All England Bar Billiards Association

ALL ENGLAND BAR BILLIARDS ASSOCIATION

 

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

 

 

Held at the Post Office Sports & Social Club, Richfield Avenue, Reading

 

Sunday 11^th December 2005

 

 

The meeting was opened by the President of the AEBBA Mr Eric Hill, who welcomed all those to the meeting, and wished everybody a Happy Christmas

 

The AGM was then chaired by Mr Keith Lewenden, the AEBBA Chairman.

 

Officers present were

 

President Eric Hill                        Chairman      Keith Lewenden

Secretary David Barnes                    Treasurer       Keith McDonald

Tournament Director                 Nigel Senior

 

2                    Roll Call of Affiliated Counties & Apologies

 

 

The roll call of affiliated counties was taken, with delegates reminded of the voting from each county, and also the apologies from counties, and individuals.

Apologies were accepted from Northants, and from Chris Saville ( who was in ill health ).

Counties with more present than their voting allowances were reminded that the following was the voting allowance permitted on the day.

 

Berkshire 2 votes            Oxfordshire 2 votes           Sussex 1 vote

Surrey      1 vote             Cambridge  2 votes           Hants   2 votes

Kent         1 vote             Buckingham 1 vote

 

 

3                    Minutes of the 2004 A.G.M.

 

The Secretary asked that, as the minutes had been circulated to the counties, that they be accepted as a true record of the 2004 A.G.M.

 

This was accepted, and proposed by R. Hockey, and seconded by C Gildersleeve

 

4                    Matters Arising

 

There were no matters arising

 

 

5                    Chairman's Report

 

The Chairman Mr Keith Lewenden, started by offering congratulations to Tournament Director Nigel Senior, on the job he had done over the last year since taking over from Mr Peter Farrelly.

He congratulated all winners on their achievements throughout the year, and especially the England team, who narrowly won the International in Jersey last year.

Keith also thanked Dave Barnes for all his help, and work throughout the year, and also to all those who gave of their time to assist the running of various tournaments, and competitions.

 

6                    Secretary's Review of the year, and Report

 

Dave Barnes re-iterated that this coming year would be his last as AEBBA Secretary, having had 10 years in the position.

He also congratulated the England team, for the win in Jersey, and also various players and Counties for wins in National Tournaments.

Players mentioned included Keith Sheard and Ray Sturgess for the Pairs win

England captain Kevin Tunstall for the Grand Prix, Eric Hill for the Over 50s, and Tony Martin for the over 60s.

He also took great pride in mentioning, and congratulating Jersey for 25 years of the B.I.O.C. / World Championship, and said that maybe it was fitting that a Jersey player had won this year.

Nigel Senior received more congratulations for his work as Tournament Director in his first year in the job.

 

Dave then took the meeting to task, in respect of Food & Drink being bought into the P.O.S.S.C.

He re-iterated most strongly that those players / county sides that did this were seriously endangering the continued presence of the A.E.B.B.A. to have use of the club, and urged those responsible that, if they bought Food & Drink with them, ( Tea & Coffee were not a problem ), please could they consume the same outside the premises, or be VERY VERY discreet.

 

There followed some comments regarding Dave's mentioning of the food & drink situation, saying that food was only served for approximately 2 hours during a tournament, and not everybody wanted Chips with whatever was on offer, due to dietary needs or just a variety of food.

Drink was also a problem with the bar not being opened until 12.00 noon, and those who travel long distances had to have some sort of refreshment, and if the bar was not available, then soft drinks from outside the venue were being consumed before the bar opened.

Dave said he would look into this matter with the club.

 

 

7                    Treasurer's report, and Affiliation Fees

 

The Treasurer, Mr Keith MacDonald passed round the room, the accounts for the year ending 11 / 12 / 2005.

Keith stated that due to careful housekeeping and well supported events, the Association had a healthy set of books, with a slight profit from last year of £93.00

 

Keith also expressed his thanks to those who gave their time freely, in running raffles, and generally helping out, especially Ron & Eileen Britton, Dave Barnes for his efforts in keeping trophy costs to a minimum, and Eric, Dave and Sue for all the work they do at the pairs competition in Bournemouth.

Also Paul Sainsbury for his kind sponsorship of the association and the fact that he helped keep the cost of the BBQ down, so the association has not had to help out this year.

Other donations were received from Anthony Walsh with a donation of 50% of the cost of re-plating trophies, and to Berks BBA for helping towards the cost of tables.

Keith also recommended that the affiliation fees remain the same for the next year.

 

The report was accepted on a proposition by K. Tunstall, and seconded by P. Withey.

 

8                    Report from Bar Billiards Ltd

 

Ken Hussey stated that the game in general was in decline, and that the company ( Bar Billiards Ltd ) had been saying this for some time.

Ken said that letters had gone out from his company to venues that it was felt were not taking a lot of revenue.   He said that, as a company, it was becoming difficult to warrant the cost of collecting the monies taken on these tables.

His company was offering those venues the opportunity to buy those tables if they so wished, and also any other Association the opportunity to do the same.

Ken also re-iterated the commitment that his company had with the Association, and all commitments for 2006 were safe as far as he could see.

 

9                    Tournament Director's Report

 

Nigel Senior, in his first A.G.M. report, started by saying that the County Championships had had problems due to the withdrawal of Buckinghamshire, and the re-scheduling problems that was caused by the withdrawal.

He congratulated Sussex, who won both the Men's title, and the Ladies title.  Thanks were also given to David Barnes, Steve Mariner, and others who had helped Nigel with the scheduling and general work-load.

He felt that if, in future, Counties dropped out from the Championships, then all rescheduling, and placing of teams in Divisions should be the responsibility of the Tournament Director, to do as he sees as the best solution to the problem.

This statement came about because Hants, who had finished bottom the year before, were left in Division 1 due to Bucks untimely drop-out.

 

Nigel was also considering putting the " B " Team competition on a different day to the Division 1 competition.

He also apologised for the errors in running the Alternate Rules ( triangle ) KO Competition, as he had done all the scheduling, based on those who had said they would be there, and then failed to show.  He said that this mistake would not happen again, although the original schedule was done in the thought that players could know their start time beforehand, and were not waiting around at the venue.

 

After this report, England captain Kevin Tunstall thanked Nigel for his hard work during his first year in the position, saying that following Peter Farrelly was indeed a very hard act to follow, but felt that Nigel had proved that he was capable.

 

10               Secretary’s Honorarium

 

As is customary at this juncture, the AEBBA Secretary was asked to leave the room, so the members left could discus the Honorarium that is to be given to the Secretary.

The Treasurer, Keith MacDonald reminded everybody that the Honorarium had been increased at the 2004 A.G.M., and those present felt that it should remain at that figure.  This being £500.

This was proposed by K. Tunstall, and seconded by R. Hockey.

This was agreed unanimously, and the Secretary was then asked to rejoin the meeting, and informed of the decision.

David then duly thanked those present.

 

11               Proposals for Discussion

 

The proposals put forward to the A.G.M. were received by the Secretary after the 14 day deadline for acceptance, and therefore it was decided to refer all propositions back to the counties for discussion and for inclusion in next year's A.G.M.

This was proposed by C. Gildersleeve, and seconded by R. Hockey.

All proposals for inclusion in the 2006 A.G.M. MUST be with the Secretary no later than 26^th November 2006.

 

12               Election of Officers.

 

The Chairman, Mr Keith Lewenden announced that he was standing down from the position of Chairman of the AEBBA, from the end of the A.G.M. and that a new Chairman was required.

The president, Mr Eric Hill proposed Dennis Atkins to the position, and this was seconded by K. Tunstall, and agreed unanimously. Mr Keith Lewendon acted as Chairman for the remainder of the meeting.

All other officers indicated that they were willing to carry on in the respective positions, and therefore, were elected to remain in those positions for a further 12 months en-bloc, on a proposition by K. Tunstall, and seconded by R. Hockey.

 

 

13               International Match & Selection Committee Report.

 

 

The president, Mr Eric Hill gave the details of the forthcoming International Match with Jersey, and also announced that Guernsey had invited England to play an International match over there on 6^th May 2006.  This invitation had been accepted.

The Teams were read out, with the Men's team captained by Kevin Tunstall, and the Ladies team by Pauline Withey.

Please see attached AEBBA Selection Report, for both team selections.

Eric announced that the International with Jersey would be played at the SKYLANE HOTEL, HORLEY, on 4^th Feb 2006.

 

14               Election of Selection Committee

 

Bernie McCluskey had announced that he was standing down from the Selection Committee, and therefore a vacancy was created.

It was felt by the members present that a Bucks player should be elected ( if willing to serve ), and Dino Clark was elected to serve, ( subject to acceptance ), in place of Bernie.

This was proposed by R. Hockey, and seconded by C. Gildersleeve, and passed unanimously.

 

 

 

 

15               British Open Pairs

 

The President gave details of the British Open Pairs Competition, to be held over the Week - end of 10^th - 12^th March 2006. The cost would be £96.50 per person, with, if required, extra nights available, and family rooms also available.

All details, and bookings can be made through Mr Eric Hill.

 

 

16               All England Competition Dates

 

The competitions overseen by the AEBBA are as follows: -

 

September 24^th                        Division 1 / Division 2 and the Ladies

October 8^th                               Ladies / Mens

October 8^th                               County Division 3 ( this date is provisional )

October 22^nd                                       Team Championships / Special Ladies

October 29^th                                       Alternate Rules

November 26^th                        Mixed Pairs / Under 25 Individuals

December 3^rd                                       Over 50s / Over 60s / Grand Prix

December 10^th                             All England A.G.M.

 

It was decided that, if teams from the same county are in the same Division, then they will play each other in the FIRST SERIES of Matches.

Also it is a possibility that the Ladies Competition may be moved to a different date, if it is decided that a 3^rd Division in the County Championships is required.

The ladies would be moved to October 8^th, but would revert to it's original given date if this did not happen.

 

 

17               Other Competition Dates

 

Dates given for the County Open Competitions are as follows: -

 

Oxford                        18^th February 2006

Mermaid                      23^rd April       2006

Sussex                         04^th June        2006

Kent Classic                 T.B.A.

Berkshire                     17^th September 2006

Bucks                          T.B.A.

World Championships        11^th / 12^th November 2006

 

It was also announced that Surrey are going to restart their Open in 2007, with details to follow later.

 

 

18               Forum for Any Other Business

 

The question arose of starting a Ladies Grand Prix, run on exactly the same lines as the current Grand Prix, with the top 8 lady players taking part, as taken from the Ranking system used by the BBQ Editor Mr Peter Farrelly.  This was generally thought of favourably by the members present, and it was felt that it should be tried as soon as possible, with the Ladies, if they qualify for the main Grand Prix, given the choice of entering either the main Grand Prix, or the Ladies Grand Prix.  The Trophy for the Ladies Grand Prix, will be donated by Phil Hawkins, and his generous offer was well received, and he was duly thanked for his offer by the president, and the chairman.

The Tournament Director presented an expense account, and this was forwarded to the Treasurer.

 

19               Closure of the Meeting

 

There being no further business to discuss, the acting Chairman closed the meeting at 16.55 hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

David Barnes

 

Secretary A.E.B.B.A.