Minutes
The AGM of the Diss and District Table Tennis League was held on Monday July 22nd 2024. At the Saracens Head in Diss
Attending the meeting were Francis Webb, David Mortlock, Paul Mortlock, David Crisp, Nigel Howe, Alan Levine, Andy Doe, James Skilleter, Paul Sturman, Chris Willoughby and John Bryant.
Apologies were received from Pat West.
Presidents opening remarks.
Francis welcomed the attendees to the meeting. He thanked the Chairman, League & Results Secretary and the Treasurer for their work during the past season. He had a special mention for Chris Willoughby for setting the Handicaps as he had benefitted particularly well especially as his team, Heywood Hitters, were the eventual winners.
He commented that he felt the season as a whole appeared to be almost back to normal following the past Covid afflicted seasons.
Election of Chairman
David stood down and the president took over the meeting.
Francis addressed the meeting and asked if there was anyone wanting to stand for Chairman. There were no other nominations. John nominated David and this was seconded by Paul Sturman. David Mortlock was re-elected as Chairman.
2023 AGM minutes
Last years minutes were accepted as a true copy and were duly signed by the Chairman.
Chairmans report
The Chairman echoed the Presidents thanks and continued with thanks to all the committee members, all the helpers at the High School for the Tuesday night sessions. He went on to say that as we did the Championships differently this year, he would like some feedback later in the meeting to see how attendees felt it went.
Treasurers Report
Paul distributed copies of the latest accounts and explained that apart from registration fees coming in and a refund from a previous website provider there was not much movement of monies. Tuesday nights practice just about pays for itself. The tournament entry fees also just about covered the cost of the 2 venues used to hold the Championships.
The accounts were accepted by the AGM.
COPY
DISS AND DISTRICT TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT 2023-2024
INCOME EXPENDITURE
REGISTRATION FEES £770.00
NCTTA FEES £150.00
TUESDAY NIGHTS £1,425.00 £1,641.60
TOURNAMENT ENTRY FEES £76.00
WEBPAGE REFUND £69.55
INTEREST £54.21
TOTALS £2,394.76 £1,791.60
PROFIT/LOSS £603.16
CASH TOTAL
BANK BALANCE 29.06.23 £4,892.97 £43.02 £4,935.99
BANK BALANCE 29.06.24 £4,606.92 £43.02 £4,649.94
BUSINESS SAVER BALANCE £4,512.31
TOTAL ACCOUNTS £9,162.25
Results / League Secretary Report
John commented that the league generally went well, but it was unfortunate that the premier division had one uncompleted match. That match also affects relegation for one of those teams who have not completed their fixtures.
The Handicap League generally went well, I thought. Maybe because I was part of the winning team. However, this subject provoked a long discussion, over the way that the handicap league seemingly takes over the second half of the season. Which of course it did.
James stated that while his team would support the handicap league, his team would prefer to play more normal league matches. James also commented that he would like to see the lower teams have handicaps capped at 20 points, so that they have to get at least 5 points.
Various options were discussed to increase the number of league games, i.e. play all teams 3 times, reduce the number of handicap leagues matches by changing it to maybe 4 groups with the top 2 from each group going through to the quarter finals. Many more options were thrown into the pot and every one present had something to say in the room. (this discussion went on for over 40 minutes).
To summarise the majority were not in favour of playing each team 3 times unless the number of teams in the league reduced so that this became necessary. Changes to the handicap system (i.e. having 4 groups of 4 would reduce the number of games by 3, thereby creating 3 free weeks to help with rearranged matches)
It was also agreed that we would go back to the weaker players having to win at least 4 points.
All of this would be dependant on the number of teams that would register for next season. The final decisions on these changes would be made once the league situation (number of teams) was clearer.
Election of Officers
Vice Chairman: John was nominated by David and seconded by Chris.
League Secretary: John was nominated by James and seconded by Paul.
Results Secretary: John was nominated by Alan and seconded by Andy.
Treasurer: Paul was nominated by Paul and seconded by John
County Rep: Francis was nominated by David and seconded by Andy
Press Sec: Omitted as no longer so relevant
Committee Members: Andy Doe, Pat West, Alan Levine, Richard Pursehouse, David Crisp, Chris Willoughby and Nigel Howe. Were nominated and elected on mass.
Registration fees
There was a small discussion as Francis advised that it was known that the Norfolk Affiliation fees were to increase by 50%. Which in monetary terms amounted to £15 per team. In total approximately £80 per year.
It was decided to maintain the current rates of Registration fees.
Any Other Business
Francis explained that his visit to Norfolk County TT AGM advised that Norfolk made a loss of £900 last year. The only income which goes to Norfolk is team affiliation fees from the local leagues in Norfolk.
Norfolk county basically pays the expenses for travel and accommodation for the County Teams, Juniors, Senior and Veterans. The Vets are self-sponsoring. Juniors and Seniors are sponsored. That basically was the cause of the loss. So hopefully this increase in the fees will reduce or remove that loss.
Francis advised that both seniors but particularly, Juniors were doing really well.
There was a little discussion regarding Norfolk possibly providing some Coaching, but Francis was not fully aware of that situation. James offered to establish details with Chris Cockburn and advise Francis.
The subject changed to juniors in our league and David stated that the number of juniors had dropped and that would possibly result in the loss of a team.
A discussion then ensued amount how to encourage more juniors to take part in Table Tennis.
Andy referred back to a Table Tennis event that was organised by Richard Woods at the Corn Hall approximately 20 years ago, when exhibition matches were shown including England Ladies no 1 and 2 at that time. Andy thought that this may rekindle interest and possible lead to an increase in take up by juniors.
I offered to get details from the Corn Hall regarding hire costs etc so we could consider this suggestion.
Chris felt that maybe we should consider other sports type venues that the league uses, to maybe do some exhibition matches and offer coaching.
It was acknowledged that setting up these sorts of events are very time consuming and costly with no guarantee of an interested audience. However, it was something to consider.
James suggested that a Facebook page for the league may be a more current way to get through to new and younger players and offered to set up a Facebook page. I agreed to design a poster for Facebook and would email it through to James when completed.
Local Advertising in community magazine
There followed some chat about advertising / listing in local magazine or online. Chris agreed to contact Eye to Eye local community magazine to list the league as Diss and District Table Tennis League.
Diss Championships
Further discussion continued concerning the Diss TT Championships. The problem seemed to be the larger school venues all had pretty horrendous Table Tennis Tables as well as being quite expensive.
Spreading the Championships over 4 evenings as we did this last year seemed to work well, using Diss High School and The Scout Hut. James offered to organise any future tournaments.
Order of Play
Nigel brought up the order of play and asked if would be possible to consider changing. His concern was that player 1 playing away played in order 1, 6, 8. It’s a big gap 4 matches between 1 and 6. He offered 2 alternatives, which have been noted and one of which will be used in the coming season. Home Player 1 plays 1, 4, 8 – Player 2 plays 2, 6, 9 – Player 3 plays 3, 5, 7 The other option Player 1 plays 1, 5, 9 – Player 2 plays 2, 4, 7 – Player 3 plays 3, 6, 8. Either alternative brings the maximum gap between games to 3. I will ensure that the order of play is printed on the score cards.
Financial
An observation from James. What does the league intend to do with its increasing monies in the bank.
A discussion began on what useful ways the league could use its monies. The talk ranged from buying tables for Diss High School or Hartismere High School. Buying bats for schools etc. Perhaps Reinstating Trophies.
No definite conclusions were decided. How ever it was generally agreed that the league needed to use the money in a way that would be either good publicity and/or in a way to encourage more people to play.
It was eventually decided that we would provide bats for members of the oldest class in one primary school.
Registration Night
They will be no registration night this year. Registration forms will be emailed out to current teams. They will need to be returned and completed by mid August. The date will be shown on the form. Payment for registration should be made by BACS.
David thanked the meeting for a lively AGM and closed the meeting.
Meeting closed 9:43pm
