MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE ERHA MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HELD ON WEDNESDAY, 28^th NOVEMBER 2007 AT 7 PM AT THE HILTON HOTEL, STANSTED

PRESENT:

ERHA Management Counties

Bill Felton, President [BF] Judith Krone, Essex [JK]

Sheila George, Deputy President [SG] Rob Oakley, Beds [RO]

Lorraine Bant [LB] Peter Wright, Norfolk [PW]

Catherine Lymer, Secretary [CL] Dan Heydon, Herts [DH]

Samantha Menear [SM] John Adams, Suffolk [JA]

Mike Trett, Umpiring [MT] Nigel Brookes, Beds [NB]

John Hendy, Development [JH]

Charlie Farrow, England Hockey [CF]

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Margaret McCall - Treasurer; Russell Nutter, League; John Helliwell, PR & Appeals; Miche Bloch – Performance; Chris Hatch, Suffolk; Jill Warrick, Lincolnshire.

Welcome to all.

2. MINUTES OF THE MANAGEMENT MEETING HELD ON 12 September 07

Minutes of last meeting duly signed by BF.

3. MATTERS ARISING FROM THESE MINUTES

Management Meeting 9 May 2007

Under RCC point 2 – discussion on 1^st January birth date possibly being changed to actual individuals birthdate. BF – RCC are lobbying for the birthdate rather than 1^st January.

4. DISCUSS PAPER ON DEVELOPMENT COMMITEE

· JH had circulated the paper before the meeting. Discussed the proposed role of the Development Committee – help support the work of EH with the single system etc, set up a chain of responsibility for counties and regions. At the moment there is no development committee so there isn’t a regional voice.

· CL asked where JH thinks he will find the volunteers as current volunteers are already stretched to thin. JH agreed that it would be a problem but was aiming to find new volunteers to form the committee.

· BF – Proposed John Hendy to chair the Development Committee. Seconded by the group.

5. COMMITTEE REPORTS

[a] Finance (report in appendices)

· Slight amendment on the report which is Kent have now paid all their affiliation fee’s for both clubs and schools and Norfolk have paid all their school affiliation fee’s.

· ERYUAG- budget now received and should be discussed at the next meeting.

· Umpires should administer their own money (expenses etc) in the future.

· MT – the treasurer is happy to do this. BF – A meeting has been set up to discuss this which is a move in the right direction.

[b] Performance (report in appendices)

· Essex were disappointed that there was no report available as yet for Culford and would like to know which players were selected to England etc. JH – in response said there has been no report as the accounts are not finalised as yet, the report won’t be published until all the information has been collected.

· Short discussion on the regional tournaments – BF- as this year was the first year with sponsorship the event was very low key. No clocks on pitches, teams were not posted on the EH website etc.

· JK- the U15 girls only had 3 training weekends and no preparation matches. JH – we go to these tournaments to show off as many individuals as possible not to win. We prepared them by making them play the 5-3-2 which is what was asked of us by EH, which makes them easier to spot.

· Summer Camps 08 decision to be made by JAN 08 on location.

· Hi-Pacs U14, a new initiative. It is where U14’s will find themselves in a performance environment for the first time. JK – This needs to be sold to parents so would encourage a big marketing campaign.

[c] League (no report please look at the minutes which are on the east webpage)

· BF – fixtures in Dec 07 which is running into the Indoor Season. As Indoor happens in Dec is there any chance that the teams in the higher divisions stop by the end of Novmber? SM- will take this back to the committee.

· Rule 5.1 there are no umpires appointed Dec 1^st matches for St Albans 1, Bedford 1 and 2, Blueharts 1 and 2, Berkamsted 1 and Vauxhall 1. St Alban Ladies and Bishop Stortford Ladies. As Dec 1^st is to soon for penalties if it is not sorted by January 08 penalties will come into play.

· NB – Bedford have sorted their umpires.

· RO – There is a new East Ladies League starting, Beds have discussed this and the county girls want to move across and 3 clubs also wish to, what has to be done to start this process? SM – Talk to Trevor Williams.

[d] Competitions (no report in appndices)

· Main issue is there are no umpires available for this weekend, so tournaments may have to be cancelled. LB- is really looking forward to the centralised calendar.

[e] Umpiring (report in appendices)

· Nothing to add to the report

[f] Discipline (report in appendices)

· JHelliwell asked for more members on the panel especially from Norfolk and Cambs. They need to be ratified.

· Rob Oakley (Beds) and Peter Wright (Norfolk) volunteered. Dan Heydon will volunteer if no one else from Herts steps forward.

[g] Regions’ Consultative Committee (no report in appendices)

· BF – Euro’s were badly advertised. The next RCC meeting is a Strategic Planning Meeting the RCC meeting is cancelled.

[h] Indoor (no report)

· CF – qualifying tournaments are this weekend. Reasonable number of entrants, 11 mens teams entered at Kelsey Kerridge and 8 teams entered at Bethnal Green. 1 team from both competitions will go straight through to the national league in January.

[i] England Hockey (report in appendices)

· Nothing to add to report. CF – would the committee like the Youth Panel to do a short presentation at the next meeting?

6. UPDATE ON THE SINGLE SYSTEM FOR HOCKEY

JH attended regional Single System meeting at Millfield where 2 or 3 representatives were present from each region. East has got to grips with single system compared to other regions. Single system is all about the individuals maximising playing time so it was discussed that Lincolnshire would probably go to Loughborough. Next meeting is in Sheffield. Indicated that it might be a good idea to go to a tendering process for the JRPC’s. Each region is driving theirs forward.

7. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

· SG – For future meetings there should be an agenda item for technical officiating.

· JH – The team that East is putting in for the European Indoors at Sheffield, is made up of non indoor players. JH thinks that this is wrong and would like it to be mentioned at the next RCC meeting, BF in full agreement.

· DH – In regards to the letter from Richard West, apologies to him it will be discussed when the treasurer is at the next meeting.

· BF- EH AGM at Fords Sports Club on Sunday 16th March 2008. Would appreciate a good turn out as we only host every five years and would appreciate as many people as possible present and trusts all Management Committee will make a point of attending. There is good free buffet!!

FULL COMMITTEE REPORTS APPEAR ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES.

The meeting closed at 9.45 pm with the president thanking all for coming.

President ………………………………………………………………… Date …………………………………………………..

ERHA management meeting 28^th November 2007

Honorary Treasurer’s report

· Please accept my apologies for absence

Items for information

· East Club affiliation fees - received from Essex, Norfolk & Suffolk. England Hockey fees still to be paid by some clubs in Essex, Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire and Kent (women). Deadline for payment of both fees is 30^th November.

· Camps – all but minor items of expenditure has been received. Excess income likely to be about £2,000 to £2,500.

· Squads – Final accounts completed for U17 boys squad (within budget). U15 girls - query on staff kit to be resolved. U17 girls and U15 boys – outstanding players fees, pitch invoice and staff kit and claims to be resolved. No entry fee to this year’s U15 & U17 Regional Tournaments – sponsored by Man Group.

· Indoor clubs – most entry fees have been received. Ros Marsh chasing the rest.

· Insurance – paid to Perkins Slade.

· Appeals – balance of appeals fee less Appeals Panel’s expenses refunded to relevant clubs.

· Regional Young Umpires Action Group – have received budget from this group. Will need to be discussed by officers and Management.

· Youth Panel – have agreed to pay travel to meetings for the members of this group.

Margaret McCall

Honorary Treasurer

ERHA

16.11.2007

East Region Performance Group Report – 28^th November 2007

Summer Camps 2007

Accounts are very close to being finalised. The forecast is a surplus of approximately £2K which will be used as part of the funding for our part time administrator/camps organiser for 2008. A formal summary report should be complete within the next fortnight and will be distributed to members of the Management Committee via email for information purposes only.

Part Time Administrator Post

To assist with communication and paperwork (in particular in relation to Camps 2008). It is anticipated that this role will be external, that is to say ‘client’ facing, liasing with Counties, Parents, Players, help with website information etc. The person we have approached to take on the role is Fiona Gall and terms should be agreed no later than Mid-December. This will mean that County nominations for players to attend performance and development camps will be back on schedule and requested in January 2008. The cost of approx £3,500 & NIC is commensurate with current outlay.

Regional Tournament Updates

We were thanked by the National Body this year on how we implemented coaching information relayed from England’s CCC’s. This was obvious when looking at the players and the system of play 5-3-2. It was noted that the Region had played an important role in assisting with standardisation and consistency of their message and remained open minded, putting to good use the availability of CCC’s throughout August, September and October 2007.

We achieved a total of 20 player invitations for further assessment by England at the end of November, 12 from the Boys and 8 from the Girls. Of particular note was the increase/maintenance in and of numbers for both U15 squads.

County

We are aware that there was a clash of dates between preparation for the Regional Tournaments and County League matches for the Girls the weekend prior to the tournament. The date on the Calendar had not been specifically attributed to planned performance and as such there occurred a clash of dates.

Players were released to their Counties for the matches and due to changes in format, competitions and dates in 2008 this should not arise again.

CCC Use

We have been asked to inform the National Body of how we would like to move forward and use the available CCC’s from December 2007 – March 2008. Miche Bloch will be meeting with Jane Powell and the CCC’s in December if possible or early January to discuss proposals. Discussions thus far have centred around the following:

• TID for the U14 HiPACS in July 2008 by either working with the Counties or via Regionally arranged activity arranged by information gained from Counties regarding player ability.
• Regional Coach Development (to include identification & core skills workshops with those who may be qualified and show an interest in setting up and working in one of the allocated National Junior Development Centres) in order to ensure consistency of delivery
• Affiliated and Registered Club sessions within the East Region to deliver a variety of information, for example, information on the intended system of play, 5-3-2 with differences emphasised between the men and women’s game.
• Specialist work & mentorship with small groups of youth players already identified by England in the U14, U15, U16 & U17 age groups.

Summer Camps 2008

We are currently undertaking the process of searching for a new venue to host the August Summer Camps. We will be looking for facilities with water based or sand dressed pitches. It is anticipated that the Summer Camp will account for a large proportion of the population to be serviced by the National Body’s (East Region’s) Development Centres (Bury St Edmunds & St. Albans) for 2008. By supplying residential courses for a number of days we will also be accounting for the majority of the ‘time’ necessary for players to attend development centres if invited. CCCs will be involved at all levels from content planning to assessment at our camps.

HiPAC’s 2008

We have been consulted and informed with and by the National Body that the first and ‘pilot’ HiPAC (High Performance Assessment Centre) will be held 11-13 July 2008, for the U14 Age Group. Those with a 1994 date of birth will be eligible to attend.

NOTE: These players will also be eligible for the real HiPACS intended for October 2008. This means these players will have the opportunity to attend 2 camps in 2008.

Scheduled Performance committee meeting dates (not in handbook)

March 4^th 2008

April 22^nd 2008

Last meeting 13^th November 2007

There will however be further meeting dates set and arranged as and when required.

Micheline Bloch

November 2007

Report to ERHA Management Committee from the Umpiring Committee

November 2007

The Umpiring Committee meeting is due to be held next week, therefore this report will be brief.

I can report that, following a report from H&BHUA that some clubs were not complying with League rule 5.1 and were not supplying umpires to their neutral pool, it is proposed that umpires be withdrawn from the home fixtures of those clubs. The clubs have been given a short time to comply with the League rule, or face the consequences.

At next week’s meeting we will be considering a proposal from Liz Pelling, Chairman of ERYUAG, that ERHUA formally incorporate the ERYUAG as a constituent member. This proposal will involve changes to our constitution and I will report on progress at the next meeting. The funding arrangements of the group will also need to be established.

Umpire supply continues to be a problem. To date just one Premier B game has been postponed because of shortage of umpires. It is to be regretted that the fixture list of events does become so crowded for some weekends that already overstretched resources are unable to cope.

Mike Trett

November 2007

Chairman Appeals Panel Report to East Management, November 28^th 2007

My apologies for not being able to attend this meeting.

Appeal Review

Since the start of the 2007/2008, season the Appeal panel have had to meet three times to hear East Appeals.

The Appeal Panel hearing these appeals has consisted of John Helliwell, Chairman, Ian Brown, (past Chairman of Suffolk) and Chris Hatch, Secretary and Treasurer of Suffolk).

The three Appeals were as follows.

16^th September, EHA Cup game, Blueharts - John Barrett, 60 days, physical violence to player . Appeal rejected.

15^th September, Club game, St Ives – Andrew Moore, 90 days, Violence threatened to umpire. Appeal rejected.

13^th October, East League Div 3 SE, Clacton – Jamie Roberts, 180 days, violence used to umpire. Appeal upheld.

In terms of Appeal frequency, this is the worst start to the season for some years!

I would like to thank the County Disciplinary Administrators and Mick Pullin, the East Disciplinary Administrator for their timely action of the required paperwork, allowing the Appeals Panel to meet and action the hearings on time.

Future Action

For the future, I would like to recommend to management that each year, the Appeal panel members should be ratified by management at the first meeting after the East AGM. This is not the case at present, but I believe it should be.

Presently, I need to seek additional panel members from Cambs and Norfolk. Any suggestions from Management would be welcome.

John Helliwell

Appeals Chairman

Regional Managers Report is attached separately.