All England Bar Billiards' Association

 A.E.B.B.A ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

 

HELD AT THE POST OFFICE SPORTS and SOCIAL CLUB

RICHFIELD AVENUE, READING 10 DECEMBER 2006.

 

 

 

The meeting was opened by the President of the A.E.B.B.A Mr Eric Hill at 14.45 ( 2.45pm ), who welcomed all those present to the meeting.

 

Mr Hill said that his first duty gave him both pleasure, and sadness, because of the retirement of the Treasurer Mr Keith MacDonald, then presented Keith with a decanter to mark his many years in office, and for all the work he had done for the Association over the years.  Keith duly thanked Eric, and the assembled members, for the gift.

Mr Hill then passed the chair of the meeting to the Chairman of the Association, Mr Dennis Atkins, who then presented the Retiring Secretary Mr David Barnes, with a gift from the Association to mark his 10 Years as Secretary, and also his retirement from Office.

David duly thanked those present, and jokingly remarked that perhaps he should carry on for another year as penance for receiving his retirement gift.

 

1        Roll Call and Apologies

 

Apologies were accepted from past Chairman Mr Keith Lewenden, and also from Ken Hussey, of Bar Billiards Ltd.  Members present were also reminded that voting was limited to 2 per county as in the Association Rules.

 

2          Minutes of the A.G.M. 2005 ( already circulated )

 

These were accepted on a proposal by Phil Hawkins, and seconded by Terry Oakley

 

 

3          Matters Arising

 

Dino Clark, who was invited to replace Bernie MacClusky as a selector for Berkshire declined the invitation, and so was left vacant at this time.

As mentioned at last year’s A.G.M. the food situation has been resolved, with the timing of the availability of food being put back to a slightly later time, during competitions that are held at the club.

4          Chairman’s Report

 

The chairman, Mr Dennis Atkins started by paying tribute to the retiring Secretary David Barnes, and thanking also Phil Hawkins, Dave Alder, Ron & Eileen Britton, and also Paul Sainsbury for contributions to the BBQ produced and edited by Mr Peter Farrelly, and also the Committee for making his first year on office an easy and successful one.

 

5          Secretary’s Report

 

David started by stating that this was his 10th and last report for the Association as Secretary.  He congratulated the England team for the victory over Jersey, and also Mr Tony Walsh for his donations to assist with the cost of the trophies.  Special mentions for all the various winners of the National, and County Titles, and a special mention for the England Captain, Kevin Tunstall, who captured the World Title for the 1st time under it’s present title, and 3rd overall, to join Jim Millward as a 3 times Champion in Jersey.

A special ladies trophy was presented by David to Pauline Withey for another outstanding year.

David then looked back over the 10 years he has served as Secretary, with thanks to Ron & Eileen Britton for getting the money from those who came to play, or watch at the National events, Phil and Myra Hawkins for the assistance with setting up and removing the tables, and also thanks for the assistance given by Mr Peter Farrelly during his 8 years as the Tournament Director, and as the BBQ Editor.

David also thanked Nigel Senior for the last 2 years in his capacity as Tournament Director, saying that to follow Peter Farrelly was a hard task indeed, but Nigel had managed the position well.

The under 25years competition was mentioned, with disappointment as this year there were only 3 entries.

Finally, there were thanks to all the County Secretary’s for all the help given to David over the 10 years in Office, and he hoped that the same help, and co-operation would be given to his successor.

 

6          Treasurers Report

 

The treasurer, Keith Macdonald started his report by thanking the President, Mr Eric Hill for the presentation, and said that it had been a pleasure to work with those in office over the years.

Thanks for the retiring secretary David Barnes for his outstanding work in keeping the costs down, and his help in running raffles, etc to assist in the income of the association.

Keith also thanked those involved in all aspects of the Bournemouth pairs Tournament in keeping costs to a minimum.  Also mentioned were Paul Sainsbury for sponsorship, Tony Walsh, and Phil Hawkins for assisting in the costs of trophies.   He also reminded the members present of the need to keep funds coming into the association, to keep it on a viable footing.

After the report, with Keith accepting questions from the members, Phil Hawkins asked if it were possible to raise the fee to enter the P.O.S.S.C. to £2.50, and this was to be looked into for future events, but at the moment to keep it at the same fee of £2.00.  Also mentioned to be looked at for future events held away from Reading was the cost of hiring various halls/function rooms to stage the International Matches, between England and the Channel Isles, bearing in mind that when the Jersey, and Guernsey players came over here, the travelling was a great deal further than any on the Channel Isles.  This also is to be looked into.

The Treasurers Report and set of Accounts was accepted on a proposal by Kevin Tunstall, and seconded by Pauline Withey.

 

7          Tournament Directors Report

 

The Tournament Director, Nigel Senior started his report by congratulating Kevin Tunstall for an outstanding year in Bar Billiards, culminating in his 3rd Jersey title.  He then went on to comment on the various rules and expressed the need to clarify the rules for All England.

Nigel then announced that this year was to be his last as Tournament Director, as he explained to the members, that he was a non-driver, and had to rely on public transport to get him to the Tournaments to which he had control.  This had taken its toll on his playing ability, and he also stated that he had recently qualified as a teacher, and so was unlikely to be able to give the time he had in the past to the job.  He reminded the members present that the Tournament Directors role could have a bearing on the players ability to maintain the standards that he/she had set themselves.  Finally, Nigel thanked David Barnes for all the help given to him in the 2 years he had held the position and wished David a happy retirement from the pressures of running the AEBBA.

 

8          Secretary’s Honorarium

 

As is customary at this stage, the Secretary was requested to leave the meeting, so those members present could discus the Honorarium to be awarded.  The Treasurer, Keith MacDonald reminded members that the Honorarium was at present £500, and it was decided to keep it the same.

This was proposed by Kevin Tunstall, and seconded by Phil Hawkins, and accepted unanimously.  After the vote, the Secretary was asked to rejoin the meeting, and was informed of the Honorarium, to which heartfelt thanks were given to the members by the Secretary.

 

9          Proposals

 

Proposals to be discussed at this year’s A.G.M. were as follows:-

 

From Kent County Bar Billiards Association to update the A.E.B.B.A rule book, as this was sadly out of date with the game at present, and needed a radical overhaul. Prop Chris Saville KBBA Secretary  2nd Dave May  KBBA Chairman.

 

From Paul Sainsbury, 2nd Keith Lewenden where All – England matches are played best of 2 legs with 2 points per leg, and 1 for the aggregate win.  This way the emphasis is on winning matches, not legs

 

From Keith Sheard,  2nd Pauline Withey  That winners only should go through from Round Robin stages to the Final Stages of the Mixed pairs Competition

 

From Brian Daniels that Executive members of the committee should not be allowed to claim expenses to get to Tournaments they play in.  THIS WAS WITHDRAWN BEFORE DISCUSSION.

Also Round Robin competition be scored on a points system. 1 point per leg, and 1 for aggregate, with a tie be decided on the head to head meeting between players

 

The practice of inviting Jersey, and Guernsey to provide entries to the All England Individuals, Ladies Individuals, Team Competitions and the County Championships as they were associate  members.  Proposed Peter Farrelly  2nd Dave Barnes.

 

Proposal from Geoff Jukes, and seconded by Ian Lelliott that amendments are made to the rule that governs entry into the Individuals, County Championships, and Team Championships, and also the use of Guest Players in those team competitions.

 

Starting from the first proposal by Kent, this was accepted unanimously and the proposer Chris Saville was asked to bring the rule book up to date. This Chris said he would do with as much haste as possible, to enable all members, and Counties to be fully up to date by the middle of 2007.

 

The second proposal from Paul Sainsbury & Keith Lewenden was rejected as a retrograde step back.

 

The third proposal from Keith Sheard & Pauline Withey was rejected and left to the Tournament Directors discretion as to how the competition was run, dependant on the amount of entries to the competition.

 

The fourth proposal by Brian Daniels was rejected for the same reason as given for the rejection of the proposition from Paul Sainsbury & Keith Lewenden,

 

The fifth proposal from Peter Farrelly & Dave Barnes was accepted, with the new secretary given the task of ensuring that both Jersey, and Guernsey knew of the invitations to be extended to them.

 

The proposal from Geoff Jukes, and Ian Lelliott was left in obeyance as Chris Saville ( KBBA Seretary ) is tasked with updating the AEBBA Rule Book, which is now under review.

 

10          Election of Officers

 

With the retirement of 2 of the Officers, nominations were asked for and offered from the members, and those proposed and seconded indicated that they were willing to serve in that Office if elected by the members.

 

Therefore the elected Officers for the AEBBA for 2007 are as follows:-

 

Secretary          David Alder           Prop Dave Barnes          2nd  Nigel Senior

Treasurer          Mark Trafford          Prop Dave Barnes          2nd  Peter Farrelly Tourn Dir          Nigel Senior                    Prop Eric Hill          2nd Phil Hawkins

Chairman          Dennis Atkins          Prop Dave Barnes          2nd Keith MacDonald

 

11          International Match Report

 

This report was given by the England Men’s Captain Kevin Tunstall and he started by saying that a late withdrawal by Mark Turner due to his son’s illness opened the door for Geoff Jukes to play in the match against Jersey.  This match was closer than the final score line suggested, and Kevin said that his team had to fight all the way to earn the victory, in the end by 24 points to 9.

In the same evening, and at the same venue the Ladies International also took place, and it was a rather one sided affair with the Ladies, Captained by Pauline Withey, running out comfortable winners by 14 points to 1.

The inaugural International between England and Guernsey was played in Guernsey, and there were a few comment on the colours of the cloth used on the Guernsey Tables.  If this was a ploy to put off a strong England team, it sadly did not work, and with the introduction of pairs matches to make the competition a little longer and played under the “ Ryder Cup “ format, the England Team ran out winners by 33 point to 19, with the pairs matches quite close, with England winning by 14 points to 11.  The England Team to play Jersey, in the Channel Isles is on the selection committee report.

 

12          Selection Committee

 

It was announced by Chris Saville ( Kent ) that he was standing down as a selector for the Internationals, and although asked, Dave May declined the offer made, and thanked those who had made it.

In view of this, there were 2 vacancies on the committee, and the following 2 people were elected

Dave Alder            Prop Eric Hill          2nd Myra Hawkins

Keith Sheard          Prop Ray Sturgess          2nd Brian Daniels

All other Committee members were re-elected en-bloc on a proposal by Chris Newsome and 2nd by Alan Easden

 

13      British Isles Open Pairs Competition

 

This, as usual will be staged at Bournemouth over the week-end of 9th – 11th March 2007, at a cost per person of £97.50.  Those interested are to contact the President Mr Eric Hill for details, and entry.

 

14      All England Competition Dates

 

The competitions that are overseen by the AEBBA are as follows

 

September 23rd              Division 1 / Division 2

September 30th              Ladies / Men’s All England Individuals

October 7th                      Division 3 / Ladies

October 21st                     Team Championships / Special Ladies

October 28th                             Alternate Rules

November 25th              Mixed Pairs / Under 25 Individuals

December 2nd               Over 50s / Over 60s / Grand Prix

December 9th                All England A.G.M.

 

15      Other Competition Dates

 

Dates given for the County Open Competitions are as follows :-

 

Oxford Open           17th February 2007

Mermaid ( Hants )                  29th  April 2007

Sussex Open           3rd June 2007

Kent Classic                     July ( No Date Known as yet )

Berkshire Open           16th September 2007

Bucks Open                     August ( No Date Given as yet )

World Championships     10th / 11th November 2007 ( Jersey )

 

16      Any Other Business

 

There was no other business to discuss

 

17      Close of Meeting

 

The meeting was closed by the Chairman Mr Dennis Atkins at 17.00 ( 5.00pm ) and wished everybody a merry Christmas, and a safe journey home.