South Axholme
Sharks Committee Meeting Present:Simon Latham, Jill Watson, Bev Webb, Claire Windle, Jim Cook, Margaret Gray, Sandra Temperton, Jan Simm, Jackie Buxton, Tony Lockey, Mo Leggott, Paul Edgar & Robin Halls. Apologies: Jeff Buxton & David Gray. Minutes of Last Meeting Agreed as a true record. Matters Arising None. Correspondence Letter received re a stoke clinic; letter to be passed to Jeff/ Paul Edgar. Sandra advised that she had emailed all the outside officials who helped at our Halloween meet and had received a response from Alec James, the starter, who thanked us for asking him. Letter received from Pete Smith, asking if we could arrange for the return of the ‘sprint week’ in the Sharks calendar, as he felt that the Reef and Tiger squad swimmers have little chance of gaining points for the sprint ladder, as this is very popular with the swimmers. He suggested that we use Epworth Pool for this, as some of the younger swimmers may be daunted by the larger Gainsborough Pool and parents travelling that extra distance. Pete volunteered his help should we take this forward. He also suggested the return of the mixed relays to encourage team spirit and to possibly incorporate these into the training sessions again on a regular basis, giving those swimmers who do not participate in galas regularly the practise in diving, change overs and team participation. He also added that he realised that the swimmers and the Club as a whole likes to win but felt that the two suggestions would contribute to the swimmers continued enjoyment of their swimming as part of Sharks. Some of the Committee members agreed that we should try and take on board these suggestions. Letter received from Shirley Hinchliffe thanking the Committee and everyone who has helped organise the galas during 2007. She would like the Committee to consider presenting medals to all participating Club Champs swimmers for the under 12 years age groups, as she felt that these swimmers in particular need the most encouragement. Whilst presenting the trophies and medals at this years Club Champs she was encouraged to see that in one event there was 7 swimmers and the girl who came 7th in that event, enthusiastically and sportingly congratulated every other swimmer, even though she did not receive a medal herself, this is quite commendable. She realises that some years this may involve the purchasing a quite a few extra medals and therefore the financial implications have to be considered however, Shirley would be willing to personally fund any extra medals required should the Committee wish to adopt this policy. Shirley also enclosed a cheque for £30 towards Club funds, which she made clear was a donation irrespective of whether the Committee took forward her suggestion or not. Thank you again Shirley not only for the donation but for your help and encouragement in aid of the Club. This will hopefully be on the Agenda for discussion at the next meeting, to include medals/ trophy presentation, engraving, ordering etc. in general. Jim said that although he was quite happy ordering the trophies and medals for the Club Champs this time, it is a very difficult job and that is why there were no distance/stroke engravings on this years new medals/trophies. We discussed briefly the format of the social evenings, as their seemed to be less attendance this year and did we ought to consider the presentation of the medals and trophies at the social evenings again? We also discussed the possibility of organising a ‘Diddy Gala’ as it was felt that some of the swimmers may have been put off from competing at the Club Champs by the long distance swims i.e. 200M. It was however pointed out that these longer swims have always been part of the Club Champs and it is a good gauge for the more competitive swimmers. With regard to the possibility of a Diddy Gala, we need to look more fully into the Galas that are already planned for next year, we will hopefully have a more comprehensive schedule at the next meeting, before s decision can be made. Discussion point for next meeting. Letter received from Gaynor Neary asking the Committee to consider a few ideas to try and attract more swimmers to participate in Club Champs and to join Sharks in general. She points out that she is not criticising the Club in any way but would like to offer her suggestions, which may help the Club going forward. Gaynor pointed out that she felt that the Winter Club Champs seemed to be sparse in competitors, with mainly the Killer squad members competing and she would like to see more Reef and Tiger Squad swimmers competing, maybe this is because they are aware that at the moment they do not have a chance of winning a medal(s) and for parents to sit and watch for 3 hours seems disheartening. Therefore she suggests that the Committee considers giving medals to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd placed swimmers in all squads, so that effectively swimmers are competing against their own squad members in their age group rather than across the age groups in general. This will allow Reef and Tiger squad swimmers to win medals, which at present seem out of their reach when competing against Killer/ DARTES swimmers. It was suggested that we give out more medals rather than trophies due to the cost implication. Gaynor also thought that perhaps the events in Club Champs should be restructured, as at the moment the 8 year olds swim 25M races and then the 9 year olds can swim 200M if they wish, which seems a big jump. She suggested that 8 yr olds swim 25M, 9yr olds swim 50M and the remaining age groups have the opportunity of swimming 50-100M events. In addition, the age split for events may need to be reconsidered , as at the moment there is an age group in some events of 12 yrs and over, which means a 12 yr old could compete against a 16 yr old plus. Smaller age group brackets need to be considered to encourage swimmers to participate. With regard to our social nights, would the Committee consider reverting back to presenting the medals/trophies on the actual evening, as this would encourage more people and children to attend? To cut down on the time frame for this, would it be simpler for each swimmer to be presented with his or her medals all together rather than each individual event? Gaynor would also like to suggest that swimmers should only be in Killer squad if they are willing to participate in Galas and in this respect swimmers and parents need to be made aware of this and what is expected of them when they are in the top squad; this will hopefully mean that when swimmers are chosen to swim for their Club they will try their utmost to be there. At the moment, there doesn’t appear to be much communication between the Club and the parents and perhaps a bi-annual or quarterly newsletter giving updates and useful information would benefit everybody? Perhaps, we should also consider taking up the Press releases through the Epworth Bells again as the kids like to see their photos and name in the newspaper and it promotes the Club. Gaynor also thought that we should try and incorporate Sprint nights again, on a quarterly basis, as it would give them the competitive experience and help the coaches monitor individuals progress. In addition, Gaynor would like the Relays to be considered again on training nights, obviously not every session and also she quite rightly pointed out that maybe it would be better not to do these at the end of the training session, as a cool-down period is needed. Some parents who did not stay to watch the training sessions used to come back 10-15 mins earlier to watch the Relays and most of the swimmers enjoyed taking part. Again, these should be discussions points for the next meeting, although one suggestion for boosting the Club Champs entries would be for ‘blanket entries’ to be considered. And in respect of the newsletter and Press releases suggestion, Bev spoke to Gaynor previously about this, as Gaynor did a very good job previously in respect of the Press releases and the Committee agreed that we should ask her again if she would take this on board. Paul Edgar will sponsor the purchase of a digital camera for the Club, should Gaynor agree to take this forward; additionally Claire Windle will be able to provide Gaynor with a copy of the results from each Gala, to make it a little easier for her. The Committee decided that a Sprint night should be organised for January 2008, the date of which needs to be looked at in conjunction with the 2008 schedule of events. It was suggested that the Club may wish to consider special trophies i.e. Best Club swimmer, Most Improved Swimmer etc. The Committee is also considering a change of venue for the Social evenings i.e. a closer to home, it was suggested that Belton Pavillion may be an option. Paul Edgar has the contact details and will make enquiries for consideration at the next meeting. We received a letter from Keith Squires, resigning as Senior Boys Captain, as he is joining the RAF on the 28th of November. He thanked everyone involved with the Club for making his time at the Club really enjoyable and wished the Club good luck in the future. Bev to write to thank Keith. Coach’s Report None, see AGM report. . Forthcoming Galas See Sharks notice board and website. Any Other Business TWe discussed the change of Team Captains and Vice Captains, the present positions are as follows: Senior Boys Captain - Keith Squires, Senior Boys Vice-Captain - Chris Watson, Junior Boys Captain - Lewis Starbuck, Junior Boys Vice-Captain - Matthew Hirst, Senior Girls Captain - Alison Pennell (resigned previously and not replaced yet), Senior Girls Vice-Captain - Laura Holroyd, Junior Girls Captain - Bridie Smith, Junior Girls Vice-Captain - Hannah Hirst. The recent ‘nomination suggestions’ notice placed on the board has now been taken down, as it was felt that the wording was incorrect and both Simon and Bev apologised to the rest of the Committee for this error. The Committee agreed that the Senior positions should be for over 12 year olds (age 12 in 2008) and the Junior positions should be considered for the up to 12 year old swimmers. In addition, it was proposed that non-training Sharks swimmers should not be considered for these positions. The expectations of a Captain and Vice-Captain is that they should set a good example to other swimmers, they should support and encourage swimmers, they should help out as much as possible particularly at Club Champs (Team marshalling for instance) and they should lead by example in their behaviour and dedication to swimming for Sharks. It was decided that the Committee should discuss this at the next meeting and make the final choices then, as it was agreed that Jeff Buxton should have input in this respect. Jackie Buxton on behalf of Jeff would like the Committee to consider a change of colour for the swimming hats, maybe orange? Also he would like all swimmers especially the competitive swimmers to have a Club t-shirt with the Sharks logo on the back, and the small Sharks motif on the front with the swimmers name. Paul Edgar to look at the costings of these. Cris Lewis is looking at the possibility of the Club running another Open Meet in addition to our 2nd Halloween Meet already booked for October 2008, this may be in July 2008, Jim to confirm the date with Cris. The Committee and Jim in particular thanked Simon for doing a superb job as Club Chairman over the last year. Agenda Items for Next Meeting See highlighted areas above. Date of Next Meeting Tuesday, 18th December 2007 at the Red Lion Hotel, Epworth to start at 7.15pm. |