MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF
THE ERHA MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HELD ON
WEDNESDAY,
10 MAY 2006 AT 7 PM AT THE HILTON HOTEL, STANSTED
PRESENT:
ERHA
Management
Ros Marsh,
President [RM]
Bill Felton, Deputy
President [BF]
Margaret McCall,
Treasurer [MM]
Loraine Bant, Youth
Competition [LB]
John Hendy, Youth
Performance [JH]
Mike Trett, Umpires [MT]
John Helliwell, PR
& Appeals [JHelliwell]
Charlie Farrow, RDM [CF]
Counties
Sally Tippen, Cambs [ST]
Daphne Menear, Essex [DM]
Jim Jarrett, Herts [JJ]
Jill Warrick, Lincs [JW]
Sheila George,
1 APOLOGIES
FOR ABSENCE
2 MINUTES
OF THE MANAGEMENT MEETING HELD ON 22 MARCH 2006
Amendments to the minutes – Item 4 bullet
point 3 ‘non-affiliated East clubs’ changed to non East League clubs’. Item 4 bullet point 5 changed ‘affiliated’ to
‘League’. Item 8 last bullet point
delete ‘Women’s’. Minutes then agreed as
an accurate record.
3 MATTERS
ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
[a] RM
proposed that the minutes should include committee reports as appendices in
future, making them easier to read.
b]
Handbook content and distribution.
RM reported that she had recently written to all Hon Vice-Presidents
with a view to seeing if they wanted to receive a handbook and had had some
interesting replies. Several had not
heard from the ERHA since the merger of the old separate associations. RM felt this raised the issue of the need to
communicate more effectively in the future.
MM to arrange circulation contacts for
non-East League clubs.
[c] East Constitution Update. Changes have been made to reflect alterations
to East structure. Some discussion took
place about gender issues within the Competitions Committee. There were some detailed discussions about
the need for a Development Committee at regional level. Concern was expressed that the rewording
proposed did not recognise a role for the regional association in
development. CF agreed to reword
Development Committee references to include a management role for the ERHA.
[d] National Women’s Veterans (Over 40) –
Rosemary Prince of
[e] Sheila George had agreed to pull
together a list of Technical Officials and reported that a training course
would run at the
4 AGM ARRANGEMENTS AND APPROVAL OF DRAFT
AGENDA
The
draft agenda had been circulated and approved with minor adjustments. RM reported that the 2007 AGM would be on
Thursday 5 July. CF agreed to invite
either David Faulkner or Sally Munday to attend the 2006 AGM meeting to provide
an update on the single system and the latest GB news.
5 COMMITTEE
REPORTS
[a] Finance (Report in appendices)
·
Food
allowance – MM proposed a change from £5 to £3 for a ½ day event and £5 for a
whole day event. This was agreed by the
meeting.
·
East
round of the Women’s Veterans competition (Over 35) – MM proposed a penalty
payment for late withdrawals and this was agreed. Rules will be updated to include this.
[b] Competitions
(Report in appendices)
·
LB highlighted the key issues on the draft
programme.
[c] Performance (Report in appendices)
·
JH
highlighted the key issues on the draft programme.
·
There
was some discussion about the proposal that the East withdraw from the Regional
U21 tournament. This was agreed and RM
to write to EH Competitions Department.
East Youth Competitions will discuss the issues of the inter county
competition.
·
DM
asked if counties could be notified of training dates to avoid clashes. JH reported plans for programmes and contact
details to be posted on the website.
[d] League
(Report in appendices)
·
Refer
to report and league response to the Single System in appendices.
[e] Umpires
·
No meeting had been held
since the last Management meeting. MT
reported that the AGM was to be held on Wednesday 17 May. He also reported that Jack Warner was
stepping down. There was some discussion
about concerns in respect of Herts & Beds ability to make appointments.
[f]
RDM (Report in appendices)
·
CF reported that 5 (6) clubs in the East –
Bedford, Pelicans, Bury St Edmunds, Dereham and Harleston Magpies (plus
Maidstone) - had recently been awarded in the region of £250K by England Hockey
under the Community Club Development Programme for facility refurbishment
(subject to Stage Two approval).
[g] Regions’ Consultative Committee
·
No further meetings had
been held since the last East Management meeting and RM reported that the next
meeting would be on 19 June.
[h] PR and Sponsorship JHelliwell had nothing to report.
6 ANY OTHER BUSINESS
·
BF agreed to chair the
Development Committee.
·
JHelliwell – Discipline –
no appeal hearings to Chair all season, which was good news. There had been 33 Red cards, 17 for
violence. Management recognised the
excellent work done over the season by Mick Pullen and the system was working
well.
·
CF and RM updated the
group on plans for the 2006/7 Indoor Clubs competition which would take place
at Bethnal Green (women) and The Royal Masonic School, Rickmansworth (men) on
16/17 December 2006.
·
Dates for Management
meetings were agreed as Wednesdays 27 September 06, 13 December 06, 21 March
07, 9 May 07, with the AGM on Thursday 5 July 07.
FULL COMMITTEE
REPORTS APPEAR ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES.
The meeting closed
at 9.10 pm.
President
.......................................…………………………………………………….. Date
...................………………………...
APPENDIX 1:
HONORARY TREASURER’S REPORT
1.
Food
allowance: Umpires and personnel at competitions on official East business
(e.g. tournaments) are currently entitled to claim for food purchased up to a
maximum of £5/day. (England Hockey
allowance is £2/day). There have been several comments and discussions at
Competition committee meetings about £5/day being too generous and I propose
that from 1st June the following operates:
Personnel
are allowed to claim a food allowance of up to £3 for a half-day competition
and up to £5 for a whole day competition. This should only be claimed when food
is actually purchased at the event.
This should apply without
exception to all East competitions where umpires and other personnel are not
provided with food.
2.
East
round of the women’s veterans competition: Need to get a statement of intention
from Counties that they will have a representative club well in advance of the
competition date, and to amend the rules to consider including a penalty
payment for late withdrawal so that cost to remaining teams does not increase
if a team(s) drop out at the last minute.
3.
Affiliation
fees 2005/6 – received outstanding fees from Cambs. and list of affiliated
clubs from
4.
Indoor
clubs – outstanding payment received from Ipswich Ladies and refund paid to
5.
East
League umpiring fees paid by clubs: Interim accounts show that umpiring claims
for the Men’s Premier A & B League this year exceeds income by about
£1000. Fees are likely to be increased
next season to cover costs. Women’s Premier League fees covered umpiring costs
and there will be a rebate for the teams in women’s Division 1 N & S due to
the East being unable to appoint umpires to the latter two divisions.
6.
U21
Regional tournament (women) – should have been self-funding but has made a loss
of up to £500.
7.
Competitions
– final invoices for the balance of entry fees for the youth competitions and
also the women’s vets, Competition will be sent out shortly.
8.
Budget
for 2006/7 – Have received budget from the League but have not been able to
complete the East budget fully because I am waiting for information on various
items especially those from the Performance Group. No problem with the Association’s money. Will continue with the policy of Leagues and
competitions being self-funding and propose to leave the subsidies to the East
squads as in 2005/6. Will circulate
budget with comments when it is prepared.
9.
Affiliation
fees for 2006/7 – propose these will stay the same - £15/club team and
£7/school.
MARGARET MCCALL (Honorary
Treasurer)
APPENDIX 2: YOUTH
COMPETITION REPORT
1.
Attached
(APPENDIX 6) is the finalised programme for 2006-7 season for approval – I
still await a date from
2.
Thanks
from the Committee to the Management group who have supported the competitions.
I would like to thank Nicki Unwin (Essex) who stands down from our Committee at
the end of the season. Thank you for all her hard work on our behalf.
3.
Fiona
and I will be meeting soon to do all the arrangements for next season, so that
paperwork for all competitions can go out before the end of term re events pre
Christmas ‘06
LORAINE BANT
APPENDIX 3: YOUTH PERFORMANCE
REPORT
1 Kit for all players in individual
development identified and sponsor/supplier in place. Kit for tournament groups defined – kit in
hand to be inventoried and level of new orders to be planned and accepted by
Treasurer. Pre-management group
presentation
2 Age groups: Managers
and Coaches appointed, s/b on website shortly
Managers
urged to submit early budgets
U13
Boys – programme running
U14
Boys – silver medallists
U14
Girls – session in
U15/U17
plans in place – programme resumes summer/Culford
U21
Girls – played (12 only) in
U21
Boys – abandoned tournament.
Suggest
in the light of non-support by NGB that we abandon all U21 involvement
until/unless requested otherwise by NGB as part of national restructuring
plans.
3 Individual Development Programme
CPD for coaches is rescheduled for summer
camp. Invitations for Summer camp have
been sent out last week. Annual
programme begins in earnest immediately after summer camp. East kit and intro mailing for players and
parents together with registration details and annual admin/support fee (£10
suggested) to go out in next fortnight.
To include tournament group briefing.
Managers’ forum suggested as best method to created managers’
handbook. Budget for annual programme in
progress.
4 Summer Camp
Transferred from Haileybury to
5 Other
Next meeting post July AGM – but informal
sessions at Summer School. Existing
Officers retaining office at least until July 2007. 1 John Hendy, 2 Miche Block, 3 Ian Le Page, 4
Steve Baker, 5 Sarah Fretwell, 6 Phillipa Hurst, 7 TBA. (1 Chairman/managers’ liaison, 2 Secretary
budgets/tournament group liaison, 3 Youth Development Officer/Indiv Dev Prog
Manager, 4 Reg Coach, 5 Asst to Indiv Dev Prog Manager, 6 Kit, 7 Think
Tank) Input given for NGB Regional
Chairs meeting/LTAD plans/UK Lions etc.
6 Great to see so many East players in the
Commonwealth Games squads.
JOHN HENDY
APPENDIX 4: LEAGUE REPORT
1.
The Home Counties Men’s Vets League has
asked to be brought under the East Leagues umbrella. A volunteer to manage it is available – Bob
King of Pelicans and an addition to Rules 1 and 12 of our rules are all that is
required. They will have their own
separate structure and rules, and Bob will be on the League committee.
2.
The
EH proposal for a single system for hockey was discussed at length and the
proposal to take ALL under 16 boys and girls no matter their standard out of
the senior leagues was thought to be detrimental to East in particular and
hockey in general by having the effect of reducing our structure considerably
with no clear indication of an alternative structure. A large number of smaller clubs would cease
to exist, and the parents – very often the adult players would spend their time
moving the children around instead of playing hockey themselves. Our response to EH is attached.
3.
Playing Issues: a. several games in the
North East sector were voided because teams in
b. Welwyn GC had walked off the pitch as the
second goal was being awarded against them by their own umpire, but as they had
walked off the game was anyway awarded to Shefford. The abuse of the Shefford umpire was noted as
an all too often occurrence.
c. There was a case of umpire abuse with a
possible racial connotation against the Ford umpire. This needed deeper investigation, and as the
main witness had been abroad, there was a delay in coming to a conclusion. This will be pursued.
d. Sympathy and congratulations are due to Maldon & L Baddow 4th
XI for maintaining enthusiasm despite scoring only 4 goals and conceding
204. They still played every game!”
4.
Next season: Preparations are well
underway. Clubs must apply by 31 May,
Plashet a new club from
b. We
await confirmation that Alford is the Lincs club to join the EWL. We agreed that the Div 2 Leagues should be
10, 10, 12 rather that 11, 11, 11, as this increase the number of games. In the event of a tie promotions would be
decided by taking proportions of points etc to equalise out the games.
c. We no longer need to await EHL fixtures to
publish ours, and Richard Munns has agreed to set up both EML and EWL
fixtures. Due to holidays etc these are
expected towards the end of June
d. Chris KIME confirmed his retirement after 11
years on the committee and was warmly thanked for his efforts not least in
driving 135 miles each way to meetings!
Two new volunteers are to take his place – Jane Wilson and Neil
Liversidge.
e. Meeting dates for next season are: 19 Sept,
14 Nov, 6 Feb, 24 April
Finance: Fines so far totalled
about £1500, but there is an additional £300 for late return of cups and plates
– this will be used to buy new cups to replace some of the more damaged
ones. A break-even budget meant that
Trevor was able to propose a reduction of £2.50 in league fees per team to £12:50.
5.
League Rule Changes for 2006/07: After the bad experience of people not
bothering to ring in results and accepting a fine, it was decided in the EML to
go back to a point deduction. Minor
wording changes for clarity in GK’s doubling up and the use of field
substitutes; start times for pool umpire matches; reduced promotion/relegation
in smaller leagues, requirement for fixture card or electronic equivalent.
b. We noted that the rule requiring all EML/EWL
matches to be umpired by Level 1 from last year’s AGM will be implemented in
06/07 season.
c. If there is to be no active pool in Herts &
Beds, clubs cannot comply with all of Rule 5.1 so a note will be added to the
rule. The position regarding HBHUA remains unclear and unsatisfactory.
6.
Discipline: Cards for
the season: EML 27 Red, 932
Yellow, EWL: 1 Red, 59
Yellow. The men’s is a slight increase
on last year, but please remember the vast number of games actually
played. However some players have
received 5 cards, and one person SIX.
The bans that extend over the end of the league season will be carried
over to next season. Trevor is writing
to the clubs concerned.
b. The Hugh Jarvis Fair Play award will go to Cambs Nomads. The EWL are considering whether to introduce
a similar award.
c. Following severe umpire abuse by
7.
Presentation Day and AGM 2006: Confirmed with Ford HC –
AGM at 2pm, Buffet at 3pm, Presentations at 3.30.
Clubs bringing lots of people will be invited to pay for any extra
buffet. There will be no official
photographer this year as there was NOT ONE request for a photo last year, but
Mike Huckerby will have a camera on hand for the top presentations.
b. Most
trophies are now returned, with one damaged. Clubs in the North East of the
region seem to think they now own their cups aa 3 of the 6 have not been
returned. Fines are on their way.
c. Top goal scorers are being finalized, pennants
and certificates are organised.
d. VIP invitations should now have gone out, Sarah
Mann to coordinate. AGM agenda and
papers are in hand.
RUSSELL NUTTER
APPENDIX 5:
DEVELOPMENT MANAGER REPORT
1. Funding Application to
the Community Investment Fund
We have been told recently
by Sport England that our critical funding application will not be dealt until
June or July, which is frustrating to say the least. However I can report at
least that we have funding in place for all CSP’s (Employers of the
2.
The search for a new HDO
in
3. The Single System
I have delivered five Single System presentations
since the Roadshow in February. Three further presentations are arranged at key
county events.
The feedback is mostly supportive, but concerns
about restrictions on young players participating in adult leagues and issues
around school competitions are a mayor worry for many. The East League has been
invited to receive a presentation, and to have an initial discussion around
implementation, in light of their recent feedback.
All audiences are being encouraged to email their
thoughts to the single system email address!
4. Coach Education
All courses are being widely promoted by the HDO’s
to all clubs / schools etc and can all be found on the England Hockey website.
Details of the forthcoming Level Two course and
the England Hockey Coaching Workshops have now been circulating and are filling
up, albeit slowly.
I am meeting with East Performance (ILP) to
discuss future joint working and in particular coach development.
5. Young Umpire Programme / Regional Young Umpire
Action Group
I have had a positive meeting with Mike Trett to
ensure ongoing effective dialog with the ERHUA and I will be presenting further
details to their September meeting. As a reminder - Each county is
running at least one Young Umpire and one
Foundation Umpire Award this year, following the success of last years ERHA
sponsored programme. The RYUAG will meet again in June.
6. Welfare / Child Protection
I have yet to receive the new England Hockey
Welfare pack which I am afraid will delay the intended circulation for Clubs
and Associations.
7. Work Programme Meeting
Harri and I meet recently with Ros and Bill talk
to them about the work we do. I understand this was a valuable exercise and we
hope to do this again in the future. (If
colleague would like a copy of our quarterly work programme please let me
know.)
CHARLIE FARROW