South Axholme Sharks Committee Meeting
held at
The Red Lion Hotel, Epworth
on the
1st November 2006

Present: Simon Latham (Chairman), Kevin Dunne (Head Coach), Sandra Temperton (Secretary), David Gray, Margaret GrayJill Watson, Jim Cook, Bev Webb, Margaret Pennell, Tim Blackham, Lynn Crawford.

Apologies: Stuart Starbuck, Julie Hirst, Gail Riggott Mary Lambert.

Minutes of Last Meeting

Agreed as a true record.

Matters Arising

Jim is to check and confirm if the DMASA payment has been received.

Kev advised that 85 Sharks swimmers have now passed the Preliminary Competitive Start Award, this being the majority of our competitive swimmers, the rest are to be ‘mopped up’ on an on-going basis.

Swim 21 update – David advised that Sally Skipper has now left Swim 21 and has been replaced by Laura O’Leary. We were advised, alongside all the local Clubs, not to submit our application to the ASA yet, but to wait until March/April next year, as some of the documentation etc. would not get through accreditation at this stage. We received a letter from Laura outlining what we still need to achieve to get this award and how the Club will benefit from obtaining Swim 21 status. The Committee thought it would be a good idea to invite Laura to one of our meetings to explain to us the Swim 21 plan and to give us some guidance.

A parent has approached one of the Committee members and asked for a Sharks swim bag, it appears we do not have any of these left and it was therefore agreed that Sandra should order some more, from Running Imp perhaps.

It was mentioned, as a possibility, that our own Swim Shop should be made available more regularly at the Pool during training sessions and at Club Champs. It was thought that a rota would be the best idea and we should place a notice on our board asking for volunteers to run the shop on a rotational basis. The running of the shop would entail getting everything out of the store cupboard and putting it on display on a table in the seating area at the Pool; orders could be taken if the items were not readily available at the time.

Correspondence

Letter received from Swim North East reimbursing Peter Gray’s course fees.

Letter of introduction received from Laura O ’Leary from Swim 21, see above for more details.

Letter received regarding an accident and incident book that Sharks should be keeping. Sandra has sent for one.

We have sent a response to Vicky Norman re the number of people we wish to send on the Child Protection Course, 16 on the list to date. This is a free Course and details are to follow. We already have a list of people who help at Sharks, who are already covered with regard to child protection. However, some of these people need to send for their renewal notices in December 2006, as reviews are required every three years.  

Letter received from Rob Jenkins regarding the take-up reel at Epworth Pool.

We have received a letter from Rob Jenkins at Epworth Pool to advise that they are looking to close the Pool over the Christmas period from the 23rd of December until the 3rd of January; during this time the water temperature will be reduced. Although it is the wishes of the staff to have a break during this time, the Pool management are willing to open the Pool for Sharks training if we wish. The Committee decided against Sharks training during this period.

We have also received a letter from West Lindsey District Council regarding the refurbishments at Gainsborough Pool, these are going to take longer than they had originally estimated and the project will not be finished until the middle of December. This affects the Club Champs, which are due to take place at the end of November, in that the changing rooms are not complete and at the moment swimmers are getting changed in portacabins at the far end of the Pool. It was agreed that we should still go ahead with Club Champs but we should put a notice up at Epworth to advise parents and swimmers of the situation and suggest that swimmers come to Club Champs with their swimwear on underneath their normal clothing.

Coach’s Report

On the 24th of June 2006, Sharks travelled to Scartho Pool for the 2nd round of the Lincs Junior League, the results were as follows: 1st Cleethorpes & District with 237 points, 2nd South Lincs with 190 points, 3rd South Axholme with 181 points, 4th Scunthorpe Anchor with 176 points, 5th Trenton Dolphins with 115 points and 6th City of Lincoln Pentaqua with 87 points.

Sharks went to the Lincs Junior League ‘A’ Final at Yarborough Pool on the 16th of September, the results were as follows: 1st Lincoln Vulcans ‘A’ with 260 points, 2nd Cleethorpes & District with 193 points, 3rd South Lincs with 162 points, 4th South Axholme with 147 points, 5th Louth with 146 points and 6th Scunthorpe Anchor with 111 points. Overall we took 3rd place in this League.

36 Club records were broken at our Club Champs in July 2006.

The 2nd of July 2006 saw Sharks going to the Barnsley Minors meet; the highlight of this meet was the last event, the 8 x 25m freestyle cannon and Sharks WON in a very
exciting race with Rotherham Metro. The results for this gala were as follows: 1st Rotherham Metro with 140 points, 2nd South Axholme with 128 points, 3rd Sheffield with 123 points and 4th Borough of Barnsley with 99 points.

The final round of the Barnsley Minors League was held on the 1st of October 2006 and we were just 18 points behind Rotherham Metro going into
this last gala. Unfortunately Kev was not able to make this meet, as his father was very ill and some swimmers were also absent. However, the results were as
follows: 1st Rotherham Metro with 142 points, 2nd Sheffield City with 131 points, 3rd Chapeltown with 115 points and 4th South Axholme with 106 points. We did however finish 2nd overall in this League and we will therefore stay in Division 2 for next year.

On the 8th of July, Sharks travelled to Yarborough Pool for the Lincs League ‘runners up’ final, this was a tough competition with some strong challenges from the Louth
team in particular. We managed a first place with 216 points against Louth Dolphins, who were a close 2nd with 202 points. Overall in this League we finished in 7th place however, Boston did not turn up to their final therefore we were promoted to 6th place.

On the 15th of July we were invited to a friendly gala at Dearne Valley, this was a great gala for the younger swimmers and Kev had a chance to swim some of his novice
swimmers. The results were as follows: 1st Chapeltown with 196 points, 2nd South Axholme with 188 points, 3rd Dearne Valley ‘A’ with 151 points, 4th Bircotes Penguins with 103 points and 5th Dearne Valley ‘B’ with 82 points.

Early September saw the Sharks Masters travelling to Scarborough for the NEC Masters competition. It was the usual good fun day of eating, drinking tea/coffee and swimming all rolled into one. Shirley Hinchliffe was the star of the show notching up 9 gold medals and she is now top of the NEC Masters table for the Leo Beatty trophy! A special mention for Julie Hirst who achieved a pb in her 50m fly, going under 40 secs for the first time.

On the 30th of September, eight girls from Sharks took part in the Lincs Squadron Relay events. The events are made up of 4 x 50m relay events for both the junior teams (under 14 years) and the senior teams and shields are awarded to the top two teams in each event. The senior girls team (Rebecca Milnes, Laura Holroyd, Georgina Holroyd and Alison Pennell) finished 3rd in the freestyle event and 2nd in the medley event. The junior girls team (Emily Fordham, Beth Edgar, Anna Laird and Molly Simm), all 11 and 12 years of age, gave the other teams a ‘run for their money’ and swam extremely well.

The DMASA Mets took place over 2 weekends and Sharks managed to win 44 medals overall. A special mention to Hannah Hirst who took 4 golds and 1 silver & was top girl in her age group, Chris Watson who won gold in the 15yrs 100m backstroke and Charlie Cocks who took a gold in the 12yrs fly. Overall the results were as follows: Armthorpe 597 points, Adwick 329 points, Askern Spa 238 points, South Axholme 161 points, Rossington 39 points, Edlington 23 points, Dearne Valley 16 points.

Next on the agenda were the Yorkshire Winter Championships. Matthew Hirst and Holly Lewis swam under the Sharks banner and Hannah Hirst, Alex Cook and Beth Edgar
swam under the DARTES banner. Matthew and Holly got into 2 finals each and Hannah and Beth both achieved 3rd places. These swimmers achieved some excellent personal best times at these championships.

Forthcoming Galas

Knottingley Gala on the 4th of November 2006.
The Falcon open meet on the 12th of November 2006.
Club Champs on the 18th and 25th of November 2006.
The Barnsley Xmas meet on the 2nd of December 2006.

Any Other Business

David advised the Committee that we need someone to attend the Equity Course for Swim 21 in January 2007. Simon Latham volunteered to attend.

Jim has arranged the next Open Meet Sub-Committee meeting on Wednesday the 8th of November 2006 at The Red Lion in Epworth for 7.15pm. Attendees – Sandra Temperton, Kev Dunne, Simon Latham, Cris Lewis, Julie Hirst, Jim Cook and David Gray.

Presentation night is to be held on the 12th of January 2007 at Brumby Hall and we need to put a notice up at the Pool regarding this. It was agreed that the ticket price
should be raised to £5 per head (adults and children the same) this is due to a price increase for the food.

It was also suggested that the Relay Teams for Club Champs should pay £2 per team, an increase to be taken forward for the next Club Champs next year.

The spectator fee of £2 per head for Club Champs should remain the same.

Jim suggested a simple fund raising event before Xmas and he will organise this for us. Many thanks Jim.

Date of Next Meeting

Tuesday the 12th of December at the Red Lion Hotel, Epworth to start at 7pm with the AGM followed by the normal Committee meeting.