The AGM for the Diss and District Table Tennis League was held on Monday 24th June 2019 at The Saracens Head, Diss.
Minutes of the AGM
The meeting was opened at 8:03pm.
Attending the meeting were David Mortlock (Chairman), John Bryant (Vice-Chairman / Results Sec), Paul Mortlock (Treasurer), Alan Levine (Player), Andy Doe (Committee Mem), Chris Willoughby (Vice President/ League Sec), Francis Webb (Committee Mem), Adrian Key (Committee Mem), Pat West (Committee Mem), Paul Sturman (Committee Mem) and Alan Worthington (Committee Mem).
Apologies.
Apologies had been received from John Leith, Richard Pursehouse and also James Skilleter.
Presidents opening remarks
There were no presidents opening remarks due to the loss of Ted Ling and no appointment as President had yet been made.
So the meeting was handed over by the chairman to Chris Willoughby Vice President for election of chairman.
Election of Chairman.
Chris asked for nominations. There were no new nominations for Chairman but David Mortlock was proposed by Alan Worthington and seconded by Paul Sturman and he was then voted in by all attending the meeting.
2018 AGM Minutes
There were no queries arising from last years AGM minutes. The Chairman signed the copy of last years minutes as a true account of the AGM.
Chairmans Report
David thanked the committee members for the work that they have done throughout the year, mentioning John B for the work involved on the website, Paul M for his work as Treasurer, James Skilleter for his work involved in organising and running the Championship tournament, Chris for his involvement in the handicap setting and anyone else who has helped in any other way.
Treasurers Report
Paul M provided a copy of the accounts and went into further detail on some of the items. He pointed out that although the accounts showed a small profit, that he had just paid a Diss High School account amounting to just over £400. So that makes the actual profit almost break even. There were no questions regarding the accounts.
Copy of Accounts
DISS AND DISTRICT TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE
2018/2019
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
INCOME EXPENDITURE
REGISTRATION FEES £929.66
NCTTA FEES £144.00
HANDBOOK £I00.00 £25.39
TUESDAY NIGHTS £2,172.20 £1,742.40
TOURNAMENT ENTRY FEES £306.00
TROPHIES AND ENGRAVING £472.69
HALL HIRES £212.40
COACHING £20.00
PRESENTATION NIGHT £140.00 £150.00
WEBPAGE £129.01
EXPENSES £8.46
NETS £70.00
GIFTS/DONATIONS £75.00
INTEREST £5.37
TOTALS £3,653.23 £3,049.35
PROFIT/LOSS £603.88
CASH TOTAL
BANK BALANCE 30.6.18 £2,738.94 £71.48 £2,810.42
BANK BALANCE 29.5.19 £3,365.91 £43.02 £3,408.93
BUSINESS SAVER BALANCE 29.5.19 £3599.03
£7,007.96
Results Secretary Report.
John advised that unfortunately, right at the beginning of the season in the premier division, two teams had problem and were unable to complete their fixtures. In particular the team promoted from the first division, Hope Church A had problems because of injuries, and were unable to complete their fixtures and played a number of games where they had to forfeit games and even a complete match. A very unfortunate position to find yourself in. One other premier team also found that because of others cancelling matches and conflicts with other leagues they were not able to complete their fixtures on time. It was pointed out that incomplete fixtures did not have a bearing on the higher placings in the league
The handicap competition seemed to go well with mainly very close matches, indicating that the handicaps were pretty accurate.
I am still hoping that at some stage I can get the Handicap scores entered by the individual teams on the website. We will see what happens with perhaps a change in website software. Although I suspect if there is a change it wont be as good as the current system. We wont know what is happening with this situation until after the TTE AGM. A discussion ensued about the possible form the new system may take.
The Championships and finals night seemed to go well, although I understand that finals night had less by way of spectators than usual. It was another well organised Champs, thanks to James Skilleter once again for his involvement.
Presentation night seemed to go well, although not quite as well attended as last year. The food was good and the drinks were well priced.
League Secretary Report
Chris reported that he occasionally got feedback and contacts from the website regarding new players etc. He believed the website was responsible for generating interest in new players etc and felt it was worthwhile.
Elections of Officers
Vice Chairman
John Bryant was elected as Vice Chairman - proposed by Andy Doe and seconded by Alan Levine
League Secretary
Chris Willoughby was elected as League Secretary - proposed by John Bryant and seconded by Pat West.
Results Secretary
John Bryant was elected as Results Secretary – proposed by Paul Sturman and seconded by Francis Webb.
Treasurer
Paul Mortlock was elected as Treasurer – Proposed by Pat West and seconded by Alan Worthington
County Representative
Francis Webb was elected as County Representative- proposed by John Bryant seconded by David Mortlock
Press Secretary
Stuart Filmer was elected in his absence – nominated by John Bryant and seconded by David Mortlock. (Discussion ensued about the lack of Newspaper articles. It was decided that more of an effort should be made to get reports on Championships etc to try to publicise the league.
Committee Members
Adrian Key, Francis Webb, Paul Sturman, Pat West, Alan Worthington and Andrew Doe were elected on mass after all agreeing to continue.
Handicap competition, format to take, etc
This was discussed within the attendees and it was generally felt that the two league format used last season was successful. However all felt that there should be a winner and runner up taking part in semi finals and then a final, rather than just a final from the winners of each league.
So next season the Handicap Competition with be two leagues with the winner of league one playing the runner up of league 2 and vice versa in the semi finals and the winners of these matches contesting the final.
Chris raised the issue of handicap setting as last year we started by using the previous years handicaps and then revised these just before Christmas. He suggested that we should try to use the most up to date information possible when setting the handicaps. This was agreed.
Nomination of President
The AGM discussed the filling of the position and after much discussion, David nominated Francis Webb and this was seconded by Pat West.
Francis Webb was elected as President.
Registration fees and Registration Evening
Registration Evening was set for 5th August 2019 @ 8:00pm at the Saracens Head, Diss.
It was felt that the fees etc should remain unchanged.
John pointed out that possibly each player member may have to pay an additional £7. This was the commitment that the league made to Table Tennis 365 if their software was to continue to be used. However this depended on the outcome of the TTE AGM which would not be known until late July 2019.
Cost of Trophies
A brisk and lengthy discussion then took place on the amount spent on trophies etc as this was seen as an annually increasing expense. Many ideas were mentioned and the most popular was that we should consider downsizing the prizes that were given each year to reduce the cost. This will be considered next season. The likely result will be that the winners get a winner trophy to keep and the runners up get a key ring instead of a runner up trophy. This was felt to be a reasonable way to reduce costs.
School fees for Tuesday night practise evening and resulting increase in players attendance fees
David explained that the fees for the High School hire on a Tuesday night had had to be increased to £4 for seniors and £2 for juniors. It was explained that the school rate for hiring the hall had increased significantly with the result that the league was losing between £10 and £15 every week. So it was necessary to make the adjustment, which has made up for the shortfall. The attendees fully understood the reasons for the increased charge.
Tournament format
This was to be raised by James Skilleter and was concerned with the current age related events that were played at the Championships, but were poorly attended.
This was fully discussed and the result was that in future Championships. There would be a Veterans Event (over 50’s) and an under 50’s(18 to 49) event. In addition to the other open events. Also to be included a hard bat competition. These all to be held on the day. Under 18 years etc are covered by the separate junior tournament.
AOB
Outdoor Table Tennis Table situated on Fair Green
David mentioned the Council now have an outdoor table, donated by Sport England, situated on Fair Green opposite the Cock Inn. Some contact cards will be left with the Cock and Baldrys Café to give to interested parties.
David is meeting with someone from the Council and hoping to discuss putting a plaque on the Table dedicated to Ted Ling. He then hopes that on a Saturday in the near future, that a number of players will attend along with representatives from Teds family to unveil the plaque. Council and press also in attendance. This will be some good publicity for the league. More on this proposal will be on our website when further details are known
Thrandeston VH
David reported that in the coming season 4 teams will be playing at Thrandeston VH and the table there is in very poor condition. David was proposing that the league purchases a new table for the hall. This would continue to be the property of the league. He proposed that the league would contribute about £400 towards the costs.
It was put to the meeting that the teams that play at the hall should contribute £20 a team towards the costs, this would help to develop a sense of ownership and a responsibility to care for the table. The league could contribute up to £400. After some discussion this was agreed. It was suggested that either a 22mm or 25mm topped table should be a preference.
The meeting closed at 9:14pm
Click here to download a copy of AGM minutes AGM 2019.docx , AGM 2019.pdf