South Axholme
Sharks Committee Meeting Present:Jeff Buxton, Jill Watson, Bev Webb, Claire Windle, Jim Cook, Simon Latham, Lynn Crawford, Margaret Gray, David Gray, Julie Hirst & Sandra Temperton. Apologies: None. Minutes of Last Meeting Margaret Gray pointed out that she did attend the previous meeting, the Minutes however saying otherwise, apologies for this. Matters Arising The Team Manager 4 disc has now been purchased by Julie Hirst, who will of course be reimbursed. Thanks to Julie for organising this. Sandra advised that she has ordered a frame for the Swim 21 certificate and she is to hopefully pick this up this week. Margaret to bring the certificate to the Pool, so it can be displayed as soon as possible. The Committee agreed that the social evening was a success and that the DJ was excellent in entertaining the children. Sandra has had a few more orders for Pro-Swim swimwear and confirmed that the prices are generally cheaper then shop prices. The Committee were advised that no one had had a reply to our response to the letter of complaint from Mrs. Crowley of the Lincs League so far; refer to the previous meetings Minutes for further details of the letter. With regard to the Lincs League Squadron Relay meet, to be held shortly, Kev had to make a quick decision as to whether or not to enter the Sharks teams and after consulting some of the Committee members it was agreed to forgo this meet. We therefore had to pay a £20 ‘fine’, which Sandra has already sorted out. Bev has distributed the surveys received from Elizabeth Pike from the University of Chichester regarding Masters swimmers. Jeff advised that he has not been able to attend any further DMASA meetings since our last Committee meeting due to work commitments. Correspondence Various letters from the ASA and Regional meetings Minutes have been received.
We have received a new North East Region grant form, which must be used from the 1st of August 2007. Jeff to look at, as we may need to use in the future. We have received a new batch of medical declaration forms, which swimmers must complete every year should they have any medical condition(s), Margaret to look at this and sort out accordingly. A letter has been received from the ASA enclosing a cheque for £24.06 re Alistair Gray’s Level 1 Teaching Course reimbursement of part of the fees, which he paid himself. Sandra to sort out with the Grays. Sandra has received information regarding the Falcon Open Meet in Nottingham on the 25th of November 2007, closing date the 21st of October. This Gala was not well supported last year by Sharks and therefore Simon will look at the details and display on our Board if necessary. Letter received from Alison Pennell, our Senior Girls Captain, asking us to accept her resignation, as she will be going to University in September. She thanked the Committee and all members of Sharks for their support over the years that she has spent with us and gives her best wishes to all. Sandra to send a letter back in response, thanking her etc, as Alison has been a fantastic role model for all our swimmers. Sandra received a letter from Finleigh Duke’s mum and dad regarding Kev’s resignation from the Club. They wrote to thank Kev for his enthusiasm & dedication and said how helpful his structured lessons have been to Finleigh. Sandra to send Kev a copy of the letter and send a reply to Mr. & Mrs. Dukes. The Committee received another letter from C. Chambers-Hey again in response to Kev’s resignation. They were concerned that Kev’s resignation had been accepted without, it seemed, too much concern and it would be hoped that Kev’s level of expertise and dedication would continue within the Club. Again Sandra is to copy Kev in and respond accordingly, as the Committee thought that we did not have a great deal of choice in Kev’s decision. Angie Shyplka has sent in a letter of resignation from the Sharks Committee due to change in circumstances and time constraints however, she will still offer her support to the Club as far as she is able in the future. The Committee accepted her decision and Sandra is to send a letter of thanks. Finally, as all the Committee had already been made aware, we received a letter from Kev Dunne regarding his resignation from Epworth Pool and his retirement as Head Coach at the end of September, his last day will be the 6th of September, as he would be on holiday from the 7th onwards. In his letter, he explained how he had really enjoyed being Head Coach at Sharks for the last seven years and thanked all Sharks swimmers and their parents for all their support but felt now was the time to move on. He believed that everyone in the Club had ‘chipped in’ to make it a success and Sharks have achieved some excellent results. Kev advised that he would still like to help out at our Halloween Open Meet and wishes to resume training with the Masters at the end of September and he would therefore keep in touch with a number of people and the Club in general. Kev asked if Cris would post his letter on the Sharks web-site, which we have agreed to do, this explains in full Kev’s reasons for resigning. Sandra to respond to Kev’s letter on the Committee’s behalf. Coach’s Report None at this time. Forthcoming Galas See Sharks Notice Board. Any Other Business The Committee thought it appropriate to put in place a plan for Sharks swimmers, who leave for University. We should perhaps offer these swimmers Honorary Membership, whereby if they wish to swim and train with Sharks whilst they are home, they would just have to pay their annual ASA membership fee and the usual charge for each night they train. By doing this, The Club would still retain these valuable swimmers, who may still wish to take part in Galas for us whilst home. The Committee thought that this matter should be taken forward and discussed more fully at our next AGM. We then moved on to discuss those swimmers who wished to train at Sharks for extra days, not previously scheduled with the Club i.e. what the situation would be if they turned up on a particular night to train ad-hoc? In the past, the situation has been that if the Lanes were full on that night, then they would not be able to swim and the Committee agreed that this should continue in that any Sharks member can turn up at the Pool and ask the Coach if they are able to swim, obviously a one-off charge would be paid to the Pool in this respect, if they swam. Epworth Swimming Pool and SAS – Looking to the Future Jim Cook explained the current situation as he saw it. Two days before Kev’s resignation the Pool Management Committee asked Rob Jenkins (Pool Manager) and Jim for the proposals going forward for Sharks and the Pool. By way of background, most persons who coach etc. for Sharks are employees of Epworth Pool and are not by Sharks, although we do have some volunteer coaches. Epworth Pool is at the moment having to maximise its revenue, as the Pool has just gone passed its 11th Anniversary this year, the Management are now looking at the ever increasing maintenance costs, which were not an issue when the Pool first opened. In addition, the cost of fuel and the water utility costs have obviously increased substantially, and salaries have increased over the years. Therefore the Pool entrance costs have had to be increased, as well as the charges made to its Sharks users. The Pool has recently been granted Charitable status, which means that the four Trustees of the Pool now have legal responsibilities and they have therefore had to look carefully at how the Pool is being run. When Kev telephoned Rob to advise him that he would be resigning his employemt with Epworth Pool and Head Coach of Sharks, Epworth Pool Committee accepted his resignation and agreed that it would look at going down the route of possible volunteer coaching for the Club, which would mean that the Head Coach’s salary saved, would be put towards much needed pool maintenance. The idea being to appoint a non-salaried Head Coach on a 6-month contract. Therefore, Epworth Pool Committee approached Jeff Buxton to take on this role, as he is a qualified coach and is well respected as a member of the Sharks Committee. Jeff accepted this role and immediately said he did not want paying but would have to have the support of both Margaret and Eddie (the existing assistant coaches) and the proposal would have to be put to the Sharks Committee. At this stage, the proposal was put to us, with complete knowledge of the background of Kev’s resignation and Jeff’s appointment as Head Coach. Jeff advised the Committee that he had been approached, as detailed previously, but emphasised that this would only be for 6 months after which he would have to reconsider the position again and he would only take this on board if he had the full support of Eddie and Margaret, who are key people in the success of the Club. Jeff said he would not be able to attend all training sessions, as he works full time and his job takes him away from home at times. He acknowledged that Kev would be a hard act to follow as he did so much for the Club; many ‘jobs’ of which were done in his own time. The Committee unanimously agreed that they would like Jeff to take on the role as Head Coach and would give him as much support as he needed. Jim Cook then tendered his resignation for the Committee to consider, his reasons being that he has two roles to play, in that he is a Sharks Committee member and at the same time he is a Trustee & Committee member of the Epworth Pool Management Team and he thought at times that these roles were conflicting. He offered to leave the room in order that the remainder of the Committee could decide however, the Committee decided unanimously that this would not be necessary and they would like Jim to remain on the Committee. Jim agreed to do so.
It has also come to light that Epworth Pool Management Committee, are looking at whether or not SA Sharks Swimming Club should stand alone from the Pool itself. This did not come as a shock to ourselves, as we have touched on this subject before. It means however that Sharks, as a Club, would effectively have to hire their pool time and run Sharks finances etc. on their own, including the possible employment of coaches/lifeguards. We would have to look at how much this would cost Sharks to stand-alone and it would be appropriate to look at the Pool’s accounts to assess how much we may have to charge for the swimming training, taking everything into account. The Pool Management Committee will make the decision regarding this in October but if it does go ahead the ‘transfer’ would not take affect until the beginning of April 2008. David Gray asked the question about the Pool’s original Business Plan and in particular if they planned to hand over the running of the Pool to the Council? Jim advised that the Management Committee would not look at this because of the value of the estate. David asked Jim if he would discuss this at the next Management meeting and let us know, as this may have an affect on their decision to let the Club go separate. Simon agreed that he would speak to Eddie and Margaret regarding the above in the next few days, as there seems to be a little bit of confusion regarding how they see their roles in this. Jeff also to speak to all Coaches involved, giving them his reassurance that he needs their help and any inputs would be appreciated, as this should be a team effort. In addition, Jeff to speak to Rob Jenkins, who needs to agree to pay Eddie and Margaret for the extra hours they may need to put into Sharks coaching. And with this in mind, we should be able to sustain the same amount of Sharks training sessions as now. The Committee would very much like to thank Jeff, for stepping in as Head Coach and also would very much like Eddie and Margaret to continue coaching the Sharks swimmers, as their help is invaluable to the continued success of the Club. Jeff gave us his suggested Plan going forward – his first ‘job’ will be to get all poolside staff together and discuss how they feel and how they would like to see Sharks move forward. He would also like to encourage volunteer poolside helpers including lane coaches, in order that eventually every lane has a coach every training night and each coach could look at putting together their own programmes etc. He would like to see the introduction of other sessions including life guarding, coaching training and
lifesaving qualifications for both children and adults, as appropriate (of course, he would need to approach Rob in this respect for extra pool time). Lynn advised the Committee that she had heard some parents expressing their concern regarding Kev’s resignation and how the Club would continue and in this respect she thought it appropriate that the Committee should explain how the coaching/training would continue. Jim suggested that a letter should be sent to swimmers/parents to explain this. Sandra to draft a letter to the parents and once approved, this would be sent to all parents of swimmers and could then be posted on the web-site for all to see. Margaret advised us that they had not, as yet, received the Swim 21 folder back even though David has sent 3 emails and left messages with Laura O’Leary re this. It is now quite important that we get this back as there are a number of jobs that need to be shared out between us. Our Open Halloween Gala has been oversubscribed, which is great news and everything is moving forward nicely. Sandra suggested that we have a separate meeting for all potential helpers and Committee members to make sure we are fully covered for both parts of the day. Just to clarify, Sandra advised that we already have 2 referees, 2 starters and one chief timekeeper from other Clubs. We still need judges, chief timekeepers and timekeepers from ourselves and other participating Clubs if possible. Date set for Tuesday the 2nd of October at The Red Lion Hotel in Epworth for 7pm. All welcome. Julie Hirst asked if the Committee would sponsor a table at the forthcoming DARTES Ball at a cost of £25. The Committee agreed to this. Claire Windle has kindly volunteered to input the swimmers times on the new Team Manager 4 system going forward and therefore is to contact Julie Hirst to obtain the disc as soon as possible. Thank goodness! Agenda Items for Next Meeting 1. Decision and way forward re Sharks standing alone from the Epworth Pool. Date of Next Meeting Tuesday the 16th of October 2007 at the Red Lion Hotel, Epworth to start at 7.15pm. We will endeavour from now on to have our Committee meetings on the third Tuesday of every month. |