Notes of Annual General Meeting - Royal Wottoon Bassett Volleyball Club 12/10/2020
Present:
Male players: Phil Heads (head coach, chair), James Daniell, Hayden Daniell, Pablo Jimenez Moreno, Ed Benham, Kaelan McIntosh, Sven Kalinda, Dave Maidment
Female players: Donna Cunningham, Kat Grote, Charlotte Daniell, Maisie Daniell
Junior players: Hannah Millie and Robyn Cuthbert, Alberto, Ben and Gabi Lara-Moreno, Hannah Davis, Anna Bulman, Reuben Benham, Taylor Davis
Others: Cliff Ball (ladies coach), Julie Daniell (cwo), Emma Bulman, Hanka Lara- Moreno (parents)
Apologies were received from: Helen Norvall and Debbie Hanna
Season 2019/20 reports:
After welcome by chair to 36th AGM (by video conference) the minutes of the 2019 AGM were referenced and accepted and season 2019/20 reports were referenced and accepted.
Season 2019/20 highlights and current status of club:
Healthy club:
- More people leading, coaching and helping to run sessions
- Player numbers stable or growing (especially juniors), across a wide range of ages and abilities
- Financially broke even on turnover of £5k, with approx. £1.8k reserve in bank
Performance similar to previous two seasons:
- Women 6th of 10 teams in SW League; Laura Kulmala SW Player of the Season (most PoM awards)
- Men reached Dave Kinder Cup final
- Wiltshire Mixed League: A-team 4th of 7 teams in Premier Div; B-team 6th of 8 teams in Div 1
- 8 junior players made Wilts L&J League debut
- SW Junior Volleyball Tour: U13 Boys 2nd; U14 girls 3rd; U15 girls 2nd
- Hayden Daniell selected for SW U19 squad & England trials; Hannah Davis selected for SW U15 squad
Then COVID lockdown from mid-March stopped all our volleyball and social activity:
- No indoor or outdoor volleyball for 6 months
- Lost the last 6 weeks of the season, including DK Cup final and other competitions
- Lost the summer outdoor season (except for one session in September)
2020/21 Season prospects (presented by Phil):
- COVID pandemic is bringing unprecedented disruption to our lives, and volleyball is no exception
- Sport is important for our emotional and physical wellbeing, so we remain committed to sustaining our club and playing volleyball – so long as it is responsible and safe to do so
- Our first priority as responsible citizens is to protect the health of our members and everyone they come into contact with
- Each one of us has individual responsibility for keeping everyone safe – our team-mates, our families and everyone we come into contact with – so please continue to follow the COVID safety protocols set by Government, Volleyball England and Lime Kiln LC
- So far this season…
- Equal numbers of adult and junior members (up to 20 each) plus 10 on hold
- We have been creative and flexible to run adult and junior club sessions under COVID controls
- The situation is likely to keep changing, and we will keep responding as best we can
- We are very fortunate – compared with other regions under stricter controls, and other Wiltshire clubs not playing
- I see little prospect of national, regional or Wiltshire competitions starting soon, if at all this season, under current and likely COVID controls
- But we are looking to promote friendly junior competition – through Wessex VC tournament and bilateral exchanges with junior clubs at Bristol and Calne
- SW junior squad training is running – at least 5 or 6 of our juniors are planning to attend
- Financial projections
- Membership subscriptions should cover our usual annual costs plus COVID expenses, and we will credit you next season if we make an overall surplus
- Monthly junior fees were raised to cover actual costs, but we may still incur a deficit of up to £300 over a whole season while we’re using the main volleyball court (larger space, so safer)
- Monthly adult fees are suspended while we can’t hold team training – but should cover costs if and when we resume, so long as attendance is healthy (we won’t ask you to pay if you choose not to participate)
- Whether we cover the cost of adult casual sessions (3v3) depends on numbers attending, though we’ve mitigated some risk by pricing it for below-capacity attendance
- If necessary we will eat into the club reserve of £1.8k, but we want to maintain most of this to cover potential future risks (beyond this season…)
Looking further ahead
- Volleyball in England has been changing for several decades:
- Fewer indoor community sports facilities, and rising costs, as public finances are squeezed
- Fewer organised, registered volleyball clubs, teams and players
- But rising demand for casual, social volleyball, where you can just turn up and play
- COVID and Brexit are big disrupters that will accelerate these trends. Disrupters bring threats and opportunities:
- For our club, the biggest threat is that Lime Kiln LC could become financial non-viable and close – we would find it very difficult to find another local venue that could give us the space and time we need at an affordable price
- Our biggest opportunity to build back stronger is to harness the rising demand for casual, social volleyball – we know there is demand from the volume of enquiries we receive that we aren’t able to satisfy
- If we’re smart, we can benefit both our club and Lime Kiln LC by expanding our club offer to include casual/social volleyball alongside competitive team volleyball – bringing in more players to the club and more income for the leisure centre
- So in future I would like to see:
- Our junior and adult team sessions continue as before, adapted as necessary to be COVID-safe
- A weekly casual/social session, pay-as-you play, no regular commitment needed
- A player development session, to help juniors and adults progress from beginner and recreational volleyball to our competitive teams (as suggested by our coaches – already being trialled during COVID as our O15 session)
- We would then be offering more appropriate levels of volleyball for more people, with a clear development pathway and a sustainable pyramid structure
- This all depends on Lime Kiln LC being able to accommodate our expanding needs, which is why I’m working constructively with them during COVID disruption to make sure we’re valued and trusted, and become a preferred customer
Comments received at the meeting:
Social volleyball seen as good route to club entry by many members and people on the call generally supportive of the idea. Questions to think about: whether Lime Kiln would live up to expectations re booking/organising; health& safety where unexperienced/casual players involved.
Election of committee officers:
Elected committee - all positions to were confirm as elected/ re-elected:
Chair = Phil Heads [willing to serve 2020/21]
Treasurer = Donna Cunningham [willing to serve 2020/21]
Secretary = Vacant [Debbie Hanna is willing to serve 2020/21]
Welfare Officer = Julie Daniell [willing to serve 2020/21]
Head Coach = Phil Heads [willing to serve 2020/21]
Volunteer appointments - all positions appointed by the committee plus Kaelen McIntosh volunteer for web presence:
Coach (Women) = Cliff Ball [willing to serve 2020/21]
Coach (Men) = Laura Kulmala, Carl Davies, Pablo Jimenez Moreno, James Daniell [all willing to serve 2020/21]
Coach (Junior) = Phil Heads [willing to serve 2020/21]
Team Contact (Women SW League) = Helen Norrvall + Zuzana Pritchard
Team Contact (Junior SW & Wilts Competitions) = Phil Heads [seek a junior volunteer if competitions go ahead?]
Team Contact (Men/Mixed A Wilts League) = James Daniell [willing to serve 2020/21]
Team Contact (Men/Mixed B Wilts League) = Dave Maidment [willing to serve 2020/21]
WVA Meeting Rep = Phil + Committee take turns
Social Organiser = Zuzana, but social events are not currently possible!
Web Administrator = Richard Howells (a former member; we pay the licence fee)
Web Content = Kaelen to liase with Phil and discuss whether easier to up-date or re-do website from scratch and future hosting options
Club awards 2019/20:
Overall: 18 people received nominations - shows that everyone's support is appreciated on many different levels - as always we should give a round of applause to Julie who is spending a lot of time without benefitting as a player in the role of Club Welfare Officer. The winners were:
A team - Sergejs Gubarevs - very close with Hayden who won B team last year
B team - Maisie Daniell - very close with Joby
SWL - Anna Gubareva - continues her Volleyball journey/role model for our junior players!
Juniors
WLJ – Ben Lara Moreno
U15 Girls – Hannah Davis
U14 Girls – Millie Cuthbert
U13 Boys – Alberto Lara Moreno
U9 – Aleksandra Gubareva
Kevan Hobbis award – most prestigious award goes to Pablo Jimenez Moreno – for all hiw enthusiastic support of our adult and junior volleyball on court and behind the scenes
Club AGM closed at 20.05