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Minutes of Annual General Meeting 2003

HELD AT THE GRANGE CLUB ON 13TH AUGUST 2003

Present: 17 members were present and signed the attendance sheet. The full attendance list is available on request.

Apologies: Veronica Rathbone and Stuart McIntosh.

Meeting opened: 7:55pm
(Minutes recorded by R. Hall in the absence of S. McIntosh) Back to top

1. Minutes of 2002 AGM

Minutes of AGM held 7th August 2002 were received, proposed as correct by R. Hall and seconded by A. Wood, carried. Back to top

2. Secretary's Report

Stuart McIntosh was not present due to a family holiday and his report was read in his absence. It began by explaining that 'Wolfmark' had now been superseded by Sport England's 'Clubmark' and that the club was intent on achieving this. Towards this aim Andy Wood had been appointed Child Protection Officer and John Wilkinson had attended a child protection course. Andy Wood had also attended and 'Equity in Coaching Course', Stuart had attended a 'Club For All' Course and 8 coaches had passed a Touchline First Aid Course.

He had encountered difficulties in securing CRB checks for all coaches and their assistants and that a lack of co-operation had made his role as Secretary unnecessarily difficult through the year.

Stuart mentioned he had tried to introduce a club membership register and explained the reasons for this but, again, had encountered difficulties through a lack of co-operation. Feedback was sought from the players and parents but nearly 2/3rds of the forms sent out had not returned. All of this had soured his term as secretary.

On a more positive note Stuart had mentioned the 'In Touch' newsletter he had introduced and the two club history books he had written, which he hoped would make money for the youth section in the long run.

On the back of the spectre of insurance premiums the club Stuart had run a successful Race Night and introduced the Wolves Lucky Sevens scheme, although the latter had only got 12 members from a club membership of over 170.

Stuart concluded by saying that the decision to stand as secretary for the 2003-04 season had not been easy due to his feeling that the secretary role was being taken for granted and he asked that others might take a more active role in the running of the club such as by attending meetings etc. Back to top

3. Treasurer's Report

Steve James presented his Finance Report, which was circulated to all those present. It showed that the previous year's balance stood at £2,292.16 and that twelve months on it was now £3,035.76. The comprehensive breakdown showed that £10,218.11 had been received during the year, whilst £9,474.51 had been paid out. Back to top

4. Chairman's Report

Sean Mellor, said he agreed with a lot of the Secretary's Report and the point raised of the need to help one another. However, overall progress was good with the Youth Section now running eight teams compared to the one that founded the section just five years ago.

The Club had run a Successful Gala weekend with everyone, especially our visitors having a god time. Sean felt we were learning all the time but there was always room for improvement.

Sean commented on the fact that three of our age groups have Service Area representatives more than any other club, which showed that development is being achieved. Indeed our Under 12?s have 10 players in their Service Area squad more than half.

He therefore concluded that the future looks bright, especially if the club can secure the 'Clubmark', which hopefully can be a passport to grants for further development. Back to top

5. Team Reports

Under 7's - Coach Ian Dobson
Ian Dobson said that his first impressions were of a bunch of scallywags who had never played a game together. Initially they didn't have much luck and lost more than they won but slowly things began to turn round. In training the children started to listen and put what they learnt into games. He has seen their confidence and ability grow. A landmark game was against Widnes Moorfield that ended in a 44-all draw and the look on the players' faces was a pleasure to see. Despite a nucleus of just seven players, they finished unbeaten in their last 19 games, a mark of how far they had come in such a short space of time. No details of team finances were provided.

Under 8's - Coach John Wilkinson
John Wilkinson said that last season had gone well with a small side. The Under 8's had won more games than they had lost and finished with 17 registered players who he hoped would all sign on for the forthcoming season. He gave details on some of the newcomers to the squad, the teams bank balance was healthy and finished by thanking his assistant Dave Sullivan for his support. They currently had £180.54 in team funds.

Under 9's - Coach Veronica Rathbone
Veronica Rathbone had prepared a report that was read for her in her absence due to illness. It said that after splitting with the current U8's they were left with 25 players training and, as the season ended they have 17 active members who are looking forward to 11-aside rugby. Training has been adjusted accordingly. The season saw 8 wins, 2 draws and 12 defeats with six of those by just one try. More importantly the team always showed a good sporting spirit regardless of the result.
Veronica said that she enjoyed coaching at Latchford and at St Benedict?s school where she worked, but due to work commitments she stated it was her intention to step down at the end of the 2003-04 season. Team finances showed that they had started the season with £832.29, received a further £1,336.99, spent £2,003.92 and currently had £175.36 in funds.

Under 10's - coach Steve James
Steve James reported that the season had started with 14 registered players increasing to15 by Christmas and 3 more afterward. He said it had been a very good season, playing well against all opposition including some very tough opponents. Two players were moving up an age group but there were some good players coming through and the attitude was good. Opposition coaches had reported back favourably on Latchford's gala.

Under 11's - coach Andy Wood
Andy Wood said he had often commented on a seeming revolving door for players but a core was established and there had been some success in recruiting from local schools. The problem for next season was eased further with the Ball brothers stepping up an age group and from the sad demise of local rivals Woolston Rovers, which has yielded five players with good attitude and skills. Andy said that the performance standard had increased with the players being more competitive than the results suggested. He again referred to the core of players who formed a platform for the newcomers and how commemorative medals had been presented to mark personal appearance landmarks for the club. He felt the kick-chase part of their game was particularly profitable. Andy went on to discuss his training regime for the close season and felt certain there would be further improvement next term, which hopefully, if the team stayed together, would lead to some being selected for the Service Area. He provided a comprehensive breakdown of the team's finances. This showed the team started the year with £704.29 and ended the year with £533.85 in team funds.

Under 12's - coach Sean Mellor
Sean Mellor said that there had been great progress made by this team with the highlight of the season being them winning their way through to the North West Counties' Cup Final. Sadly, the low point was their performance in that final. The squad has had ten players chosen for the U12's Service Area, which was the best Warrington representative team in terms of results. The entire Latchford squad had shown signs of improvement and team spirit was excellent. Sean gave a warning that progress would need to continue; as the reward for a successful season has been that the team have been placed in the Premier League for 2003-04. Another comprehensive breakdown of finances showed this team had started the season with £682.56 in funds to which they had added £2,083.01. Their outgoings had amounted to £1,516.00 leaving a balance of £1,249.57. Sean Mellor said he was going to be spending more time with the U15's for next season and Bobby Hall is to be the main coach for this team next season.

Under 13's - Andy Smith
Iain Fowler reported on his first year of coaching this team and described it as not only a learning experience but also a transitional period for the team who had moved to full sized pitches, balls and rules with the only major difference between Under 13 rugby & Open Age is that it's just 25 minutes a half rather than 40. Iain said when he and Andy Smith took charge there was about 10 lads training making it hard to begin with. However, progress was swiftly seen and the season ended with 22 active players signed on. The unfortunate demise of Woolston Rovers at this age group aided Latchford?s cause as they inherited three Service Area players. The addition of others gave the existing players a boost and helped the progression to a higher level.Iain said training was based primarily on core skills and communication, which is what had been lacking at the beginning of the season. Training had progressed and developed accordingly. The team played 16 games winning 13 and losing 3. They had ended 2nd in their league resulting in promotion to a higher league. Financially the team had £44.77 in funds and a full breakdown was available from Andy Smith. Iain made a special mention of the support he and Andy had received from the parents and they were looking forward to the next campaign.

Under 14's - coach Jon Mitchell
Jon said that the 2002-03 season had started with twenty registered players but they had lost a couple along the way. Even so it was a great achievement for them to finish third in their league, which had surpassed all expectations. As well as a good league campaign they had done well in the cups. Jon commented on a game when they travelled to Wigan St Pat's with just ten players and still ran out winners. A mark of their achievements was having eight players selected for the Service Area and four who had been picked for the Regional Squad. Sean Mellor added that he would be more involved with the U15's next season. Back to top

6. Election of Officers

6.1 Chairperson
John Wilkinson proposed Sean Mellor should continue in the role. Iain Fowler seconded. There were no other nominations. Sean Mellor elected.

6.2 Hon Secretary
Sean Mellor proposed Stuart McIntosh should continue in the role. Andy Smith seconded. There were no other nominations. Stuart McIntosh was elected.

6.3 Hon Treasurer
Steve James was not prepared to stand. John Wilkinson indicated he would be prepared to take on the role. Sean Mellor proposed John Wilkinson as Treasurer. Andy Smith seconded. John Wilkinson was elected. Back to top

7. Any Other Business

7.1 Registration Secretary
Sean Mellor suggested that a new position of Registration Secretary should be created based upon comments passed by Stuart McIntosh about how onerous his role had become having encompassed this task. Robert Hall stressed that the membership should help the secretary more and respond better to any request made by the secretary. No volunteers came forward, no decision made.

7.2 Monthly Meetings
Continuing the theme of easing the burden on the secretary it was requested that each team should send a representative on a rota basis to attend the North West Counties' meetings. The 8-12 association have five teams and there are three for the 13-15 association.

7.3 Club Subscriptions
Sean Mellor said the annual tariff for each team was to be £900 payable from 1st September (equates to £20 a week for 45 weeks). He said the referee's fees should come out of this figure. All agreed.

7.4 Proposals for 2003-04 Season
The proposed dates for the forthcoming season for each team was given and details of how the leagues would be formed.
'Stick Mits' are banned for U7-U12's
All registrations are well down the path of completion but no cards means no play and this includes coaches' cards.

7.5 Insurance Premiums
It is expected that the premiums will be £59 per team

7.6 Honorary Youth Section President
Sean Mellor suggested that there should be a new role of Youth Section President for a person who has done much to develop Latchford Albion as a club. He said he felt Brian Harrop should be acknowledged within the club for all his loyalty over the years and there was an opportunity to do this within the Youth Section by asking him to become the first Youth Section President. Andy Wood officially proposed Brian Harrop for this role. Seconded by Ian Dobson. Carried after a vote.

There being no other business the meeting closed at 9.10pm Back to top