SWAS Section

Members Present: 29
Tony Eskew (Chairman) Corin Bishop (Secretary) Gareth Price (Alcester A) Bob Smith (Alcester B) Chris Wood (Ardencote) Stuart Millman (Aston Cantlow) Simon Price (Bidford A) Paul Haffner (Bidford B) Richard Gough (Campden B) Richard Butler (Claverdon A) Ray Foster-Morison (Evesham) Steve Turner (FISSC A) Jon Morris (FISSC B) Jon Scothern (Harbury) Bob Mannion (HDA A) Phil Silk (Henley A) Alex Woodbridge (Inkberrow A) Graham Lawrence (Littleton C) Will Hale (Moreton A) Dennis Fisher (Moreton B) Peter Corbishley (Pershore) Simon Moss (Shipston B) Richard LePage (Snitterfield) Paul Albrecht (Snitterfield) Colin Jarvis (Stratford) Derek Northam (Studley A) Graeme Fitton (Studley B) Kewal Baden (Whitnash) Brigitte Bishop (Secretary’s Assistant).

Apologies: 10
Tony King (President) Malcolm Dewsbury (Treasurer) Gareth Jackson (Alcester C) Paul Bruner (Bidford C) Brian Ravenscroft (HDA B) Mike Baker (Inkberrow C) Sean Witheford (Littleton A) John Fielder (Littleton B) Bill Cheney (Shipston A) Phil Wells (Tanworth).

1. Minutes of Last Meeting.  The Chairman proposed that the minutes of the last Annual General Meeting held on 20th February 2007, having been previously circulated in the Handbooks, be accepted as a true record and signed. This was unanimously approved.

2. Matters Arising. There were no matters arising.

3. Chairman's Report. The League Chairman, Tony Eskew began by explaining to members about his concerns for the upcoming new L.T.A. membership scheme from 2009 which he outlined to the meeting. However then read his report stating that despite the wet summer it had proved to be one of the league’s most successful we have ever had. He thanked the Secretary, Treasurer, the League Organisers and all the members who had contributed and also all the sponsors. Finally, he stated the overlap of Winter and Summer fixtures had now been solved. He stated he would be available to stand again this year. (Copy of report in Handbook and on the League web site).

4. League Secretary's Report.  The Secretary, Corin Bishop, read out a written report on the 2007 season. He reported on the most competitive season ever in nearly all divisions but especially the Premier Division and congratulated all teams concerned. He told the meeting that last year’s Charity cup between Stratford and Evesham resulted in a victory for Stratford representing our Summer League and that the Prudden Road Surfacing cheque for £250 was donated to the Starlight Foundation Children’s Charity while the Winter League’s £100 cheque was given by Evesham to the “Friends of Evesham Hospital”. The Secretary also congratulated Simon Moss (Shipston), who had been awarded the Millennium Scroll for the best administration in 2007. In addition he congratulated Shipston Tennis Club on being the winners of the “King Cup” awarded to the Club of the Year. He thanked the Committee for all their work over the season and the Prudden League sponsors for all their help and support. Finally, he announced a new League Website in www.swastennis.net and thanked Jon Scothern of Harbury for his work on this and presented him with a bottle of Jack Daniels by way of a thank you from the League. (Copy of report in Handbook and on the League web site).

5. Divisional Organisers Reports.  The Premier Division Organiser, Corin Bishop, then read out a written report for the Premier Division on the 2007 season. Simon Moss, read out a written report on Division One’s year. This was followed by the Chairman who in his absence read out Sean Witheford’s report for Division Two. Paul Haffner read out his report as Division Three Organiser and Richard Butler read his for Division Four. All Divisional Organisers except Sean Witheford stated they were willing to stand for re-election. All reports were accepted with thanks to the Organisers. In the absence of Sean Witheford, Graham Lawrence (Littleton) accepted a bottle of Chardonnay wine as a thank you to Sean for his two year’s of service. (Copy of report in Handbook and on web site).

6. Junior League Report.   The Junior League Organiser, Corin Bishop, read out a written report on another successful season in 2007. All teams had re-entered for 2008 and he hoped to gain Harbury or Moreton-in-the-Marsh for 2009. He congratulated Alcester, Campden, Shipston and Tanworth for topping their regional Pools. He also congratulated Champions Shipston who retained their title reversing their semi-finals pool result by and beating Tanworth in the final 6-0, 6-2. Corin stated he was willing stand again as Junior Organiser this coming year. (Copy of report in Handbook and on the League web site).

7. Treasurer's Report and Balance Sheet.  The Treasurer, Malcolm Dewsbury, presented a pre-prepared balance sheet of income and expenditure for the year ending 31st December 2007. He thanked Corin Bishop for doing his Treasurer's day-to-day duties for which he was most grateful. He also stated that the accounts for the year were very satisfactory with a closing Bank Balance of £1623.78. We showed a healthy income during the year mainly due once more to the revenue from advertising in the Handbook and a Fines income, although he noticed the latter had greatly reduced with only three fines for failing to play fixtures, a massive improvement. He reported an excess of income over expenditure of £245.27 only £6.46 less than the previous year. Malcolm Dewsbury indicated he was prepared to continue as Treasurer in 2008.

It was proposed by Graham Lawrence (Littleton) and seconded by Steve Turner (FISSC) that the report and balance sheet be accepted by the meeting. This motion was unanimously carried.
The Secretary proposed a vote of thanks to the Treasurer for the accounts and informed the meeting he would be presenting him with a bottle of Merlot wine as our token of appreciation.
(Copy of the balance sheet and report in Handbook and on the League web site).

8. Approval of League Fees and Honorariums.   The Committee proposed the League Fees for 2008 remain the same as 2007 and 2006 at £15.00 per team. The motion to keep subscriptions at £15 was unanimously approved. There was no proposal to increase the Honorariums for the Secretary or Divisional Organisers. A vote proved unanimous. 

9. Alteration to League Rules.  After reviewing the Winter League Rules and in answer to questions raised by teams over the seasons, plus in light of the new facility for scorecards offered by the new web site, the Committee proposed that the following rule changes be proposed at the Annual General Meeting:-

Rule 7: Add second sentence to this rule: “The captain of the home team, prior to the date of the fixture, must confirm home matches with their opponents.”

Rule 11: Replace current rule with the following: “The home club shall provide four top grade new International Tennis Federation (I.T.F.) approved tennis balls for each of the two courts.”

Rule 17: Replace the first two sentences with the following four sentences: “Scorecards must be provided by the home team for every League match. These scorecards must be completed and signed by both captains on the day of the match. The original scorecard must then be kept safe by the home side in case of dispute and produced if requested by the League and not disposed of until at least two weeks after the date of the last fixture. The home side will then be responsible for transferring the details onto a scorecard template provided on the league web site and this must be submitted within three days of the match via the online facility.”

After discussion the meeting voted unanimously to adopt these rule changes.