LEICESTERSHIRE ASSOCIATION OF THE BTBA
MINUTES OF THE A.G.M. HELD AT LEICESTER MEGABOWL
21ST NOVEMBER 2002 AT 8.00PM

ROLL CALL

Members present: 35, Apologies: 2

CHAIRMANS ADDRESS:

Malcom Congreve thanked everyone for attending and the committee for their continued work throughout the year. He confirmed that minutes of all meetings held during the year, along with financial reports, had been lodged with the BTBA.
He spoke of the men's success at the intercounties - finishing 3rd at Sheffield and of the ladies who finished 7th. He said that membership in Leicestershire had increased this year through the 3 sanctioned leagues. A suggestion had been made by one member that next year we should try to arrange some competitions for all county qualifiers prior to team selection and this was something to bear in mind. Bowlers were reminded that if they win a shield during the county championships they should ensure that they keep it safely.
He has arranged a Christmas Cup competition for December 8th 2002. Megabowl have donated £100 towards the prize fund with £50 coming from the association. Format to be handicap doubles, prizes to be High Handicap series - Cup & £30 per player, High Scratch series £20 per player. High handicap game £10 each, High scratch game £15. Ladies - £10 high game and £5 lowest ladies game.
He confirmed that the Internet site was to continue and asked Terry Emmony to inform the meeting of it's potential. Terry confirmed that the site was updated with league and tournament results and could be used to advertise upcoming events etc. He urged people to contact him with any current information they wished to be logged. It was confirmed that the fee for this site is £150 per year plus VAT.

READING OF MINUTES:

Alan Barton read the minutes, these were accepted unanimously.

SECRETARYS REPORT:

Mick Lockley thanked the committee for all their work. He advised that in fact BTBA membership in Leicestershire had dropped by 10% whereas Nottingham had increased theirs by 15% and most Midlands based associations had also seen an increase. He expressed his concern to keep current memberships intact. Gaye Rowley mentioned that one reason membership could be declining was because bowlers often felt that they could not compete due to the conditions provided at Leicester.

TREASURERS REPORT:

Alan Barton advised that the account was in a "healthy state" mostly due to sponsorship and negotiated tournament rates. Copies of the report were circulated, these were accepted with no queries.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS:

President: Malcom Congreve Proposed - Anne Congreve, Seconded - David Sibley

Pat Byrne Proposed - Stu Cleland, Seconded - Karen Byrne

Votes Malcom Congreve - 15 votes Pat Byrne- 8 votes

Malcom Congreve elected.

Vice- President: Keith MacFarlane to remain - unanimous

Secretary: Mick Lockley - incumbent
David Sibley Proposed - Graham French, Seconded - Anne Congreve

Votes Mick Lockley - 16 votes, David Sibley - 8 votes

Mick Lockley elected.

Treasurer: Alan Barton to remain - unanimous

Council Members:

The six members from last year all wished to remain and there were four further volunteers names put forward.

John Stewart asked for clarification of the function of the cooptive members and Pat Byrne advised that in brief there must be more members than committee at meetings to avoid the committee becoming automanary. People are asked to volunteer with ideally each sanctioned league being represented.

Gaye Rowley suggested that there should be an odd number of members and Kevin Rowley proposed that the six existing remain plus one other voted on. This was seconded by Pat Byrne.

Malcom Congreve advised that as council members are voluntary they do not need to be voted in however Kevin proposed that we had to do this, as there were too many volunteers. This was reiterated by Jenny Stewart.

Malcom Congreve suggested that one member of the council should be a Megabowl employee so that he could represent their interests. Pat Byrne said that this might not be advisable due to a conflict of interest they may have between the bowl and the association and asked that we vote as to whether they were eligible to be a council member.

Votes for - 13 Votes against - 10 . It was confirmed that a Megabowl employee would be eligible as a BTBA member to hold a position on the council.

Kevin Rowley proposed that the council members be limited to 7 this was seconded by Pat Byrne. The six existing members to remain and a vote taken for the one remaining position.

Votes: Gaye Rowley - 15
Pip Walker - 0
Graham French - 5
Wayne (Megabowl) - 4

Gaye Rowley to become seventh council member.

Malc Congreve proposed that next year there should be two members from each league on the council this was seconded by Jenny Stewart. If there were only two leagues next year then there should be three members from each and one extra.

Kevin Rowley suggested that one month before the AGM next year a list of nominated officers should be displayed in the bowl with the opportunity for other nominees to be added. This was seconded by Jenny Stewart and passed unanimously.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS:

Pat Byrne asked that the subject of the termination of the Friday night league by Megabowl and the subsequent potential loss of membership be put to the floor.

Malcom Congreve refused to do this as in his opinion it was not an issue concerning the BTBA.

Neil Pawlsey asked how this issue could not concern the BTBA as they would potentially lose up to a third of their members should this league cease and expressed his concern that Malcom felt unable to support the wishes of his members.

Again Malcom stated that this was a matter between the League concerned and the Megabowl. This issue did not concern the BTBA and he wished to close the meeting.

Mick Lockley proposed a vote of no confidence in the chairman based on the fact that he was unable to represent the best interests of his members. Pat Byrne seconded this.

Malcom Congreve stated that he would save the trouble of voting, resigned his position and left the meeting.

Vice-President Keith MacFarlane took the chair at 9.30pm and expressed his regret at the outcome of the meeting. Gaye Rowley asked that her upset at Malcom's resignation be noted. She felt a sense of betrayal that our elected representative had failed to represent us.

Pat Byrne proposed that Keith MacFarlane be elected to president for a temporary office, this was seconded by Neil Pawlsey. Carried unanimously.

Keith asked Pat to explain the circumstances surrounding the ending of the Friday Night Trios.

Pat stated - about 2-3 weeks before the start of the Friday Night League (Registration 29th August) Mick and I were asked to meet with Malcolm. He informed us that the management wanted to stop bowling on Fridays with immediate effect because he felt that he would be able to increase his earnings from open bowlers to something like £17.50/hour.

The management were suggesting that we move to Thursday evenings and that by way of recompense they would be prepared to offer a once only contribution of £500.00 to the prize fund.

Both Mick and I felt aggravated that this proposal was coming so late and that the management had not been courteous enough to approach us directly and in time for us to discuss matters with the league membership. We both felt that the league was a committed Friday night league and did not believe the management could achieve their stated income. By way of compromise Mick suggested that we offer to increase our lineage to say £2.20, meaning that each team paid £19.20 for our period of bowling. We heard through Malcolm again that this had been accepted and we thought that the matter was closed. All this information was put to the league management (all Captains and committee) on the night of registration and all bar 1 person (Anne Congreve) agreed with our decision to allow the extra lineage and increase league fees to £7.50 therefore allowing us to continue to bowl on Fridays.

During a general meeting with the bowl manager (Leon) on 7th October, he informed me that this was the last year that Friday nights would be allowed to continue. I said that I thought we had agreed to pay the extra lineage to avoid this and he said that the league were told last year of the decision to end Friday night bowling. I responded that neither the committee or the league were aware of this and he further stated that he had never requested the extra lineage.

Following this meeting I wrote to the Managing Director of Megabowl to ask why the Friday night league was being dropped, and he again stated that:

a. We had all been informed during last season.

b. A lot of interest had been shown in the Thursday Night Scratch League.

My conclusion was that the only person who could have known any of these facts was Malcolm, and if Malcolm denied it then the Management and the Directors of Megabowl were lying. This was one of the matters along with our potential loss of membership that I wished to be discussed at the A.G.M.

At 9.45 p.m. Pat Byrne proposed that an EGM be arranged soon after Christmas at which time a new president could be elected.
Neil Pawlsey seconded this. There is to be a council meeting first to arrange the date, time and venue for this EGM. This was passed unanimously.

Meeting closed 9.50 p.m.

Signed as a true record by Mick Lockley on behalf of a unanimous committee.

………………………………….. Mick Lockley