Minutes of the LMC Annual General Meeting at Spinney Hill WMC on Wednesday 28 May 2008

Present: Alan Jex (Chair), Jim Miller (League Secretary), 16 other members.

1. Introduction

Alan Jex welcomed the members present and reminded them about the voting rules.

2. Apologies

Terry Adcock (Loughborough), Larry Hayden (Ashby Ivanhoe), John Oliver (Braunstone).

3. Draft League Constitution

This had previous been circulated to all clubs and no comments had so far been received.  Jim Miller reminded members that it was effectively a re-working, with only minor changes, of those parts of the old LRCA constitution which had dealt with League matters.  Wigston and Loughborough clubs had proposed a motion to set up a working party of five people to examine the draft constitution to see if any changes were required, which would then be brought into operation from the 2009 AGM.  After discussion this motion was conclusively defeated on a show of hands (5 votes to 11).  Jim Miller pointed out that it was open to clubs to suggest such changes to the LMC, and said that it might be sensible to reduce the number of clubs needed to summon an EGM.

4. Report on the 2007-8 Season

Jim Miller's report had been previously circulated.  He amplified it by pointing out that, because of a dispute which had been discussed by LMC on the previous evening (the outcome to be made public within a very few days), the Division 1 title was still uncertain; that all the other crucial issues in the Divisions had been settled; and that the Wylie Cup (i.e. an actual cup!) was now on order for presentation to Wigston, the 2007 winners.

5. Election of Officers

Jim Miller reported that Alan Jex (Chair), Jim Miller (League Secretary); Mike Thornton (Fixtures Secretary); Steve Wylie (Grading Officer); and Iain Dodds (Adjudications Secretary) had agreed to continue in their present posts, and that no other nominations for those posts had been received: they were all thus re-elected.  Six people had been nominated for five ordinary committee member positions, so a ballot was necessary.  This was conducted in private using ballot papers, and the results showed that John Pattinson, Mike Salisbury, Dave Reynolds, Walter Dehnen and Julie Johnson were elected; Cyril Johnson was not elected.  In answer to a question Alan Jex and Jim Miller said that it would be the intention to include the new LRCA Ltd Treasurer as one of the co-opted members.

6. League Structure and League Rules

Jim Miller introduced this item.  He said that LMC had recently discussed a number of possible ways of re-structuring the League for 2008-9.  Two different ideas had been advanced for increasing the numbers of League games available, especially to higher graded players, and for reducing the number of matches between two teams from the same club, which were often one-sided because of the barring rules.  One idea involved reducing the number of teams in a Division, but arranging for them to play each other 3 or 4 times per season, probably over 4 boards rather than 5.  Another possibility, again mainly for Division 1, was to run a League Cup competition alongside the conventional winter League fixtures.  It was agreed that such proposals could only be sensibly examined if the LMC had a reasonable idea of the total number of teams likely to be entered in 2008-9.  Jim Miller agreed to contact clubs swiftly on this and related issues, and emphasised that any early estimates that clubs gave of their numbers of teams would not be a commitment: the principle that clubs only made a formal entry when the new Rules had been finalised would remain.  Andy Morley said that discussion in his club had indicated that, while some players favoured more games (and felt that it was especially unfortunate that there were only 7 Division 1 teams, hence 12 matches, in 2007-8) others might not welcome a great increase in their commitments, so consultation would be important.  Sean Hewitt drew attention to the fact that about 30% of the players who took part in 2006-7 League matches (mostly those playing only a few times) did not play in 2007-8.  On the other hand about 30 new players had appeared in the latter season.  Clearly the overall trend towards fewer participants had to be arrested if possible.  He suggested that an open meeting involving LMC officers and the likely Divisions 1 and 2 clubs should be held to discuss such issues.  Jim Miller undertook to arrange such an evening within a few weeks, and asked Sean to provide an analysis of the disappearing players in terms of their grades, Divisions in which they played, etc.  It was agreed that, while there might well be areas where the League Rules needed to be re-examined, as happens every year, time did not permit detailed discussion at the AGM: again the clubs would be consulted.

7. Any Other Business

Jim Miller thanked the hard-working members of LMC for their efforts during the season, and was in turn thanked by the Chairman.  Rich Davis and Brian Slater were thanked for hosting the AGM meetings – again Spinney Hill had proved to be an excellent venue.

8. Date of Next Meeting

The date of the next AGM would be the same as that of LRCA Ltd, in late May 2009.

The meeting closed at 10:00pm.

JNM – 29 May 2008