WEST SQUASH COMMITTEE
Minutes of Meeting, Thursday 12th May 2022 – 7.30pm Newlands
Present
Billy Stevely (BS), Alan Marshall (AM), Alan Pearson (AP), Gregory Dudziak (GD), Allan Mowat (AMM), Martin Woods (MW)
Apologies
Sophia Grant (SoG), Steven Poggi (SP), Stewart Hamilton (SH)
MATTERS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MINUTES
• Steven Poggi would not be taking up position on committee due to other commitments
• MW had contacted suppliers of trophies which had come back with expensive quotes; as there were now two seasons to be awarded and time was now limited before AGM, it was suggested we should use a supplier from previous occasions
Action – MW to obtain details of previous suppliers and order plaques for 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons
• AM was continuing to communicate with Scottish Squash to ask if captains’ phone numbers could be added to the SportyHq team lists
TREASURER’S REPORT
• Payments of £75 each were due to the organisers of the Squake tournament
• £1500 was due from junior squad coaching fees
LEAGUE SECRETARY’S REPORT
• Under Rule 8, all matches involving Dumfries in Division 1 will be annulled, as they had failed to fulfil more than 2 fixtures. This did not affect league positions and Dumfries would be eligible to rejoin in Division 2 next season
• All other fixtures relevant to promotion and relegation had been fulfilled before the deadline of 22nd April
• BS asked what the policy on hospitality would be for next season, as this had been left to individual clubs post-Covid and there had been substantial differences between clubs. After discussion, it was agreed that this should remain the case and home clubs would be reminded to inform opponents whether hospitality would be provided.
TOURNAMENTS
• It was generally agreed that it would be useful to have a schedule of local tournaments before start of new season. This would require liaison with Scottish Squash, whose national calendar should be published in June
• MW suggested it would be useful for the West region to put a team into the English inter-county tournament, as the East region already do. As this would involve 1-2 weekends before and after Christmas, it would be appropriate to hold the West Closed tournament early in the season to aid selection.
Action – MW and AM to liaise with Scottish Squash about tournament calendar
• It was suggested that iThe need for a committee member to drive tournament organisation was emphasised and it was felt that this could be achieved best by a fully invested, small sub-committee who could share responsibility. It was suggested that this could include MW, Matt Bedwell (Newlands), SoG, Jenn Saldanha (Whitecraigs LTC) – Matt was present in person and would be happy to join the group
Action – MW to contact individuals with view to establishing sub-committee
• It was noted that payments would be appropriate for people helping with tournaments and it was agreed that our funds would allow this to be done
JUNIORS
• The junior squads had performed well and were probably now the best in Scotland
• To increase outreach, MW proposed adding a further squad with a different coach in a different venue. Matt Bedwell had shown interest in helping with this
Action – MW to liaise with Matt to organise
o
• Most squads were at pre-Covid numbers, but there was a relative lack of 11-13 year olds, probably reflecting effects of club closure during pandemic. However several clubs now had good numbers of this age group and this should feed through to regional squads.
• The Inter-Regional competition would be held in September
WEST SQUASH MATTERS
• The Summer Racquetball league had been organised with help from Alan Susskind and was running successfully with two divisions. BS suggested changing the rules to play to 11 instead of 15 and this was agreed
• MW had made several posts to the website and Matt Bedwell had agreed to assist with posting information. He also now had administrator access to SoprtyHq, which would allow him to share material between the West website and SportyHq
• The date of the AGM was changed to Friday 17th June in person at Giffnock
• Nominations for trophy awards would be requested from clubs and players by 27th May
Action – ? SH to arrange with Giffnock
Action – MW to request nominations via SportyHq
SCOTTISH SQUASH
• The World Doubles tournament at Scotstoun had been extremely successful and Scotland had performed very well
• All affiliated clubs had submitted membership information
• The Euromasters tournament scheduled for September in Edinburgh had been cancelled
• AM had sent round the draft Code of Conduct, with the hope that all leagues would adopt the same rules and sanctions for offenders. It was agreed that the flow chart outlining the procedures to be followed for complaints should be sent to all clubs at the beginning of the season.
• Nominations were now open for awards for player/coach/club/referee of the year
AOCB
• Interest had been expressed in a summer racquetball league, running from 27th April
Action – AP will contact Alan Susskind to ask if he would organise the league and confirm with SH once agreed
