Southport Chess Club Annual General Meeting Tuesday 7 th June 2016 In attendance Kevin Henry, Sandra Bloch, David Hawkins, David Fillis, Jane Xie,

Transcription

1 Southport Chess Club Annual General Meeting Tuesday 7 th June 2016 In attendance Kevin Henry, Sandra Bloch, David Hawkins, David Fillis, Jane Xie, Anna Xie, Cathy Rothwell, Paul Dansey, David Aspin, Arnold Topham, Kevin Walsh, Karl Nadin, Barry Pursall, Peter Johnson, Tony Gerrard, Johnathan Rothwell, kmargaret Yardley. Apologies Apologies were received from Brian Haslam, Dr Simon Tobin, Geoff Sage, Steve James, John Varney, Peter Jenner, Emma Rothwell. Before the formal business of the meeting commenced Barry Pursall, Club President, reported that Malcolm Jacques a member of our committee had sadly passed away on the 1 st of June. A minutes silence was then held. Matters arising from the minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting Johnathan Rothwell reported that a number of additional chess clocks have been purchased. Cathy Rothwell reported that we have an additional 20 sets and boards as a result of the junior club now being at The Mount. Johnathan Rothwell will check the total number of clocks and sets before the start of next season. Although some discussion with Manuel Monzon has taken place it has not proved possible to arrange a match against a Spanish team. Officers Reports President - Barry Pursall Barry commenced by saying that he felt the move to new premises had gone well and the organisation of matches at The Mount had worked well. During the season just completed team results had proved disappointing, both the first and second team having been promoted the previous season. Barry felt that it was always going to be a difficult task playing at a higher level however our cause had not been helped by the loss of a number of players and others not being available until later in the season. Both the first and second team were relegated. Vice-President David Hull had during the season resigned from the club for personal reasons and Barry was very disappointed by this. As a result of David Hull s resignation it leaves the club without a Vice-President and therefore no natural successor to become President. Barry stated that he was willing to continue as President if that was the wish of members. Barry

2 thanked committee members for their efforts during the last year and explained that Peter Johnson was stepping down as Secretary. Barry then mentioned that Peter Jenner had asked that thanks should be given to Karl Nadin for his efforts as first team captain in what had been a very difficult season. Particular mention was made by Barry to Cathy Rothwell, Karl Nadin and Paul Dansey for all their work with the junior club. Treasurer - Kevin Walsh Kevin distributed copies of the audited accounts for member s perusal. Although it appeared that the club was reporting a loss this was not the case as 334 had been expended on chess clocks. Now that the senior and junior clubs are using the same premises it made balancing the books much easier and the club is able to exist comfortably. Paul Dansey asked if insurance costs had doubled and Kevin explained that this was not the case. Paul also asked about first aid equipment and it was explained to him that although The Mount has its own equipment we will be purchasing our own and Karl Nadin will be attending a first aid course. Secretary - Peter Johnson Peter explained that he was standing down as Secretary and that if anyone wished to become Secretary he was happy to spend time with them explaining procedures. 1 st Team Captain - Karl Nadin Karl explained that having gained promotion the previous season some players then disappeared. Added to that an additional player was also needed in the first division and this made it a real struggle at the higher level. Nevertheless everyone involved had thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity of playing in the first division. The team had finished last and were relegated but finished positively, winning their final two matches. 2 nd Team Captain - Johnathan Rothwell Like the first team the second team lost a number of players. During the season the team won one match, drew two matches and lost eleven and were relegated. Johnathan thanked both regular and occasional players and explained that he was stepping down as Captain due to time commitments. It had been agreed that Barry Pursall will be second team Captain next season.

3 Tournaments Organiser - Karl Nadin Presentations took place to prize winners from the Summer 2015 tournament. 1 st place Johnathan Rothwell, 2 nd place Arnold Topham, 3 rd Place David Aspin. As David Hull had resigned from the club a new Tournament Organiser is required. Johnathan Rothwell volunteered and Karl Nadin will explain to him procedures. Effects Officer - Johnathan Rothwell Johnathan will check all effects before the commencement of the 2016/7 season. Press & Publicity - Press: Karl Nadin Web: Kevin Walsh Karl explained that he had submitted three articles to the local newspapers and none had been published. Barry Pursall thanked both Karl and Kevin for their work. Junior Club Organiser - Karl Nadin Karl reported that between 12 and 18 juniors attended each week. The children enjoyed their chess and the only problem the club was having was obtaining refreshments. There was some good chess being played and some junior players were travelling from a distance to be involved with the junior club. Barry Pursall thanked Karl, Paul Dansey and Cathy Rothwell for their work. Junior Representative - Emma Rothwell In Emma s absence Cathy read a reported that had been prepared by Emma. Emma thanked Karl and Paul for their coaching, commitment and hard work. She reported that parents of junior children were not happy with the new premises as it proved necessary for junior children to walk through the pub. Many parents preferred the Leyland Road premises. Emma expressed a concern also that some aspects of the social side of the junior chess club had been lost as juniors were expected to be silent when senior matches were being played. Emma reported that the junior children did enjoy the opportunity to play against adults.

4 M.C.A Representative - David Hull As David has resigned from the club and was M.C.A representative there was no report. Karl Nadin stated that it was very important that our club should be represented in the future at M.C.A. meetings. Honorary Auditor - Barry Pursall Barry explained that as the senior and junior clubs had now combined at The Mount there was only one set of accounts to be audited and these had been done Election of Officers 2016/7 President - Barry Pursall. Vice-President - vacant. Treasurer - Kevin Walsh. Secretary - vacant. 1 st Team Captain - Karl Nadin. 2 nd Team Captain - Barry Pursall. Tournament Organiser - Johnathan Rothwell Effects Officer - Johnathan Rothwell. Press/Publicity - Press Karl Nadin. Web - Kevin Walsh. Junior Club Organiser - Karl Nadin. Junior Club Representative - to be elected M.C.A Representative - Cathy Rothwell. Honorary Auditor - Barry Pursall. Note - David Aspin will consider joining the committee and Kevin Henry will consider becoming Secretary in the future. Margaret Yardley agreed to join the committee and this was accepted. Subscriptions and Membership Kevin Walsh reported that our income was adequate and suggested that the annual membership fee should remain at 40. This was agreed. Future Development of the Club Discussion took place regarding the suitability of The Mount as concerns had been raised by our junior club (as stated above). Johnathan Rothwell felt that a separate room for matches would be better in order to eliminate any noise during matches. Cathy Rothwell stated that as far as the juniors were concerned there was a balance to be struck between the social side of the club and the game of chess. Kevin Henry asked if we had pursued the possibility of grants from the council. Barry Pursall agreed to follow this up in the future.

5 Margaret Yardley explained that she had a number of friends who might be interested in joining the club but felt intimidated as they couldn t play chess or didn t consider themselves as good chess players. She suggested an open evening and it was agreed to hold an open evening on Tuesday 21 st June at 7.30pm. Karl Nadin will deal with the publicity for this. Barry Pursall explained that our lease of The Mount had only been renewed for three months, rather than the usual six months. No reason has been given and concern was expressed that we need to be proactive in looking for a possible new venue. It was agreed that the committee should look at this matter as soon as possible as our three month lease expires before the end of July. League & team Entries 2016/7 It was agreed that we enter a 1 st team, 2 nd team and junior team next season and a team in the Knotty Ash Cup. There is a possibility that a new junior league may start. If this is the case we will need to review whether our juniors are involved in this or in division 5, as they currently are. Any Other Business There was no Any Other Business and the meeting closed at 9.50pm