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Draft Minutes of
a meeting of the Council of the North Eastern
Bridge Association held at
St Georges Bridge Centre on 21st June
2007 at 7.30pm
Present: P Durie
(Chairman) K Spragg (Vice-Chairman, Hartlepool
BC & Middlesborough BC) I Spoors (EBU Delegate)
I Rankin (Chief Tournament Secretary & Stockton
BC) B Godfrey (Congress Secretary) P M Owen (Hurworth)
C Owen (Selector) G Gold (Brunton) K Pattison
(County Youth Officer (CYO)) B Charlton
(Newcastle BC) D Bryson (Whitley Bay BC &
Tynemouth BC) J McCourt (Durham BC) J Gordon (Hexham
BC) M Baker (Secretary)
Apologies: E Purvis, D Dansie, J Howie, J
Finnie, S Caygill, A Caygill and C Benneworth
1 Minutes of the Previous meeting
(15 Feb)
Proposed by B
Charlton and seconded by M Owen, the minutes
were accepted as a true record, subject to
“Barbara Charlton” in the list of those
attending being changed to “Brenda Charlton”.
The secretary undertook so to do.
2 Matters arising
from the minutes
Jocelyn Gordon asked
if it was still the intention to publish the
hands for Sim Pairs in booklet form now that the
cost had been reduced from £2 to £1. Ian Spoors
said it was the intention to so do.
3 Minutes of the Executive
meeting 18 May
Dai Bryson said that
not all club representatives have web access and
asked that hard copies of minutes be posted. It
was pointed out that all club secretaries have
e-mail addresses and web access and are asked to
print copies for both the club rep and for
display to club members. The expense and time
involved in sending hard copies to over 40
council members is unjustified.
4 Minutes of the AGM
These were accepted as a true record.
5 Chairman’s
Remarks
The Chairman thanked all present for their
attendance
6 Secretary’s
Report
The secretary said
that Jesmond BC (previously Teachers BC) had
elected to leave the EBU and NEBA at their
recent AGM. A discussion followed as to why 3
clubs had left NEBA in the previous 12 months.
Various reasons were put forward, including
decreasing membership, a desire to play neither
NEBA nor EBU events, and a loss of premises. The
secretary agreed to contact the club secretaries
involved to ascertain the reasons for their
decisions. It was noted that most of the members
of the 3 clubs were also members elsewhere, so
had the opportunity to play NEBA/EBU
competitions should they so desire.
In response to Ken Pattison’s query as to what
publicity material was held by either NEBA or
the EBU the chairman said NEBA had none, and
that produced by the EBU at the moment was not
very inspiring. We would await further details
of future EBU plans before canvassing non-EBU
clubs in the area. The Chairman pointed out that
we have the best bridge website in the country.
Clive Owen said that the atmosphere in clubs is
much better than when he started playing, but
emphasised that we must all make the effort to
be polite and welcoming to visitors, and indeed
to all those we meet over the green baize.
7 Congress Secretary’s report
The Congress
brochure is in preparation and will include
details of the Sinclair Cup and Minbridge trophy
competitions it is hoped to stage on the
Saturday morning. These competitions, for young
players, will raise the profile of Youth Bridge
in front of an audience of club players. It is
hoped to arrange some communal transport to
reduce the number of cars using the somewhat
limited parking area available.
8 Youth Bridge
Ken Pattison said that his post was not a
panacea, and that he needs helpers in all areas,
prepared to go into schools, and to organise
clubs. The schools are generally welcoming and
the task is a rewarding one. 45 minutes to an
hour at lunchtime, or after school is the norm.
Clare Dutton has recently started a group in St
Leonard’s in Durham, where she teaches. In
response to questions about CRB checks it was
stated that these are done through the EBU and
are painless but take a few weeks.
There is a minbridge event at St Georges on
Saturday 7th July from 10am to 1230
when all are welcome to either watch or help.
Ken is organising a coach to take young players
to Loughborough for the annual youth weekend,
and asked for a donation towards the cost of
£800. The EBU will match whatever NEBA
contributes. Ian Spoors proposed we grant £250
towards the cost; this was seconded by Margaret
Owen and carried unanimously.
9 EBU Strategy
Document
The Chairman pointed out that the document
outlined the intended strategy, and was not a
detailed plan, and the Executive, which was
broadly in favour, knew no more than was
contained in the paper which was on the EBU
website, and to which the NEBA site had a link.
A lengthy discussion followed during which Clive
Owen said the document lacked clarity. In
response Ian Spoors said the EBU had done it’s
sums and had sufficient reserves to survive the
transition. It was assumed that the EBU income
would remain at a similar level to the present
but spread across a wider base, and that some
clubs may reconsider their position. Support
ranged from the wholehearted (Tony Bell) to the
uncertain (John McCourt) where the club was
about 50% EBU members and saw the EBU doing
little for them at the moment. In concluding the
discussion the Chairman said that there were a
number of issues to resolve, and that both
individuals and clubs could e-mail their queries
to
peter.stocken@ebu.co.uk She asked clubs to
discuss the document, seek clarification from
the EBU where necessary, and for reps to attend
the next meeting with their club’s response
which would then be discussed, and the EBU
delegate instructed accordingly by the
Executive.
10 Council
meeting dates
The next two meetings will be Friday 14 Sept at
Newcastle (subject to Newcastle agreement) and
Friday 11 Jan at St Georges. Both meetings will
start at 7.30pm.
11 Any Other Business
a.
Summer Pairs.
The Whitley Bay secretary had asked Dai Bryson
to say that Whitley Bay cannot hold the Summer
Pairs in 2008.
b.
NEBA Sim Pairs.
Gill Gold asked that the Executive reconsider
the status of the Sim Pairs, in that allowing
the Chairman to nominate a charity was a way of
NEBA thanking the incumbent for their work. It
was agreed that the recent change should remain
in force for the time being.
c.
Tournament entries.
Ian Rankin asked for better responses to
Tournament secretaries’ missives, and in
particular when a club secretary hands over the
reins to brief their successor as to what is
involved.
d.
Northern Bridge League.
Clive Owen said that he detected a lack of
interest among players to participate in the
Northern Bridge League (NBL). He suggested that
our participation is reconsidered after the
forthcoming season. Distance seemed to be the
main obstacle. Despite efforts to centralise
venues and a resultant reduction in mileage,
Newcastle to Manchester is still a trek that
many consider not worthwhile for the bridge
involved. The matrix of 36 of our top players
shows about one-third available to produce 2
teams of 8. This results in robbing the club
pool. The knock-on effect gives the selectors a
real problem. The dates for the under 25’s
exclude our university players in July and
September.
e.
John Clark Salver.
Jocelyn Gordon asked if all clubs knew how
calculations for the John Clark Salver were
done, as there were several clubs who did not
enter either pairs for the Club Pairs
Championship or teams for the Club Teams
Championship. She asked that more pairs and
teams should be allowed from each club to ensure
a larger entry. Ian Rankin explained the basis
of the calculations was available to all. He and
Ian Spoors agreed that further entries would
complicate matters and that the better solution
was for all clubs to enter their quota of
participants. The secretary undertook to contact
all clubs to enquire as to the reason for
non-participation.
There being no further business the meeting
closed at 1017pm
(M J Baker) Hon Sec
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