Nottinghamshire Contract Bridge Association

Annual GENERAL MEETING

Wed 10^th May 2017

6.30p.m. at Nottingham Bridge Club

Minutes

1. Apologies for absence.

Tim Anderson, Keith Rodgers, Chris and Dorothy Close, and Ian Dovey.

2. Minutes of the AGM held on 11^th May 2016.

These were approved by the meeting. Proposed by Graham Brindley and seconded by Jane Hall.

3. Chairman’s Report

John Auld thanked everyone for coming. John also thanked all the committee for their hard work, which is often unnoticed. The year 2016/17 had been reasonably successful. The county team were a close third in the Dawes trophy and were close to qualifying for the Tollemache final. Nottingham Gambit, the county teams of 8 champions, have qualified for the National final on 24 June. The 2016 summer teams of 4 event was a success and has an increased entry in 2017. The Priday Cup for club players continued this year and represents a fairly successful attempt to draw club players into the county events. However declining numbers and a lack of young players remains a big issue for Notts and the EBU. Also the communication gap between clubs and NCBA is still a problem. To address these underlying challenges Toni Smith has produced an initiative to be discussed later in the AGM.

4. Event Winners and Presentation of Prizes.

The following prizes were presented by county president Gordon Fullerton.

1. Teams of 8 League
   1. Division 1

Winners were Nottingham Gambit (Garden Cities Entry)

Second were Retford A (£10)

4. 1. Division 2

Winners were Keyworth A (£20)

Second were Retford B (£10)

4. 1. Division 3

Winners were Keyworth B (£20)

Second were Nottingham B (£10)

4. Teams of 4 League

Winners: The Palookas (£20)

4. NCBA Winter Pairs (Wednesday Night Drives)
   1. Overall Champion: Steve Raine (£25)
   2. Farr Cup: Steve Raine and Ankush Khandelwal (£25)
   3. Black Cup: John and Irene Auld (£25)

5. Treasurer’s Report and Submission of Accounts to 31^st March 2017.

Martin Mellor, a county member who helped prepare the accounts, presented them in Ian’s absence. The amount of money made by the county was down on the previous year. This was due to less money being made at the county green point event and less income from the pay to play sessions from the clubs. This was in line with the current trend of less people playing competitive bridge. It was commented that there were many non-affiliated clubs in the county so it was difficult to say whether the actual numbers of people playing was decreasing. Toni Smith is arranging for the EBU club liaison officer, Bev Purvis, to come and speak to representatives of all the non-affiliated clubs in an effort to get some of them to join the EBU. The county committee continues to try and engage with them, as part of their role is to promote bridge. The county had also given some money as a start up to the university bridge club. At the moment the pay to play component from the county will remain the same. Martin also said that we were still awaiting an invoice from Nottingham bridge club for the hire of their premises. The accounts were approved by the meeting. A member had asked, prior to the meeting, if they could be given a list of prize winners for the various events that the county had run in the last three years. Ian had given the county secretary some of the information. This will be published on the county website.

6. County Strategy.

This was presented by Toni Smith, the committee member for promotions and communications. Toni explained that this was a progression from the survey carried out three years ago. It was felt that although some actions had taken place as a result of the survey, such as the newsletter, masterclasses and setting up of the university bridge club, the number of responses received had been limited. It was hoped that the strategy would provide a way forward. Two members present offered to give further input into the strategy. It was decided that a small sub- committee of county members should look into the ideas put forward in the strategy document and Toni would report suggestions back to the committee.

The meeting finished at 7.30 It was followed by drinks and nibbles and a free game of bridge.