, and the need for a RRM. The meeting felt the Committee had the power to act to ensure the rules were fit for purpose and that the appendices fell outside of the rule book and therefore could be updated as and when. The meeting did however feel that the rules of the game belonged to the members and as such should be set by them. These points to be taken away and discussed at the Seminar.
Lynn Dean gave an update on Safeguarding and said progress had been made on the adult side with courses available for people to attend. Dorset had drawn up a safeguarding pack for clubs and Lynn agreed to make it available to members. She said that the aim was to have a Safeguarding Officer in every club.
RRM Report
Many of the proposals up for discussion were not debated as the proposer and seconder were not present and therefore could not be taken forward. The meeting suggested that in future people were made aware of the need to attend to discuss their proposals.
Proposals put forward relating to Appendices were not discussed and referred back to the Committee for action at the forthcoming seminar.
A debate did take place over Bowling shoes and the insurance stance in terms of Bowling Sandals. The Committee is to check with our Insurers on their understanding of the policy.
North Yorkshire’s proposal relating to Threes up in Fours and Skips visiting/staying at the head was rejected. The view was that choice should be left to the teams playing.