JOINT ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS OF

STOURBRIDGE INSTITUTE BRIDGE ASSOCIATION

STOURBRIDGE BRIDGE CLUB and

STOURBRIDGE INSTITUTE BRIDGE SECTION

Thursday June 30^th 2016

DRAFT MINUTES

Apologies

Ted Gibbs, Felicity Somervell, Jane Somervell, Alan Hackett, Roy Withers, Paul Sansom,         Freda Sansom, Maggie Peacock, Gavin Tringham                                                     

Minutes of AGM of June 2015                                                     

Adoption of minutes proposed by Wendy Packwood and seconded by Gill Griffiths.             Approved unanimously

Matters Arising

There was concern at the last AGM that the Function Room might be hired out on several Thursdays and Fridays and so not be available for bridge.  Fortunately this has not happened since the last AGM and only on a few occasions before then has it been necessary to play in the restaurant

Chairman’s Report

I am conscious that we have a number of proposals which have been put forward and with which we need to deal at this meeting.  Because I am sure we all wish to start playing bridge as early as possible I shall attempt in my report to be as brief as possible.

Let me begin with I am sorry to say is a note of pessimism.  I think the biggest concern we have as a club is the continuing decline in the number of our members.  We are the only club in our area which has as many as four sessions of bridge each week.  However, it is obvious to all that the number of tables at our sessions is significantly lower than was the case only a few years ago.  In some instances there have been insufficient numbers to actually hold the sessions.  If the position gets any worse I fear that a decision will have to be made to reduce the number of sessions we hold each week and whichever session is brought to an end is bound to disappoint those of you who regularly attend that particular session.   It would really help tremendously if all of us made a real effort to encourage bridge playing friends and family to come along and try out the club.  If any of you have any other ideas please put them to the bridge committee.

Despite the problem of declining membership I hope you would all agree that the club has continued to be run and managed very well.  This is of course down to the work and contributions of many amongst you to whom on behalf of the club as a whole I wish to give thanks. A big thank you to my fellow committee members all of whom do a lot, not only just attending committee meetings every two months but also spend time in different ways in all that needs to be done in running the club.  Many thanks also to those who contribute in other ways: directors, scorers, those who duplimate the boards, those with computer skills who maintain our computer systems or sort out computer problems. 

I wish to conclude my report by thanking you all for putting up with me for the last two years as your chairman.  However, I do not wish to continue in that role though I am willing to be put forward as part of the committee to be elected later in this meeting.  The committee will be seeking to elect a new chairman at its next meeting. If any of you wish to be considered as our next chairman please speak to me outside this meeting.           

Adoption of 2015 Accounts and Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer thanked Ian Lineker for auditing the accounts and explained that they were done on a cash basis – income and expenditure as they occur.

When David Horton queried the accounts of 2014 the Treasurer explained that in 2014 the arrangements with SISC had changed

Adoption of the accounts was proposed by James Taylor and seconded by David Horton

Approved unanimously

Election of Officers and Committees

Regretfully Barry Brice has decided to resign as Chairman but is willing to remain on the committee

Once again there were no proposals for new officers or committee members

Proposals

1. Mens Pairs Competition.

   That this competition must be for Mens Pairs only and Ladies must not play in the competition, however few Mens Pairs enter.

   Proposer Brian Nightingale                    Seconder Angela Cowdry

2. Ladies Pairs Competitions

That this competition must be for Ladies Pairs only and Men must not play in this competition, however few Ladies Pairs enter

Proposer Brian Nightingale                    Seconder Angela Cowdry

Brian Nightingale stated that he had canvassed opinion and many agreed with him that                       the two competitions should be kept separate, as they used to be.                                                      He argued that combining the two meant that neither competition was actually being played

Georgina Lineker agreed that ideally the competitions would be played separately but argued that the club is becoming less competitive. With only a small number of tables for the competition it was decided on the night that the Ladies Pairs would play against the Men’s Pairs with all the Ladies Pairs playing North/South and all the Mens Pairs playing East/West

Angela Cowdry said that she agreed with Brian that there should be a Mens Pairs competition and a Ladies Pairs competition and that unless the competitions are run separately they are not the competitions they say they are.

James Taylor felt that in any competition it is important that boards are played a reasonable number of times and in order to achieve this it had been decided on the last two occasions to amalgamate the competitions. A vote had been taken each time and the decision agreed by the players.

David Horton suggested that in view of the lack of support the competitions should be abolished.

Votes were taken and both proposals were defeated

Proposal 1                         4 for                    16 against

Proposal 2                        4 for                     16 against

1. Club Championship Pairs

   That this competition must be a 2 session event to be played on the date advertised in the calendar as long as at least 6 pairs enter.                                            If fewer than 6 pairs enter the Championship, then it must be cancelled

        Proposer Brian Nightingale                           Seconder Richard Broome

Brian Nightingale argued that this is the club’s most prestigious event and as such should be a 2 session event on a Saturday, as it used to be. This year two attempts to run the event on a Saturday were cancelled because of lack of support and so it was run on a Tuesday evening like an ordinary club night. This, Brian felt, devalues the competition, and if there is insufficient support for the Saturday chosen then the event should be cancelled.

James Taylor agreed that this an important event and that holding the competition on a random evening is not ideal. However he felt that we do need a sufficient number of pairs to make it worthwhile for those directing, scoring and organizing the catering to give up their Saturdays

James then said that he had been considering a different format for the competition – one where results are taken from several evening sessions .

David Horton said that this would be too similar to our Afternoon and Evening Orders of Merit. He then pointed out the cost of hiring the room for the event and said that if there is not enough support the competition should be scrapped

Linda Wright  felt strongly that cost should not be put into the equation and that it would be a sad day if our competitions were scrapped.

Georgina felt that the 6 pairs minimum proposed by Brian was not sufficient and  wondered if directors would be prepared to direct only 3 tables

 Wendy Packwood suggested that if catering is an issue, people could bring their ownsandwiches

A vote was taken and the motion was passed.       For 15        Against 8

1. That in the event of an appeal against the Director’s decision the Apellant has the right to attend the Appeal Hearing to put his points

   Proposer Brian Craddock                               Seconder Sue Craddock

Brian Craddock stated that although this Club is affiliated to the EBU,  EBU rules have not been followed with regard to the rights of a player in disagreement with a Director’s decision. Brian himself had been excluded from such an Appeal Hearing and asked the Club to vote for a proper appeals system.

Georgina Lineker said that our current Appeals System states that in the event of an Appeal the Director should ask 3 experienced players to form a panel or, in the absence of 3 experienced players, another director present. At the end of the session the Apellant and the other players involved should then be invited to give their views.

Brian  agreed to withdraw his proposal  since the current system was in fact what he was proposing but pointed out that he had not been invited to an Appeal Hearing when he should have been.

Any Other Business

• The Chairman announced that the next Ian Thompson tuition session will take place on    Saturday November 5^th  As before the cost will be either £5 or £10 depending on numbers

            There will be a notice on the board for suggestions for topics to be covered.

• Wendy Packwood requested that the committee consider changing the Host System.

  The Chairman said that the committee will continue to review the system.

  Wendy also felt that afternoon bridge is popular and that our Monday afternoon sessions might be advertised more widely.

• David Horton had been advised by Alan Hackett that there are plans to use SISC key fobs more widely but no further details are available at the moment.
• Angela Cowdry proposed a vote of thanks to the committee.
• Ian Lewis thanked scorers and duplimators for their contribution

   

Awards

The Chairman closed the meeting by asking members  to encourage bridge playing friends and

family to come along and join us

The meeting ended at 8pm