Plumpton Tennis Club

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Monday, 13th November 2006 at Plumpton Village Hall

Present: Paul Mitchell (Chair), Christine Gannon, Marilyn Hanbury, Jennie Holland, Mike Warren, Bryan Seel, Ann and Denis Jones, Ian Streeter, Sue and Greg Brown, Lesley Satchell, Maria Roche, Geoff Spinks, Eileen Lucey-Butler, Shan Allen, Brendan Carroll, Dave Collett, Richard Valdez, Chris Chapman.

1. Apologies for Absence: Judy Holmes, Julia Pusey, Pamela Lucey-Butler, Pam Streeter, Rob Carroll, Derek Coltham.

2. Approval of Minutes of the last AGM (14th November 2005)

Approved as a true record. Proposer: Geoff Spinks; Seconder: Dennis Jones

Matters arising

1. The new path to the clubhouse had been laid
2. The ball machine is now repaired and in the clubhouse for the use of all members.
3. Brendan asked about sales of polo shirts this year. These had been poor and it was agreed that more marketing was necessary.

3. Chairman’s Report

Paul opened by saying that in preparing the Chairman’s report it had struck him just how much activity had taken place during the year and the extent to which members had supported the club to make it a successful year.

The year had brought a number of new developments:

• An extended parking area being laid – thanks to Marilyn Hanbury for organising this and Denis Jones for providing inspiration.
• A path from the parking area to the clubhouse and a new patio in front of the clubhouse – thanks to Ian Streeter.
• Appointment of a paid grounds person – Derek Coltham and the purchase of necessary related equipment. Thanks to Derek for the dedicated way he has approached the work so far.
• The establishment of a regular club coaching evening for members – thanks to Pamela Lucey-Butler.
• The development of a new improved club website to be launched at the meeting – thanks to Chris Chapman and Oliver Morgan who developed the early ideas.
• The development of a new accounts system making the most of computer-based accounting systems and on-line facilities – thanks to Mike Warren.
• The return after a long break of a Junior Tournament – thanks to Pamela Lucey-Butler, Sue Brown and Marilyn Hanbury.
• Appointment of club night supervisors and improved ball supplies – thanks to Mick Jackson and Ann Jones.
• Improved working relationships with the LTA – thanks to Chris Gannon for support with LTA meetings.

It was also important to keep continuity with a number of events and activities continuing as they had done in previous years namely:

• A series of half-day tournaments had run throughout the year – thanks to Jennie Holland, Sue Brown and Mick Jackson for organising.
• Our teams (2 Ladies and 1 Men’s) continued to compete in the LTA League – thanks to Maria Roche, Marion Tilford and Brendan Carroll for leading those teams.
• We had also continued to compete in the Horam League – thanks to Alan Mates for captaining the team.
• Ladies Day continued to be a great success both from a play and fund raising perspective – thanks to Marilyn Hanbury and Ann Jones for organising.
• The Club Tournament was enjoyed once again by the members – thanks to Mike Warren for organising.
• The Open Day and New Members afternoon once again opened the club’s doors to non-members – thanks to Sue Brown for assisting with the running of the day.
• The Jumble Sale was a great success last year raising significant funds for the club – thanks to Marion Tilford and her team and the WI Ladies.
• Quiz Night was enjoyed by nearly 80 people and raised important funds for the club – thanks to Lesley & Nick, Mike and Eileen and many others for helping to make the event a success. We have a new organising team this year in Derek Coltham, Linda Taylor and Lesley Satchell.
• Lesley Satchell and her team for their fundraising activities as part of Plumpton’s Railway Day.

Also not to be forgotten are:

• Maria Roche for dealing with court bookings.
• Sue Brown for her continuing efforts to collect a supply of raffle prizes.
• Alan Mates for organising the distribution of Wimbledon tickets.
• Geoff Spinks for acting as club postman for those not on e-mail.
• Lesley Satchell & Ann Denny for this year’s Safari Supper, which was a glowing success.
• Dominic Satchell – for clubhouse cleaning.
• My colleagues on the committee who have given up much of their own time and given great support – namely Chris Gannon, Marilyn Hanbury, Jennie Holland & Mike Warren.

Paul continued that this list of activities and ‘thank yous’ showed that the great strength of the club was in having a stable committee that guided the direction of the club and a group of active volunteers to help to make things happen. He acknowledged that sometimes committee decisions were not universally popular but that it is impossible to please all the people all of the time. He urged anybody who had any points to make about any aspect of the club to communicate with the committee and a response would be guaranteed.

However some interesting challenges remain:

• Court repairs needs to be completed with a long-term solution found – we are currently awaiting a report from a LTA engineer.
• Repairs to the access track – Brian Lewry’s quote had been accepted and work will start shortly.
• Raise membership numbers back to 150.
• Remove barriers to participation and goodwill e.g. recent decisions about access to ball machine and the removal or restructuring of match fees.
• Getting more of our existing members to play tennis!

Looking further ahead it would be good to see an upgrading or replacing of the existing clubhouse but ambitions may be tempered by available finance. Paul reported that the club accounts were in good order but that Mike would report later on how some significant expenses were expected so careful financial management would be needed. Paul concluded that on a personal note and in line with warnings he had received a year ago, carrying out the duties of Chairman and Membership Secretary was not sustainable so he would not be seeking re-election as Membership Secretary. He thanked everyone for helping to make it a successful year for the club.

4. Team Captains’/ Junior Reports.


Maria reported that the Ladies first team won Division 6 of the winter league and came joint top of Division 5 in the summer league – an excellent achievement. Maria also asked if anyone who was interested in entering a Veterans league to contact her. The Ladies second team did not field a team for one of their matches so lost all their points for the season. However, they did enjoy all the matches played and were doing well!

Brendan reported that it is some years since a men’s team had entered any division, but all was going well so far. The team drew against Maresfield in October and play Hurstpierpoint soon. The team will enter the summer league next year.

Pamela sent the Junior report: The Monday afternoon junior coaching session had been very successful. There was also a very enjoyable junior tournament in the summer, run by Pamela and Marilyn. The Ladies coaching on Wednesday afternoon was going well, as was the Monday evening coaching session for all club members. There will be a Christmas Tournament at East Hoathly, which all Plumpton club members are invited to enter.

5. To receive and accept the Annual Accounts.

Mike presented the year’s annual accounts (see attached) and made the following key points:

Income: this was down on the previous year - fundraising income was lower as there had been a Safari Supper the previous year; also membership numbers had fallen.

Expenditure: this was up due to extensive works at the club on extending the path, relaying the patio and extending the car park; also the introduction of a clubhouse cleaner and the increase in LTA affiliation costs due to the previous year’s high membership.

Overall: the balance of the accounts was up £1600 on the previous year however, with having to put by a further £3,000 towards the long term court refurbishment fund it reduced the overall available funds for further expenditure.

Projection: The main issue relating to next year was the allocation of £11,000 towards the repairing of court 1. This was a worse case scenario and hopefully would not be needed in its entirety. However, if needed, it would reduce the working balance to only £4,000 and it was therefore critical that the club did whatever it could to raise more funds.

Mike was thanked for his report, which was accepted by the meeting – proposed by Bryan Seel; seconded by Brendan Carroll.

6. Rule Changes and Other Issues.

No changes had been proposed this year however, a clarification of the regulations regarding guest/visitors’ fees was made. Paul read out an excerpt from the minutes of the committee meeting of the 18th July 2006.

‘Paul reported that some members had queried when visitor’s fees should be paid regarding some events. Some members had felt that there was a grey area surrounding the charging of fees to members of visiting clubs. The committee endorsed the conclusion that if an event had been reported to the committee and was open to all members, it is an official club event and no visitor’s fee is chargeable. If not endorsed by the committee as a club event then it is a private arrangement between members and individuals who happen to be members of other clubs and the visitors fee is payable by any non-members (£3 per adult per hour, £1.50 per junior per hour). The AGM will be asked to ratify this decision’.

It was agreed that the stated position of visitors/guest fees was clear, understood and agreed by those present.

Paul then opened the meeting up for a general discussion on club issues.

• Maria asked for clarification of whether courts may be booked for more than one hour per booking as sometimes people wish to book for longer. It was understood that bookings should be for one hour only, but the rules will be consulted and the matter discussed at the next committee meeting. It was confirmed that visitors are allowed to attend the club evening three times before joining the club.
• A discussion was held about changing the date of the finals day of the club tournament. A proposal was made to put the finals back to October, but after a further proposal by Brendan Carroll and further discussion it was agreed to start the 2007 tournament in mid April and hold the finals day on the 15th July in 2007. This would focus the tournament into a slightly shorter period, capitalise on early season enthusiasm and avoid the main holiday times.
• It was agreed to scrap the club membership cards as these were not felt to be valued by members or used as proof of membership. Suggestions were made for other ways of confirming club membership, such as a list of members in the clubhouse, or a return to shoe tags which were used in the past. This will be finalised at the next committee meeting.

7. Subscription Rates

No changes were proposed in the present subscription rates:

Adult single	£95.00
Junior Single	£20.00
Student	£25.00
Intermediate (16-24)	£50.00
Family	£190.00
Non-Playing	£5.00

8. Membership Report

Paul gave the following report:

• Last AGM there were 154 members. This rose to 157 members by the end of the membership year (31st March 2006) a new club record.
• At renewal 97 of those members rejoined (62%) well below the normal retention percentage of 70-75%.
• 60 members did not rejoin, for 51 out of the 60 the reason was that they didn’t play enough. Of the 60 leavers, 35 were new members and 25 were existing members. Analysis of the figures shows that percentage of new members leaving was significantly higher than in previous years.
• Only 19 new members had been recruited this year.
• There were now 116 members. 70 adults, 10 students, 29 juniors, 7 non-playing. The proportions in the different membership classes are similar to last year with the only difference being an increase in adult membership from 54% to 60% and a reduction on junior membership from 31% to 25%.
• No members had been recruited in the new £50 non-student 16-24 rate – it was suspected that this hasn’t been sufficiently promoted.
• The fall in membership numbers could be directly attributed to the decision not to promote club membership for the first time since 2002 and to not offer discounts to new members. The committee was interested to see what effect this would have and now has the answer!
• The committee had decided to reintroduce the annual marketing of the club in 2007. Action was needed to try to improve the retention of new members. Ideas were welcomed.

9. Club Website

The new website was launched by way of a presentation to members who responded positively to the new design. The new site has much more information including photos of the club, a history (prepared by David Holmes) and information about all club events. Thanks were given to Chris Chapman for all the work he has put in to prepare the new site which can be viewed at www.plumptontennisclub.org.uk. Chris C had also volunteered to keep the site updated - any photos of events such as the Quiz could be sent to Chris C for inclusion on the website.

10. Election of Officers/ Committee for 2004/05

7 nominations had been received for 7 posts with the following results approved by members - proposed by Greg Brown; seconded by Denis Jones.

Paul Mitchell to remain as Club Chairman.
Mike Warren to remain as Treasurer.
Jennie Holland to take over the role of Membership secretary from Paul.
Shan Allan to take over the role of Secretary from Chris G.
Marilyn Hanbury to remain as a committee member.
Brendan Carroll to join as a committee member.
Chris Gannon to stand down as Secretary, but will remain on the committee. Thanks were given to her for her work as Secretary.

11. Any Other Business

• Lesley S reminded everyone to support the forthcoming Jumble Sale and that tickets were available for the Quiz Night on Saturday 2nd December from Linda Taylor.
• Thanks were expressed to Lesley Satchell and Ann Denny for offering to organise a Safari Supper for Saturday 15th July, 2007 in aid of the club.
• Denis Jones thanked the committee for all the hard work throughout the year.

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:



Photos of the presentation would be made available on the club website.
Thanks were given to Ann Jones for organising the trophies and to Marilyn Hanbury for organising the wine and cheese for the AGM.

The evening closed with cheese and biscuits and a glass of wine for all.