9rd November 2015
Present
Andrew Groizard's son Miles was also considered, but it was decided to wait for now, and consult Andrew before potentially offering him membership at a later date.
The Tour was spectacularly good, and thanks to Martin P for organising it (applause).
We gained some good new players including Andy G, Dominic and Tom.
Credit to Hugh for ensuring no games had to be cancelled for lack of numbers.
Fingers crossed for next year, looking forward to it, nets are already booked (applause).
Dave Terry had circulated an email querying whether we should look to find some weaker opponents, if any exist, as more than one opposing team had appeared far too strong for us. Martin said that 5 teams (Octopus, Black Rose, Judd St, Highgate and Bentley Heath) had thumped us. After a wide discussion of our strengths, weaknesses and selection policy, it was agreed to look at replacing at least some of those fixtures, especially Black Rose and Octopus, rather than try to change our own ethos to try and match up better against them.
Hugh thanked all those who supported him during the season, and helped get teams out when numbers were down.
38 of the 75 players on the tool played at least once this season. But only about 10 played at all regularly. Despite the large player pool, we still need to recruit, and perhaps more importantly find ways to encourage existing players to play more regularly and thus build a stronger team ethic.
Finally Hugh announced that he was now standing down from this role after four years, and thanked committee members for their help, and offered his own help to whoever takes on the role.
2. Matthias Winter
In subsequent discussion, ideas were floated on how to engender a stronger team spirit and get more of a 'core' of a team playing each week. Guy suggested specific Focus games, perhaps monthly, where the after-match social aspect would be emphasised, perhaps inviting opposition to the Railway Tavern on occasion.
Nets for 2015 have already been booked, though due to unprecedentedly high demand at Finchley, not all at the favoured (by some) Monday 8pm slot.
Finally, Raj proposed that net fees would be £65 for 10 sessions or £8 per session. Annual Subs unchanged at £25. Match Fees unchanged, subject to North Mid/North London pitch fees next season.
While others greeted the club's newfound financial plenitude with glee, veteran RTCC economic supremo Mr Birchall pronounced concern at the size of the club's treasure hoard and counselled that RTCC was not in the business of making profits. Fortunately, the other dozen or so Taverners present were full of ideas on how to remedy the problem by spending the money in a multitude of ways. Two proposals that gained wide approval were buying a new club kit bag and various items of kit, and subsidising the Tour (and more specifically the Tour bus which had proved such a popular innovation this year).
Tony A was unhappy that midweek nets at North Mid in the summer were so sporadic and seemingly unorganised. It was agreed attendance was very thin. The suggestion was made that the ArrangeMyGame tool could be used to gather names for these nets amd encourage better take-up, which would also help alleviate the problem of being gazumped by other users on some occasions when we did turn up to use the nets.
A new kit bag will be bought - Chris hopes that Taverners will learn to use the wheels on this one instead of dragging it. Chris also made a plea for returning kit to the bag after use.
Christmas Do to be held at the Railway Tavern on 11th December.
The meeting concluded. The bar was still open. More unminuted discussions ensued.
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Those present: S Clarke, C Brooks, H Evans, R Lal, M Pirongs, M Winter, A James, B Whatley, A Birchall, A Jagan, T Alveranga, M Gugenheim, A Rose, G Gibbs, J Dunne
1) Welcome
SC welcomed the surprisingly large turnout and asked for an orderly meeting. Gugi volunteered to take minutes.
2) Get the beers in
Beers were enthusiastically/copiously/duly got in, as appropriate.
3) Apologies for absence
Received from Ed Bailey, Dave Terry, Tom Mansbridge.
4) Approval of 2014 minutes
Done.
5) New Members
Andrew Groizard, Dominic Ewer, Tom Mansbridge and Will Spring were all proposed - Raj seconded - unanimously elected.
6) Captain’s Report - Chris Brooks
Chris began by thanking Andy Pacey for covering for him when he was absent during the season. The season's results had not gone as well as they might, but numbers were not spectacularly short, and those who played enjoyed doing so. Performances good in part, especially the win over Beamers. A couple of notable failures batting second when seemingly well placed.
7) Fixture Secretary’s report - Martin Pirongs
32 fixtures this year - 6 cancelled. Some success moving a few away fixtures back into early part of season to better balance the fixture list.
Unfortunately, away fixtures with more illustrious teams have been lost. We had let them down and didn't want this to happen again. On the other hand, some good new fixtures, including at Hornsey and Highgate. Midweek fixtures have been successful, with good turnouts. Tour was successful, and there is enough will in the club for it to continue next year.
8) Match Secretaries' Reports:
1 Hugh Evans
Hugh reported that of 31 fixtures, only 6 were cancelled, none of these due to lack of numbers on our part. Despite this it hadn't been easy getting and keeping teams together. Players had to be dropped 13 times in total, 8 of those ended up playing anyway. Frequently though there many fluctuations, with players in then out then in then out - A Hokey Cokey of a season!
Hugh was thanked and congratulated on his fine job. Applause.
Matthias suggested we could usefully strike off some of the excess names on the ArrangeMyGame tool. It would also be useful if more people put down their unavailability as well as availability on the tool. Finally, the split between Weekend and Midweek fixture secretaries worked well and should be continued.
9) Treasurer’s Report
Raj promised his report would be 'short and sweet', which announcement drew hearty applause. Getting straight to the 'sweet' part of that bargain, Raj told us of the 'truly excellent' club bank balance, thanks for which is in part due to having 27(!) paid-up members. Also, nets were well received and made a second consecutive profit up from £7 to £70.
Club Balance (as of October each year):
2013: £792
2014: £1032
2015: £1844
10) Election of Officers
Chair: Simon Clarke - reelected unopposed.
Treasurer: Rajat Lal - reelected unopposed.
Fixture Secretary: Barry Whatley - elected unanimously and to great acclaim.
Match Secretaries:
Weekend: Matthias Winter
Midweek: Guy Gibbs.
Captain: Two nominations - Chris Brooks (incumbent) and Hugh Evans. On a show of hands, Chris was elected to continue for a third year as Club Captain.
Vice Captain: Proposed: Andrew Groizard, Rajat Lal, Andy James, Hugh Evans. Hugh elected on show of hands.
It was proposed and agreed that a new post of Deputy Vice Captain (or Vice Vice Captain) be created. Of the remaining three candidates, Andy James was elected for this role.
11) Get the beers in/out
Beers were got in both directions.
12) Tour
Last year's Bath tour was agreed to have been a great success. Martin P volunteered to arrange the fixtures and accommodation again. Simon C suggested starting recruiting for Tour asap after the success of doing so early last year.
13) Nets
Rajat repeated the details of nets starting in February. Barry offered to organise three more weeks of nets in Jan for anyone interested.
Brian (NMCC) pointed out that the company who now run North Mid, also have facilities at Whitechapel which we could enquire about if we needed more net time. He also mentioned that that they run indoor cricket, which drew an excited response. It was suggested an email be sent round on the subject to gauge interest.
14) AOB
It was suggested that Eiran Reilly and Buster Stonham be invited to return as members of club, as Eiran for one had played a few games last season.
Minutes by M Gugenheim / S Clarke