Agenda: Shires League Meeting
Saturday 24th
June 2006 at Express Holiday Inn, Milton Keynes. 11am to 1pm
1.
Welcome and apologies
The secretary welcomed everybody to the best turn
out ever for a Shires League AGM. A vote of thanks was given to Badminton England
for their support today, providing the venue and buffet meal.
Present
Ian Rizzotto League Secretary, Josie Smith Schools & Youth
Board, Malcolm Smith Schools & Youth Board, Eric Brown Schools & Youth
Board, Derek Batchelor Badminton England, Jane Coles (Avon), Barbara Lincoln
(Bedfordshire), Paul Adamson (Bedfordshire), James Baldwin (Berkshire), Ian
Hird (Buckinghamshire), Don Gilders (Buckinghamshire), Ruth Jefferies
(Buckinghamshire), Karl Bergh (Cheshire), S Nottingham (Cheshire), Judith
Rowbottom (Derbyshire), Lisa Ridley (Derbyshire), Helen Turrell (Essex), Tim
Bircher (Gloucestershire), Maria Newbery (Hampshire), Tony Clarke
(Hertfordshire), Phil Westwood (Hertfordshire), Pat Walker (Hertfordshire),
Philip Jones (Kent), Dave Dunlop (Lancashire), Pete Hall (Leicestershire),
Vanessa Stanton (Leicestershire), Sue Hutt (Lincolnshire), Simon Piff
(Norfolk), Carol Harvey (Northants), Clive Westwood (Northants), Sonia Asbrey
(Northants), Paul Adcock (Nottinghamshire), Paul Stacey (Nottinghamshire),
Steve Burner (Shropshire), David Mathers (Staffordshire), Marie Mathers
(Staffordshire), Yvonne Pears (Suffolk), Trevor Davies (Suffolk), Dennis
Higgins (Surrey), Sonia Dixon (Warwickshire), Gordon Milne (Yorkshire), Nigel
Hargreaves (Yorkshire).
Apologies
Rob Stanford (Buckinghamshire), Sarah Dennis (Cambridgeshire),
Brenda Hickson (Cheshire), Mike Copack (Flintshire), Graham Ashdown
(Oxfordshire), Lisa Jacobs (Suffolk), Ian Clarke (Sussex), Jan Clarke (Sussex),
Derinda Fullerton (Worcestershire),
2.
New scoring and Tournament Calendar
Eric Brown addressed the meeting, discussing his
views on the new scoring system and the tournament calendar.
He started by informing the meeting that Ray
Learney had passed away suddenly one week ago, praising his commitment to badminton
and expressing sympathy for relatives and friends.
Eric went on to say that Schools and Youth Board
had wanted to promote this meeting for a number of years and welcomed the
opportunity to speak to the meeting.
Eric gave the background behind the introduction of
Rally Points by the International Badminton Federation (IBF) into BE events.
There was an approximately equal bag of post for and against Rally Points and
although the website showed 70% poll against Rally Points, it wouldn’t make any
difference – the IBF had decided that Rally Point would be here to stay.
Picking up on the positive side of Rally Points,
Eric said that it will make the game use skills more but take the advantage off
the server. BE were in the process of following guidelines so that drink breaks
would only be allowed when the first player reaches 11 points and end of each
game.
From this time on, all Badminton England sanctioned
events will be played with Rally Points. Eric recommended that the Shires
League also play Rally Points.
Eric explained the rationale behind Junior Tournament
structure.
3.
Appointment of Management Committee
A Management Committee consists of 4 members, plus
a chairperson – the League Secretary.
Ian Rizzotto explained the background behind the
need for a management committee (see the notes below for further details). This
year the committee were not called upon to make any decisions. Ian welcomed
continuity of committee members if possible, because experience in dealing with
tricky matters was often beneficial and therefore asked the regular members if
they wanted to continue. Fortunately, there was just one volunteer from each
group and hence no need for a vote.
The committee members for 2006-2007 are
Maria Newbery of Hampshire (Group A)
Paul Adcock of Nottinghamshire (Group B)
Tim Bircher of Gloucestershire (Group C)
Dave Dunlop of Lancashire (Group D)
Colin Kent has also volunteered his services once
more.
Note: This is taken
from the Shires League Guidelines.
A Management Committee consisting of 4 members
shall be established at the AGM at the start of a new season. The purpose of
the committee will be to make judgements on the interpretation of any of the
Shires League rules in the event of a dispute. Any member of the committee who
is directly involved with a dispute would be excluded from the discussions.
Committee members would not be from the same county. The League Secretary would
have the casting vote.
All counties, in rotation, put forward a person from their county for
the management committee, for the term of office of only one year. One county
from each of the groups A, B, C and D would be proposed and the following year
a different county from the groups would be chosen, until all counties had been
represented and then the cycle would begin again.
4.
Matters for discussion
All matters for discussion were agreed unanimously.
·
Cumbria’s application to join the league was
accepted.
·
Rally Point scoring system – should we adopt the
rules for Shires League Matches during 2006-2007?
We agreed to play all Shires League Matches until further
notice using Rally Points. All matches would be best of three games to 21. At
20 all, the side which gains a 2 point lead first, wins that game. At 29 all,
the side scoring the 30th point, wins that game. The side winning a
game serves first in the next game.
We also agreed with Derbyshire’s proposal to extend
Shires League rule 16 so that coaching, by the nominated team coach, may take
place between the 1st and 2nd game for up to 90 seconds. It is already
permitted between 2nd and 3rd game.
We also agreed that next year we would vote to
bring this rule in line with other BE Junior Age group tournament rules. We
would also suggest following rules regarding taking drinks and “wipe down”
during the course of a match.
Although the Shires League Final will also be
played using Rally Points, we would make a decision later on in the season of
the format for the event. It was agreed that the top two teams from each group
would continue to be invited and the event was to be held at Babington,
Leicestershire.
Please keep a record of the time that each Shires
League matches lasts, you may write the time on the score sheet. This will help
to decide the format for the finals.
·
Changes to the Shires League Rules – penalty for
using same player three times or playing the same player in same discipline
twice
Ian explained that an incident had happened this
year that was settled amicably, but when he went to check the rules, they were
unspecific as to what should be done. Had one county demanded a certain course
of action, the tournament organiser would have been put in a difficult
position. The proposal was agreed.
·
Changes to the Shires League Rules – composition of
teams and events that must be played
During the U13 Shires League Final, a team
consisting of 4 boys and 4 girls opted to play their best two girls in the
mixed and singles event. To keep within the rules, the second doubles was
conceded and their 2nd doubles pair had to play as 1st
doubles pair. The other teams felt that this was not within the spirit of the
rules and proposed to change the rules. The meeting agreed with their proposal.
·
Changes to the Shires League Rules – late team
ranking forms
The secretary explained that although some team
ranking forms had arrived very late this year, he felt that punitive measures
to penalise offending counties were unlikely to bear fruit. He requested that
counties please make sure that their team rankings were ready in reasonable
time for the final, so that adequate time was given to all concerned to check
the validity of the rankings. Team rankings also help to make a “build up” to
the finals; many players look at the list to see who their opposition are
likely to be and in many cases look forward to the challenges that await them.
By raising the profile of the problem, it is hoped
that team rankings will be submitted in good time in future. As well as the
secretary requesting team rankings, the Committee members may also contact
offending counties in future to hurry them along.
It was suggested that all counties submitted a
ranking list and the secretary said he would look into this possibility.
The secretary reminded team managers that extensive
lists of ranking pairs was not necessary, only rank the pairs you most likely
intend to play, (extra pairs may be added to the ranking list on the day.)
5.
Reminder of things that fixtures secretaries need to give league
secretary by 30th September 2006
· Remittance. Fees required displayed on website. Invoices will be sent out in due course, including cost of extra trophies where appropriate.
· List of names, addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail address of each team manager, including U11 manager if required (friendly only.)
· Confirm the date, time, age group, and venue of all your Shires League fixtures.
· For counties fielding a second team, first team nominations. Nomination will need to be submitted earlier if playing any matches prior to 30th September. Reminder that counties fielding second teams must try to arrange the first match of the season to be their number 1 v number 2 teams.
Once all managers are confirmed the secretary will write to them with a copy of the rules, score sheets and any further guidance and requests that are deemed necessary.
6.
Date and venue of next meeting
We agreed to hold the AGM at the same venue, one
year hence and Badminton England will confirm that they will fund the event
once more.
Proposed date, subject to BA AGM being held on same
date Saturday 23rd June 2007, from 11amto 1pm, with buffet meal from
1pm to 2pm.
7.
A.O.B.
·
Date of the Shires League Finals – recommendations.
With so many U12, U14 and U16 age group tournaments
taking place during the later part of April and early May we will have
difficulties to find a date to suit everyone.
Here are some proposals for dates for Shires League
Finals in 2007. None of these are ideal. Please feel free to propose
alternative dates.
U13 Final, Sunday 6th May 2007 – clashes
with some Junior Tournament
U15 Final, Sunday 8th April 2007 – start
of Easter holiday, one week before ICT.
U17 Final, Sunday 22nd April 2007 – week
after ICT, but at least before GCSE exams are in full swing.
I will write to Mark Downie asking him to look at
the calendar for the Shires League Finals 2008 and secure possible dates for
the event
8.
Fixtures
The last hour is given to making fixtures for the
forthcoming season.
Footnote:
The rules and guidelines have been amended in line
with decisions taken here today and are available for all to see on the
website.