Plumpton Tennis Club

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held at Plumpton Village Hall on Monday 14th November 2005 at 8pm.

14 members were present: Mike Warren, Paul Mitchell, Bryan Seel, Geoff Spinks, Ann and Dennis Jones, Ian and Pam Streeter, Sue Brown, Gareth Prosser, Jennie Holland, Marilyn Hanbury, Eileen and Pamela Lucy-Butler.

1. Apologies for Absence: David & Judy Holmes, Marion Tilford, Chris Gannon, Lesley Satchell, Maria Roche, Greg Brown.

2. Minutes of the last AGM

These were agreed and accepted.

3. Chairman’s Report

Mike Warren addressed the meeting – his report is reproduced below:

As mentioned at last years AGM, due to family and work commitments this for me was the last year as Chairman, and I can confirm that I will be standing down after tonight’s proceedings.

From a club perspective;

1. In the last 12 months we have seen our membership steadily rise to a record high, more from Paul later.
2. Fridays are now well and truly established as our second club evening.
3. Some excellent new fund raising events have taken place.
4. Support and input from the members, in helping with the organisation and running of the club has seen a positive increase

And we are starting to establish some good fundamental club procedures and practices that are helping to encourage new and existing members alike, into participating and continuing with the club ethos, of being a small and friendly society where the emphasis is on affordable, fun, tennis. Committee wise it has been a positive year, with lots of good input and idea generation, I hope that the new chairman will continue to receive the same or better in the coming years.

To the committee of Paul, Bryan, Marilyn and Chris I would like to pass on my thanks and gratitude both from the club and myself for all of their hard work. The club would also like to pass on its thanks to following people, who have helped make this year our best ever;

1. Pamela Lucey-Butler - for continuing the onerous task of junior development, as well as now being permanent club coach.
2. Nick & Lesley Satchell - for last year's quiz night and Eileen who took the task of the catering on, with a smile.
3. Ann Jones for getting the cups and trophies engraved and organized for the tournament presentations later.
4. Julia for keeping the grass neat and tidy.
5. Lesley Satchell & Ann Denny for this year’s Safari Supper, which was a glowing success.
6. All of the ladies who were involved in organising for this year's Ladies Day, which I believe was one of the best ever.
7. Marion Tilford, Sue Brown & Lesley Satchell and the ladies of the 2nd team for organizing last years and this years Jumble Sale.
8. Sue Brown for her excellent efforts in raising a multitude of prizes, from the local community, as well as catering for club tournaments and this years new members afternoon.
9. Maria Roche - for the court bookings and along with Ann Jones, the Ladies teams (report to follow)
10. Alan Mates - for his continued efforts with the Horam League and this years Wimbledon tickets
11. Geoff Spinks for carrying out 'paper' deliveries to non e-mail members.
12. Graham Goodman for taking on the task of premises maintenance.
13. Dominic Satchell for keeping the clubhouse spic & span
14. Ann Jones & Mick Jackson for club night supervising

So what does the next year bring?

The committee has issued a survey to the members to ask for input on areas that they would like to see the club invest in, more on this later.

Continued support is needed from the members (both in attendance and helping out), with helping towards the various functions that are being run as fund raisers, such as the up & coming Jumble Sale & Quiz Night.

Sadly, there will be some other changes in the officers of the committee, as I have reluctantly agreed to accept Bryan's resignation after a life-time of commitment to the club, as Treasurer. To this end the committee would like to bestow upon Bryan, for all of his hard work over the years, the following;

1. Lifetime membership to the club, for both Bryan and Jane.
2. The honorary position of Club President.

Finally, I would like to pass on my thanks to everyone who has helped over the last 4 years and has made my term as Chairman a memorable one. Thank you.

Paul presented Mike with a gift from the club and all showed their appreciation of the work Mike had done for the club over the last 4 years.

4. Team Captains’/ Junior Reports.

1. Maria had reported by e-mail that the Ladies 1st team was top of their division in the summer league. Maria was proposing to enter 2 ladies teams again for the summer league this year but no men’s team. This was agreed. Paul commented that there were insufficient male players expressing an interest to warrant entering a team but if this changed then he would let Maria know.
2. Pamela reported that junior coaching was available and progressing well.

5. To receive and accept the Annual Accounts.

Bryan Seel produced the accounts and explained figures for the current year. He pronounced the accounts to be in a very healthy state due in the main to the large influx of new members – the income from these being over £7,600 this year. The club had also increased its reserves with fund raising supported by various club members from Jumble Sale, Ladies Day, Safari Supper and the Quiz Night. All the efforts of individuals involved were greatly appreciated.

However, he drew attention to the poor sales of T-shirts and Polo shirts and hoped that the sales of these would increase during the next year.

The annual accounts had been typed by Jane Seel and audited by Frank Botterill. Bryan, on behalf of the club, had given Frank a bottle as a token of thanks. Bryan asked the club if they wished Frank to continue auditing the accounts in future years. This was unanimously agreed. Thanks were also expressed to Jane for typing the accounts.

Bryan confirmed that he wished to retire from the post as Treasurer, which he had held for 18 years. Mike Warren told Bryan how much the Club had appreciated his efforts on the club’s behalf. In addition to being made Honorary President for life, Bryan was also presented with a garden bench as a token of thanks for his work.

A letter of appreciation from David & Judy Holmes (club founders) also thanking Bryan for his commitment over the years was read out and endorsed by all present.

6. To Consider any Rule Changes

No proposals for rule changes had been received. It was confirmed that the recent clarification of the rule regarding the ball hitting overhead wires was not a change of rule but ensured that existing club rules were applied - which state that the club would apply the rules of the game as recognized by the LTA.

7. Subscription Rates

It was agreed that subscription rates would remain the same as last year:

Adult single	£95.00
Junior Single	£20.00
Student	£25.00
Family	£190.00

However, a new rate of £50 was proposed for 16-24s (inclusive) that are not students. This reduced rate would allow ex-juniors and ex-students to gradually step up to the full membership rate, which would apply at the age of 25. It was hoped that this would encourage younger members to keep playing and not be priced out of membership. This was unanimously agreed.

8. Membership Report & Club Questionnaire

Membership

Paul Mitchell reported the following:

• Last AGM there were 114 members – now there are 154.
• Of these 154 - 83 are adults, 14 students, 48 juniors and 9 non-playing. About the same split as last year.
• At the end of March, 85 members renewed, 29 did not rejoin and 69 new members were recruited. This compares with last years figures when 81 renewed, 32 did not rejoin and 33 new members were signed up.
• This means that retention of members improved - up from 72% to 75% but this still means that a quarter of all members leave each year and the main reason is non-use i.e. members not playing and therefore not getting value from their membership. This continues to put pressure on the recruiting of new members to keep membership numbers stable. This has not been a problem this past year with a record 69 new members joining since 1st April. The main reason seems to be a general increase in both awareness and the positive atmosphere of the club. Paul also mentioned that 81% of members are now contactable by e-mail and wished to thank Geoff Spinks who kindly plays postman for the people who are not reliably on-line.

Questionnaire

Detailed results of the questionnaire are attached to these minutes. 14 members had replied. Generally speaking there was satisfaction with the club. Paul would investigate some of the inconclusive comments about coaching. There was general agreement that the best thing about the club was its friendly and sociable atmosphere. There was no agreement about which areas of club operation should be prioritized for development with 17 suggestions being made but with no single suggestion appearing more than 4 times. It was agreed that the committee would take forward the developments it considered necessary and desirable and keep members informed.

9. Election of Officers/ Committee for 2004/05

The Chairman & Treasurer had resigned. One nomination had been received for each post and as a result these nominees were elected unopposed. The results were as follows:

Post	Person Elected
Chairman & Membership Sec	Paul Mitchell
Vice–Chair	Marilyn Hanbury
Treasurer	Mike Warren
Secretary	Chris Gannon
Committee Member	Jennie Holland

10. Any Other Business

• Denis Jones asked if there were any plans to buy an updated version of the ball machine. It seems that the machine is inconsistent in that it often misses out a ball then throws out 2 in quick succession. It was suggested that we would either get a proper service done on the machine or buy a replacement having asked advice from the manufacturers.
• It was also suggested that it would be useful and convenient if the footpath down the side of court 2 were extended to the clubhouse. This was agreed.
• Paul mentioned that members could buy some Christmas gifts from the club in the form of club T-shirts and polo shirts. Also there are membership gift vouchers and coaching gift vouchers.

There being no further business to discuss the meeting closed at 9.00 pm.

The trophies for the Club Tournaments were presented. Congratulations were expressed to the winners who were: