West of Scotland Squash AGM
Newlands Tennis & Squash Club
Monday 20th May 2013, 7.30pm
Committee Present
Kieran O’Neil
Martin Woods
Alan Pearson
Stewart Hamilton
Andrew Duff
George Allan
Amanda Nicholl
Appologies
Steve Carlin
Kat Phillips
Emma Ford
Ian Shaw
Stuart George
Attendant (see Attchd)
Item 1 last years Minutes approved by Keiran O’Neil,seconded by Michael Grant
Item 2 Presidents report
President’s Report 2012-13
This year has continued much in the same way as last season in that there is much to be positive about. In particular, West Squash continues to fund the coaching of our juniors in a very structured and positive way with the continuation of the weekly Development and Talent squads. This has resulted in the core of talent that has appeared in the West who are now making their marks in the Leagues and tournaments, including a very strong showing in this year’s Junior Inter Regionals. Many thanks to the coaches for their continuing efforts in this regard. Lets hope we can keep introducing new talent to our game.
League Report
Thanks are due to the continued support of all of our League sponsors. Also, thanks again to Stewart Hamilton for his sustained efforts in administrating the League matches – no mean task when you consider the number of matches played in a season over 8 separate divisions. Many of the leagues were extremely competitive with the winners, promotion, and relegation positions still to be decided on the last day of the season, guaranteeing plenty that is of interest at all levels. Congratulations once again to Newlands – champions once more in both the Open League, and also the Ladies’ Premier Divisions.
During the season the decision was taken to upgrade the Horizon League management system to the latest version. We are aware there are several minor issues with the system and as a committee will work to resolve these ASAP.
As ever, the administration of the rules proves a significant challenge for a committee who are all unpaid volunteers. Many of the issues, including team structure, team order, and discipline, are extremely time consuming for all concerned and it is difficult to resolve these matters in such a way that is universally satisfactory.
Giffnock, Western, and Newlands all have “parallel” teams in division 1 which does seem to cause internal problems. In season 2013-14, Newlands will be eligible to field 3 division 1 teams, which will no doubt cause difficulty in some respects. It is clear in some cases that the rules do create difficult issues for some clubs to handle internally. I personally feel that the clubs partaking in the premier division should consider looking closely at the structure of the rules prior to next season. It is not possible to make major changes this evening as no proposals have been forthcoming.
Tournaments
Another positive this year has been the success of our Tournaments. 2012-13 is the first year for a long time where we have included all of the tournaments in our calendar. Previous years have seen the demise of one or more of the Senior Closed, Senior Open, Junior Closed, Knockout Cup etc. Not so this year. Thanks also to Kieran Pole and Ashley Stevenson of The Insurance Helpline for their generous support of the West Closed. Praise should go to our outgoing tournament convenor Steve Carlin after several years’ service, and to George Allan who has offered a strong contribution and is the natural choice for our new Tournament Convenor. Thanks also to the referees who give up substantial amounts of their time on tournament weekends, which is an invaluable help to the organisers.
UKCC Coaching
As some of you may not be aware, subsidy is available to those players who wish to develop their coaching skills. The West has and will continue to develop our coaching base which should increase the standard of play within clubs and as a region. Anyone who has an interest in this should contact the committee who will be only too happy to assist.
Presentation Night
The decision was made again to hold a presentation night which turned out to be a success and was well supported in the main. Thanks to Giffnock for hosting, their club room was an ideal location. Congratulations to Amanda Nicholl for relentlessly pestering all in the West in her efforts to make the night work. Hopefully this night is now back on track.
Congratulations to all of the winners, including Player of the Year Douglas Kempsell, Junior of the Year Jason Lang, and Club of the Year Glasgow Uni.
Finally, best wishes to all of the committee members who have been a much needed source of support and opinion in the last few years.
Item 3 Junior report
Junior Report
Martin Woods
This year has been a reasonable year for Junior Squash for the West of Scotland, with increased activity for juniors and some good results.
Junior Club Development
In terms of active junior sections, we have:
• Giffnock
• Newlands
• Strathgryffe
• Allander
• David Lloyd West End
• Glasgow Academy
• SSRC
If there are any other pockets, please let us know!
Big Shots
We have been running BigShots Events monthly, which have been well received and well attended. Currently run as a timed mixed-graded event, and have been held mostly at Newlands, supporting the event by supplying courts. The events are completely self-funding and are designed to work hand in hand with a ranking system supplied by Scottish Squash.
West of Scotland Regional Performance Network
We have currently two Development Squads and one performance Squad running on a Tuesday night at Scotstoun. The squads include players from Giffnock, Newlands, Strathgryffe and SSRC. These squads are funded through a mixture of player contribution and Scottish Squash.
Junior Inter-Regional Championships 2013
Once again, the Scottish Junior Inter Regional Team Championships were very successful for the West of Scotland. For the second year running, the West won four out of five age groups, missing out on the under 19 title by only one game. The players were a credit to their region and have every intention of winning all five next year!
Junior Excellence Programme
With regard to the National Junior Excellence programme, last year we had the following players representing the West of Scotland:
Academy
Douglas MacMillan
Talent Squad
Mark Coyle
Jack Smillie
Jason Lang
James Wilson
Fergus Andrew
The following players have just been accepted for a Talent Squad Trial in season 2013/14:
Patrick O’Sullivan
Chris Murphy
Item 4 Tournament Convenors Report
Tournament Report 2012/13
West A – Calum Johnstone bt Fergus Richards at Newlands
West B – Douglas Kemp bt Kevin Moran at ( Mark Ford finishing 4th )
West Open –
West Open winner – Stuart George (Giff)
West Open r/up – Kenny Boyle (Ham)
B event winner – David Lindsay (Ham)
B event r/up – Chris Farrell (SSRC)
C event winner – James Singh (Giff)
C event r/up – David Archibald (‘Gryff)
West Closed – D Event: r/up Philip Graves, winner Maggie Dick
C Event: r/up Amanda Nicoll, winner Patrick O’Sullivan
B Event: r/up James Singh, winner Andy McCully
Main event: r/up Stuart George, West Closed champ Peter O’Hara
West Jun closed A – doug mac / Jason Lang
B – Daniel Osullivan / Fraser Mccann
C – Lewis Reid Tabitha Gerry
Item 5 Financial report
WEST OF SCOTLAND SQUASH
ACCOUNTS FOR YEAR ENDED 06.04.13
Season 2012/13 Season 2011/12
Income £ £
Team Levies 3140.00 3090.00
Sponsorship 1050.00 3500.00
Interest 2.90 116.72
Tournament Income 3276.00 2095.00
End of Season Event 780.00 –
————- ————
8248.90 8801.72
Expenditure
Junior Coaching 2581.10 2557.50
Team Ref. Expenses 100.00 143.40
Courses 234.50 123.25
Tournament 3355.14 1871.16
Website/Software 344.68 266.44
End of Season Event 850.00 –
Sundry 100.00 50.99
———— ————
7565.42 5012.74
Surplus ( Deficit) 683.48 3788.98
Opening Bank 14910.64 11121.66
Add Surplus (Deficit) 683.48 3788.98
————- ————-
15,594.12 14,910.64
======== ========
Represented By
Clydesdale Cur. A/C 9378.50 8697.92
Standard Life 6215.62 6212.72
——— ————
15,594.12 14,910.64
======== ========
Item 6 Election of Office Bearers
President Martin Woods proposed Keiran O’Neil,seconded George Allan
Vice President Andrew Duff proposed Martin Woods,seconded Michael Grant
Junior Convenor Stuart George proposed by Martin Woods,seconded Andrew Duff
Tournament Convenor George Allan proposed by George Allan,seconded by Michael Grant
Committee members
Taryn Robertson proposed by Martin Woods,seconded by George Allan
Billy Stevely proposed by John Crawford,seconded by Alan Pearson
Leaving Committee Steve Carlin,Kat Phillips,Emma Ford
Item 7 Team Fees ,WOS fees £50 per team,£10 discount if paid before Xmas
Item 8 Constitution Matters No amendment
A.O.C.B. Scotston Opened.there have been a few snagging issues,which the Contractors are working on.SS trying to work on the temporary structure which is only going up for the games.J Dunlop trying to get a permanent structure.Commonwealth games will take over on 14th May and it will be closed to the public till after the games.The masters home international was held there and all positive reports.The doubles are being held weekend Friday 31st May till Sunday 1st June,with tickets still for sale.Talk of a Glasgow Open,PSA trying to run a satellite event.Court fees currently coming in at up to @ £1,000 per week.
Summer leagues were discussed,Last year it petered out and a lot of matches unplayed.Paul Sweeney felt it may be overkill at the end of a long season.Talk of West social nite,or Racket ball doubles.
Issue of 2nd half of leagues starting before Xmas,to be resolved next year.
Scottis squash Matrix not working to efficiently.Talk of an alternative to the Horizon results.Also,to add roll of honour to the website.
Forum was really busy,but has died out.The reason for this is people are using alternative,twitter and facebook,talk of a West Facebook,but would need to cover all legal aspects.Also anybody with photos of History to come forwar.
John Crawford came forward with a referees report
John Crawford gave the AGM attendees an update on Referee matters involving the West
John is on Scottish Squash Ref’s subcommittee as regional Rep for the West.
Ken Gibbs is also on the committee as member co-opted by the board
The present focus of the Ref’s subcommittee is building for the Commonwealth Games, giving the 6 Scottish Refs as many opportunities to ref top level squash
West have 3 of the 6 refs in the pool – John Crawford, Peter O’Hara, & Andy Phillips.
Andy was selected for the European Team championships in Amsterdam the first week in May, along with Mike Halpin from Edinburgh, and John Crawford as reserve.
John & Peter have been selected for the World Men’s Team Championships in Mulhouse, France near Basel Switzerland, from 8th – 16th June
West currently have:
4 National Grade Refs: John Crawford – Townend, Peter O’Hara (Sen.) – Newlands), David Mathie – Western, and Andy Phillips – Western
4 Grade Two Refs: Keith Gristwood – Dumfries, Frank Hynds – Strathgryffe, David Mulholland – Western, Billy Stevely – Giffnock,with David Hughes nearly there
David Mathie has unfortunately decided to take a step back from his path to Regional Grade (European), due mainly to work commitments.
Dave will still be available for West and Scottish events
Any new West refs who have attended a Refs course and wish assessment, contact John Crawford – 01294 213194 or 07766 250634
For course and refereeing info, check out Scottish Squash & Racketball web site:
http://www.scottishsquash.org/ click onto REFEREES tab
Congratulations to the 4 West players who were selected for the full Scotland team of 6 for European Team Championships
Greg Lobban, Dougie Kempsell, Stuart Crawford, and Kevin Moran.
They performed exceptionally well, seeded 4th and finished 4th , after a close 3rd place play off with Germany. 2 – 2 in matches and lost 8 – 6 in games.
They were a credit on and off court, and the West is fortunate to see such talent every Wed night in the leagues.
Best wishes to Ken Gibbs who has been in hospital. Get well soon Ken
John Crawford
West Ref’s Rep
PS: Andy and Martin – feel free to edit or amend as required
Meeting Closed
