Chairman Secretary Treasurer Match/Fixtures Secretary Malcolm Richards Malcolm Richards Bob Hine Dave Barber Minutes of AGM held at Stewkley Bowls Club 7:00pm Tuesday 16 th May 2023 Members attending Beacon: Linda Coker, Peter Coker, Malcolm Richards Chinnor: Bob Hine Marsh Gibbon: John Thompson, John Everett Stewkley: Sue Neale, Sandy Flewin, Julia Corkett, David Williams, Dave Barber Thame: Ian Rutherford Wendover DG Ian MacMillan, Pauline Hobson, Malcolm Hobson, Belinda Horn, Peter Horn Bierton: Trevina Smith, Mike Smith, Bessie Rice, David Rice, Nigel Hyde Winslow: Mary Arnold Committee: Malcolm Richards, Bob Hine, Dave Barber Welcome The Chairman welcomed those present. Good to see so many attending. He thanked Stewkley Bowls Club for hosting the evening. 1 Apologies George Hunt (Wendover LG). 2. Minutes of last AGM held at Winslow 17 th May 2022 The minutes were presented as a true and accurate record. Approved by unanimous vote. The minutes were duly signed. 3. Matters Arising Thame joined the Vale league but not the John Robinson. Long Crendon joined the Single Mat league The John Robinson Final venue is to be discussed under Resolution 3 Insurance – age limits 16 to 80 for accident insurance cover. No option to change with current insurer. 4. Correspondence An exchange of emails regarding the John Robinson Cup Final venue that resulted in Hawkslade being used but a discussion is to be held at this AGM and a Resolution 3 to decide the location in future. 5. Chairman’s Report We have had a good season with normality returning after Covid. 9 clubs played in the League and I hope Thame enjoyed their first foray into competitive, but friendly, short mat bowls. Congratulations to Chinnor on winning the league once again, to Marsh Gibbon , the runners up, and to all who took part and made the games so enjoyable. The John Robinson Competition was restored to the calendar with 8 clubs taking part. The new format of playing both home and away is welcome and we saw an exciting final at Hawkslade between Chinnor and Wendover Light Greens. Congratulations to both on reaching the final, and to Chinnor on their win. We are intent on keeping the league “friendly” and encouraging as many teams to join as possible. We recognise that some clubs are still short of members able to play in league games, some always short, others temporarily, and for the past couple of years have helped them by relaxing the rules temporarily on numbers that can play a full match. You will see from the formal business that there are proposals, for both the league and the JR, to make these rules permanent to help these clubs and, hopefully, to recruit new and lapsed teams. It is for you member clubs to decide whether this is what you would like, or not. We had an extremely well attended and successful Presentation Evening, hosted by Chinnor and Haddenham in Haddenham Village Hall. Thanks to Haddenham and Chinnor for setting up the venue and providing a great buffet. We played the usual 4 games of 3 ends, had a big raffle and the League and John Robinson trophies were presented to Chinnor. Around 60 players joined in with all clubs represented. The winner of the evening’s bowling was Beacon – well done to them. A great evening. All our clubs have joined the BSMBA and most have benefited from the insurance arranged by them. Thanks to Bob Hine for his hard work once again in organising this. While mentioning the BSMBA they are still scratching their heads to understand why they cannot get more people joining in the monthly events. New people who have come along have thoroughly enjoyed them. They will keep trying. The monthly friendly games at Handy cross will continue for the next 12 months. My thanks, on your behalf, to Bob Hine for looking after the league’s finances. The League and the John Robinson Memorial Cup would not be the success they are without the hard work that Dave Barber puts in to putting the fixtures together and in publishing the results almost before the games have finished. He also keeps our excellent website looking good and up to date. Please watch the website; it has the up-to-date results and copies of the Constitution and the Rules – the latter document well worth being familiar with! So thanks again to Dave. I had decided to stand down as Chairman after quite a few years in this post because I thought it was time for fresh blood. But no one else came forward so I decided to put myself forward for another year. I would like to thank all Member Clubs for their support for the league and JR, all members for their friendship and for their help in keeping the VSMBFL going, particularly in the difficult times we all experienced. 6. Secretary’s Report There have been no committee meetings during the year. There was an exchange of views by email between committee members and others on the venue for the John Robinson final. There is a proposal in the formal business for how the choice of venue should be handled in future. I am glad to see that there is, at long last, a nomination for the post of Secretary, a role I am relinquishing with great sadness – hmmmmm. I just hope he is elected. 7. Match/Fixture Secretary’s Report Back in 2015 Dave Gander was the fixtures secretary and he had a very manual Excel process recording scores and updating league tables from the scores sheet sent to him via the post. It was a huge laborious job which was prone to error and needed him to constantly check that the numbers added up across the various sheets. I have several years’ experience with Excel so I offered to help him. Over the next year or so I created and refined an Excel process that required him to just enter the shots for each game from the score sheets, not the totals, just the shots. The system then calculates all of the scores and league tables automatically. Then in early 2017 he asked me if I would take over as fixtures secretary which I agreed to do, with some limitations. That process has evolved so that it is now an all-electronic process and the clubs just need to email a photo or a .pdf of their score sheets to me. This usually enables me to produce the reports the day after the last match has been played. The system works well BUT I do have some difficulty with some emails. Sometimes the photo is inserted or embedded into the body of the email and is so large I can only see a small portion of it and trying to convert it to a usable form can be tortuous. Can I please ask you to ATTACH your photo to the email and not INSERT it into the body of the email. My preferred option is for you to save the score sheet photo as a .pdf and send that to me. Now the 22/23 season was, I think, a successful year. There was only one match not played and that was down to insufficient numbers of players. The fixtures worked out well with just a few matches needing the captains to agree a new date and it was good to have the JR competition back again, although, it was disappointing that there were objections to the final being played at Stewkley. Wing had been expecting to host the final but it proved impossible to get a response from anyone to confirm the venue was available. But this year I have been able speak to Sue Underwood, the Wing club secretary, and she has confirmed it is available for the 2024 JR Final and they would be pleased to host it. Generating the VSMBFL and JR fixtures will again be by a random number process which leaves me only needing to ensure that the two Wendovers don’t have home matches on the same night. Everything else is just a random selection. Does anyone have comments or suggestions regarding the fixtures? Does anyone have comments or suggestions regarding the VSMBFL website? I expect the new fixtures lists will be published by the end of May. 8.Treasurer’s Report The last set of published accounts was for the AGM on 17 th May 2022 when the balance stood at £680.79. The closing balance as at 1 st May 2023 stands at £569.15. Income received during this period was £45.00 which is the annual subscription from 9 club members of the league. There was just one outgoing payment of £95.84 made for the maintenance of the Vale website. However, there were 12 payments made to the bank totalling £60.80. Due to this lack of activity, I received notification from the bank that unless further transactions took place, the account would be frozen in the interests of security and to prevent fraud and money laundering. For this reason, I transferred £25 from the Chinnor BC account and then returned it the following day, thus having a nil effect on the account but at least kept it open. This transaction was a repeat of last year. This situation is likely to repeat in coming months, and so I am proposing that the existing funds be withdrawn and the account closed. The balance can be held in cash with the records maintained in exactly the same way as they are presented today, and any monies to be collected or payments to be made can be via a third-party bank. This will save the league a minimum of £60 a year and with the current level of annual subscriptions, will enable us to maintain the website, without seriously depleting the funds. As treasurer of Chinnor Bowls Club, I am happy to use our bank account for these transactions in the same way that I use it for collecting the BSMBA insurance premiums. There is no monetary advantage to Chinnor but it would benefit the Vale League. It has been suggested that an alternative bank be used for the League, but for the small amount involved, I personally, am not prepared to go to the hassle of changing account. Therefore, I would appreciate your support for this proposal. I have provided a copy of the consolidated accounts, one for each club. If you would like to receive a dedicated copy I will be happy to email one to you. Just let me know at the end of the meeting. Acceptance of accounts: Proposer: John Thompson (Marsh Gibbon) Seconder: Peter Coker (Beacon) Vote: Unanimous in favour 9. Fees for coming year In view of website cost it was proposed to continue to levy an annual fee of £5 per team. Proposer: Bob Hine (Treasurer) Seconder: Peter Coker (Beacon) Vote – Unanimous in favour 10. AGM Business See addendum 11. Election of officers: All the existing committee members were prepared to continue with the exception of the Secretary who wished to stand down. It was proposed that they all be re-elected en bloc. Proposer: Julia Corkett (Stewkley) Seconder: Mary Arnold (Winslow) Vote: Unanimous in favour David Williams (Stewkley) was nominated as Secretary Proposer: Sue Neale (Stewkley) Seconder: Dave Barber (Stewkley) Vote: unanimous in favour The following are thus elected to the committee for 2023-24 Chairman: Malcolm Richards (Beacon) Match/Fixtures Secretary: Dave Barber (Stewkley) Treasurer: Bob Hine (Chinnor) Secretary: David Williams (Stewkley) No clubs submitted representatives for the committee. 12. Any Other Business a. Bob Hine (Chinnor) – In the Summer some clubs have expressed a wish to play competitively – e.g. Marsh Gibbon - so friendly games are being informally arranged. Other clubs who might participate possibly: Haddenham, Wingrave, Wendover. Numbers of players not important. Suggested play “all change triples”. Action – Bob Hine to email Club organisers to see who would like to play and set up a line of communication to arrange games. b. David Williams (Stewkley) raised the late evening finish of League and JR games. Shortening the evening was discussed as follows: - start as early as possible (constrained by people working). - play through tea break – 2 nd half teams take tea while 1 st half playing. - if raffle, place winning tickets on prizes rather than announcing winners - JR – as soon as Singles selected start play while other disciplines being drawn Clubs/teams can implement suggestions as they choose. 13. Date of Next AGM: - Tuesday May 14 th 2024 7:00pm at Wendover Belinda Horn to check availability. Mary Arnold offered Winslow if Wendover was not available. 14. Close of AGM The chairman thanked everyone for attending and for their contributions, wished all a good Summer and looked forward to seeing everyone next season. The meeting closed at 8:20 pm. Addendum – Item 10 AGM business: Resolutions discussed and voted on: Resolution 1 Chairman’s proposal Match Rules - 5D Special Rules These rules to be made permanent. (The proposed amended rules are attached) Rationale: We want to encourage as many clubs as possible to take part in the league. Recognising that some clubs may be permanently or temporarily short of members and may not, or may not always, be able to field a full team we do not want to deter them from playing. The proposed rules will ensure that they can play. There was positive discussion. The rules were used very occasionally during the season. In response to a question these rules do not affect the total number of points that are scored in a match. Seconder: David Williams (Stewkley) Vote: For 7 Against 0 Abstensions 1 Resolution adopted Resolution 2 Chairman’s proposal John Robinson Memorial Cup Competition Rules – 5B f) Special Rule This rule to be made permanent. (The proposed amended rules are attached) Rationale: We want to encourage as many clubs as possible to take part in the JR Cup. Recognising that some clubs may be permanently or temporarily short of members and may not, or may not always, be able to field a full team we do not want to deter them from playing. The proposed rules will ensure that they can play. There was positive discussion. A concern expressed was a team misusing the rules to avoid playing weaker players. This was recognised but left to the integrity of the teams. Seconder: Peter Coker (Beacon) Vote: For 7 Against 0 Abstensions 1 Resolution adopted Resolution 3 Chairman’s proposal John Robinson Memorial Cup Competition – Final Venue Add rule as follows: 5B k) Final venue 1) The Committee will decide the venue and publish it, the date and time when issuing the league schedules and on the website and ensure it is booked. 2) Wing Social Club shall be the favoured venue and used while short mat is active there and they offer it on acceptable terms Otherwise: 3) Any club in the VSMBFL may offer the services of their venue for the final for consideration by the Committee. 4) Should the venue be that of a member club that reaches the final then the Committee shall decide on another venue. 5) The Committee may choose a venue not used by a VSMBFL Club. 6) The venue for the final shall have the space for spectators as well as the finalists and adequate car parking. Rational: A rule needs to be added governing the choice of the venue for the final if the traditional venue at Wing is not used. Discussion included - If Wing not used then a random draw be made from those venues offered - The venue used should have the best mats to ensure skill determined the outcome - The venue should be chosen irrespective of mat quality in the spirit of the JR - This should be a decision made by the finalist teams - This should be a Committee decision Seconder: Linda Coker (Beacon) Vote: For 7 Against 0 Abstensions 1 Resolution adopted with the amendment that a random selection of venue is made from suitable offers. Resolution 4 Chairman’s proposal League winner Add in the league Rules: w) The league winner, on the completion of all games, shall be the team with the greatest number of points. Should points be equal the winner shall be the team with the highest shot difference. Should these still be equal then the winner shall be the team with the most game wins. Rational: We need to add the existing rule in the formal Rules that decides the league winner. Seconder: David Williams (Stewkley) Vote: For 8 Against 0 Abstensions 0 Resolution adopted Resolution 5 Chairman’s proposal John Robinson Format Add in the Rules: a) Teams that enter shall be divided into two groups by the Fixture Secretary. Each team shall play every other in their group both home and away unless otherwise determined by the Fixture Secretary. Rationale: We need a rule to explain the format of the competition. Seconder: David Rice (Bierton) Vote: For 8 Against 0 Abstensions 0 Resolution adopted Resolution 6 Chairman’s proposal John Robinson Winner Add in the Rules: i) The winners of each group shall be those with the greatest number of shots. Should shots be equal the team with the highest shot difference will qualify. Should shot difference be equal the team with the greatest number of wins shall qualify. The two winners shall meet in a final. j) The final shall be played in the same format as the qualifying games. The winner shall be the team with the highest total shots. Should shots be equal an extra end of triples shall be played as a decider. Rational: We need to add the existing rule in the formal Rules that decides the JR Group winner. We need a rule added should there be an equal number of shots when all games have been played. Seconder: Linda Coker (Beacon) Vote: For 8 Against 0 Abstensions 0 Resolution adopted Resolution 7 Marsh Gibbon’s proposal (John Thompson) John Robinson Memorial Cup Competition – Format Change the format as follows: Four teams of triples play nine ends, they are drawn out one to twelve, the one plays lead, two plays two and three plays skip, after three ends they change so the skip plays one, one plays two and two plays skip, after the next three ends, they all change again. this means that after Nine Ends all the players will have played in all the positions. Rational: As the J R was designed for players to play in positions that they are not used to playing in this would give them the chance. This has been played in the Sunday events that Bob has run and I believe has been very successful. Discussion included: - Julia Corkett (Stewkley) – shame to lose the 1-2-3 format - Belinda Horn (Wendover DG), Dave Barber (Stewkley) Bob Hine (Chinnor) – keep JR as is - Ian Rutherford (Thame) – play triples in “all change” format o Linda Coker (Beacon) Mary Arnold (Winslow) – could try for one season. o Belinda Horn (Wendover DG) – could trial the “all change” format in the League second half. - Mike Smith (Bierton) – current format give weaker teams more ability to score – luck of the draw of players Seconder: Peter Coker (Beacon) Vote: For 3 Against 5 Abstensions 0 Resolution not adopted Resolution 8 Treasurer’s proposal VSMBFL Bank Account Proposal: The remaining balance in the account be withdrawn and the account closed. All future transactions can be dealt with in cash, or if that is not acceptable, then bank transfers can be made via an alternative account. The annual membership fees can still be made via the Chinnor Bank Account (in the same way the insurance payments are made) and will go towards offsetting the cost of maintaining the Vale League website, plus hall hire for Vale league events such as the JR Final and the Presentation evening. (although it is hoped that these will be self financing). Rationale: As at 14th April 2023, there was £569.15 in the Vale League funds, made up of £533.47 in the bank and £35.68 cash. Over the last 12 months we have been charged £60.80 in bank fees, and just one outlay of £95.84 to Dave Barber for the upkeep of the Vale League website. Our income over this period amounts to just £45 in membership fees, i.e. £5 from each member club. As we have so few transactions, and all at the beginning of our financial year, I receive a letter from the bank after six months, reminding me that unless transactions are made, the account will be frozen. I have experienced this with another account and the amount of effort involved in trying to "unfreeze" the account is beyond belief. In order to avoid this situation, I make a one off payment of £25 from the Chinnor account and the following day I reverse the transaction. However, this is not ideal, but it does avoid the account being frozen. Seconder: Mary Arnold (Winslow) Vote: For 8 Against 0 Abstensions 0 Resolution adopted END OF RESOLUTIONS ATTACHMENTS for information showing new match rules incorporated in 5A and 5B. Other resolutions agreed above will also be incorporated in the Rules and published on the website. Resolution 1 - Match Rules - 5D Special Rules Proposed changes shown in italics. 5A MATCH RULES NOTE: Covid precautions may be imposed by the host club and shall be observed by all attendees including players and spectators. a) Each team of up to twelve players shall play as four teams of triples. b) Each triple shall play one game of ten ends. No roll ups. 1 shot scored on the first two ends. Jack off the mat 2 shots away except first two ends when only 1 is scored. c) A match shall consist of four games. d) Each player shall play with three bowls e) For under strength teams, 7) only 10 or 11 players available, leads and twos from the first games draw for the lead(s) only- on a different mat if possible. 8) a team of 9 players can play a full game, with the leads and a drawn two from the first half playing as twos and a lead in the second half on different mats. 9) a team of 8 players can play a full game, with the leads and twos from the first half playing as twos and leads in the second half on different mats. 10) The captains can use their discretion to change of player(s) who cannot play twice with the agreement of the opposition. 11) any club that can only raise 8 players for a particular fixture and know in advance that relevant players are not prepared to play two games in the fixture can arrange with their opponents in advance of the fixture to play 4 pairs games with 3 woods each 12) For less than 8 players only two competitive games can be played. Rule 5A(e) will apply. f) to v) x) to z) unchanged. New w) added – see Resolution 4. 5D deleted. Resolution 2 – John Robinson Memorial Cup Competition Rules Proposed changes shown in italics 5B John Robinson Memorial Cup Competition Rules where different from League a) Teams that enter shall be divided into two groups by the Fixture Secretary. Each team shall play every other in their group both home and away unless otherwise determined by the fixturesecretary. b) Teams of 12 players play in positions drawn on the night. c) 2 Singles games drawn from 6 nominated players. Then the next 10 positions drawn in order 3 to 12. d) If only 10/11 players: draw as normal Singles, Pairs, Triples. Pair(s) lead(s) play lead(s) in Triples i.e. Pairs 3 plays position 10 and pairs 5 would play position 7. e) A team of down to 8 players can play a full game. In addition to the provisions of rule 5Bc) skips in the pairs play twos in the triples, i.e. player drawn 4 also plays 11 and player drawn 6 also plays 8. f) The captains can use their discretion to change of player(s) who cannot play twice with the agreement of the opposition. g) If unable to play game and no alternate date available: shots 55 – 25 against defaulting team. h) Only shots count (points not available). All other League rules apply. If none then ESMBA rules apply. Original rule f) Special rule…. Deleted END OF ADDENDUM