Notes of East Men’s and Women’s Leagues Annual General Meeting 5^th June 2011.

Apologies for Absence: None were received.

Present: 63 people, representative of 26 Clubs

1. Chairman’s League Report for season

Chairman Russell Nutter reported this would be his last season as Chairman and also reported that League Secretary Trevor Williams would also be standing down. Russell gave a potted history of the enormous contribution Trevor had made in the 14 years he had stood as Secretary.

There was one major problem this season where the League Management Committee had to expel a club for bringing hockey and the league into disrepute due to their behaviour towards umpires, which had seen the club receive 5 red cards, all of which were issued for dissent, and 27 yellow cards. It was reported that the League Management Committee’s decision had been appealed by the club to the East Hockey Association Appeals Committee but that committee agreed with the League Management committee and that club will remain expelled for the coming season.

There was a 10% increase in yellow cards last season but still amounted to less than 1 yellow card per 4 games played. Some positive news is that there had been a reduction in the number of red cards issued in comparison to the previous season, which highlighted even more the unacceptable behaviour of the expelled club.

Russell also reported that effective administration remains a real issue within some clubs, where meeting essential deadlines for the league are sometimes seen as an occupational hazard. For example with two days to the entry deadline EIGHT clubs hadn’t even entered their teams for next season and it was highlighted that one club only managed to meet the deadline with just EIGHT minutes to spare!

In the lower divisions it was reported that there was the occasional flouting of the rules on strengthening lower teams, particularly when the higher teams haven’t got a game – say on slip dates and Russell repeated advice he has previously given that it is recommended that if there is any doubt either don’t sign the team sheet, or include a comment on the back so that the league manager can investigate.

2. Election of Officers

The following had been nominated by the League Committee. There were no other nominations, and the list was unanimously agreed.

Chairman:	Rosemary Prince
Secretary:	Neil Liversedge
EML League Managers	Chris Brown, David Burt, Cliff Gulbis, Barry Harness, Nick Hoyle, Samantha Menear, Pritpal Sagoo. (Post meeting note: Following the meeting Andy Barlow from Boston has agreed to become a League Manager)
EML Results Co-ordinator:	Richard Munns
EMVL League Manager	Bob King
EWL League Managers	Janet Goody, Sarah Mann, Samantha Meaear, Rosemary Prince
EWL Results Co-ordinator:	Sarah Mann
Budget Officer	Samantha Menear

The Officers as listed were therefore elected.

3. League fees 2011-12 Season

The proposed fee of £16.00 per team (£24 for late entries) was agreed unanimously.

4. Amendments to League Rules

There were no league rule changes proposed.

5. Any Other Business

There were no written questions received. Therefore the Chairman offered to take questions from the floor.

A question was raised by a member of Thurrock regarding whether there was anything being done by the league to stop the members of the expelled club playing elsewhere. The Chair responded that there wasn’t however he hoped that the clubs who the players went to would have a stronger structure to be able to address any disciplinary issues in a way that was for the benefit of the sport and all who play and/or officiate the game.

A question was asked by a member of Ramgarhia regarding whether there was anything being done by the league to address issues of poor umpiring. The secretary responded that the League does not appoint any umpires to league game, appointments were made by either the East Umpires Association, the County Umpires Association or by the clubs. Where there was a specific issue with a specific umpire the club should provide feedback to the relevant County Umpires Association, the aim being to help improve the quality of the umpires we have.

Mick Pullen, East Region Disciplinary Administrator asked the attendees for feedback regarding minimum penalties associated with red cards.

Sheila George, President of the East Hockey Association thanked both Russell Nutter, as Chairman, and Trevor Williams, as Secretary, for their enormous contribution to League Hockey in the East over a large number of years, this was echoed by a large round of applause from the attendees..