Empire Cricket Club ry AGM 2008
Summary of Annual General Meeting - held on January 19th 2008 at Tehtaankatu 3 Helsinki
1. Meeting commenced 10:20a.m.
2. Persons Present: Richard Wheeler, Edward Ford, Gary Watkins, Jo Hadley, Nicholas Volk, Jan von Steuben, Philip Davies, Philip Vara, Imran Mohammed. Apologies: Nicholas Burton, Marcel Burton, Lloyd Polack Laune, Tobias Burton, Michael Hutchison-Rees, David Scamans.
3. Agenda agreed – PD sec. RW chair JvS & PD vote counters.
4. Meetings legality was agreed.
5. Minutes of last AGM – no matters arising.
6. Matters to be added to the agenda: All trophies property of ECC.
7. Chairman’s Review – Richard expressed his thanks to Dave Scamans for the success of the Indoor Training last winter. He went on to mention the winning of the Turku indoor tournament, and the Empire ‘B’ team winning the indoor league. With regards to the SM45 league, the problems from July, caused by internal disputes - with previous members were discussed, and the consensus was that Empire, as a club, was a more cohesive unit as a direct result of those problems. The team spirit and enthusiasm in the SKK and Tampere games were raised to highlight this with the away victory at Tampere being proof that we are stronger than ever before. The T20 Open season, and the issues regarding forfeiting of matches due to unavailability of players was discussed. Richard congratulated the T20 Development squad for their success in being the 2007 Developmental Champions.
8. Look Forward: Hopes for 2008; Richard stated his wishes for the coming 2008 season were consolidation in the league, an increase of membership, and becoming financially sound.
9. Treasurer’s report was discussed, and the consensus was that a number of matters needed clarification, namely a more detailed breakdown expenditure. RW to deal.
10. Membership fees owed: The debts owed by members who took no part in the 2007 season are to be written off passed by unanimous vote.
Unpaid subs the matter of unpaid subs was raised, the following members with still outstanding matters are as follows: –
Olli Karanko €50 – confirm if played competitive game or not. RW to task LP.
Siva Karuppusamy €63,34, Amin Shahzad €110, Shabeer Sheerzad €15 and Ric Thorneycroft €25 – no pay, no play to apply in 2008. Unanimous vote.
Lloyd Polack-Laune - €34 – in credit.
Oba Sadiqui still owes club €75 – Has left club but EF to chase up.
RW to chase all members other than RT & OS, detailed above.
11. 2008 Membership Fees. It was announced that there would be a one-off payment to the FCA €30 (exact amount to be confirmed) for individual player registration – but this is still awaiting official FCA notification. Other fees for 2008 were raised, discussed, and voted upon by those present.
Membership fee & Pay As You Play system to be put in place by Committee for 2008 and fees determined and published ASAP. Committee to deal.
Training fee for 2008 to be €5 per session. A suggestion was made that in order to help swell the club’s accounts, a one-off, €40 advance training fee be offered to all members, essentially meaning 2 free sessions to all those who paid the advance fee – voted, carried unanimously. In order to qualify for the 2 free sessions, the €40 is payable before 12 noon on 2nd February 2008.
It was suggested by RW that one training session would be offered free to all new members - vote carried unanimously. 2008 free scholarship – applications are now invited, criteria as for 2007.
13. Committee roles for 2008 – the current committee set-up was explained, and it was proposed by RW that a new role of Vice-Chairman be installed. Vote carried unanimously. The abolition of Ground & Equipment Secretary as a committee position was proposed. Carried.
Chairman – The incumbent, Richard Wheeler was nominated by DS, and seconded by NB – carried unanimously.
For the new role of Vice-Chairman, David Scamans was nominated by RW, seconded by NV. Carried.
For the vacant position of Club Secretary – Nicholas Volk was nominated by GW, seconded by Ed Ford- carried unanimously.
For the vacant role of Club Treasurer, all nominees declined. The position of Club Treasurer is to be regarded as vacant.
For the new role of SM-40 Captain – Imran Muhammad, nominated by NB, sec. NV, Ed Ford, nominated by DS, seconded by RW – a secret ballot, voted in favour of Edward Ford. Carried. Vice Captain to be named before 1st February. (Confirmed as Imram Muhammad at time of writing)
Vote for rolling captaincy of T20 Developmental in 2008, proposed by Dave Scamans was carried. Auditors for 2008 – Richard Thorneycroft & Ed Ford to continue in the role, - vote carried unanimously.
Club’s participation in 2008 SM40, carried unanimously.
Club’s participation in 2008 T20 Dev, carried unanimously.
Club’s participation in the 2008 T20 Open – committee to decide.
Transport to and from Away games, Committee to look into costs.
14. Use of Räjäkylä as training ground, sponsorship and socials. With regards to the playing arrangements for 2008, - meeting to be arranged with Vantaa CC to reconfirm arrangements. RW requested that all members keep their eyes and ears open for any suitable grounds. DS raised the matter through RW that Empire Cricket Club organise its own tournament in 2008 – vote was against. Ask DS to look into viability of a tournament in 2009. Money raising ideas - NV raised the possibility of his company, BITLIPS (NV company) sponsoring, but he indicated that nothing is certain at this stage. PD tasked to post on forum – quiz night. The usage of 3 Tehtaankatu was raised, the social club room in PV’s building is available to the club for socials– Committee to liaise with PV should the matter arise.
15. Award of 2007 Trophies:
SM45 – Player of the 2007 season was Ed Ford.
T20 Developmental player of the 2007 season was Zahed Kanal. Not present.
Chairman’s awards 2007 – Awards were given to Gary Watkins & Dave Scamans for their club work. Nick Burton’s excellent contribution to Empire since its inception are to be recognised via a testimonial in 2008. Committee to arrange/deal.
16. Other business:
a) Estonia trip – RW to look into the viability of a visit to the Estonian CC.
b) Ownership of Trophies: Following the refusal of Zakidullah Kamal to return the Turku Indoor Trophy 2007, it was decided to insert a clause into the club’s rules as follows;
All trophies won BY ECC belong TO ECC, as an organisation, and to no individual.
c) Selection Committee: The make-up of the Selection committee was discussed, and the following was voted on – C, VC & Head Coach. Vote carried unanimously
d) FCA equipment order – No notice has been received concerning the 2008. NV to chase.
e) Club Registration: The club needs to re-register the change of club officials with the Finnish Companies House. NV to deal
f) Web Master – Imran Muhammad agreed to be the new Webmaster. GW to supply guidance.
g) Ice cricket: The feasibility of using Rautatientori ice-rink for ice cricket is to be looked into. NV to deal
h) Recruitment – RW stated he would like every member to keep an eye open for new members, with a target of one new recruit per existing member. NV & PD to liaise re: posting flyers.
The 2008 AGM Meeting finished – 2:00p.m.
Minutes of Empire Cricket Club ry AGM 2007
Annual General Meeting - Held on 20th January 2007, Hameentie 2, Hakaniem, Helsinki
Sandwiches and light refreshments were served.
1. Meeting opened at 11.30
Present: Richard Wheeler, Nick Burton, Jan von Steuben, Zaki Kamal,
Marc Dudman, Laurence Suba, Lloyd Polack-Laune, (the meeting welcomed new members Ric Thorneycroft, Obaidullah Sadiqui and Edward Ford), Jo Hadley, Phil Davies, Marcel Burton and
2. Richard Wheeler was selected as meeting chairman,
3. The meeting's legality and authority as defined in the club rules was agreed.
4. The meeting's order of proceedings were agreed.
5. Apologies for absence were received from Reesh Sharma and Anu Burton.
6. Agreed that the minutes of 2006 AGM meeting and the matters arising had been carried through to and dealt with in at three Committee meetings during 2006. No outstanding items.
7. Chairman's Review of 2006 - Achievements and Look Forward:
Richard Wheeler gave a quick meander through the club's achievements during 2006 and a look forward to the 2007 season:
In brief - A much better season with SM45 3 wins and 4 T20 wins. Let's make it a mid to top of the table effort this year etc. We need more members and need an incentive scheme for bringing them in. Thanked Lloyd for his 2006 captaincy. No pay no play will be enforced this year now we have more players and more competition for places.
8. Nick Burton gave a brief Treasurer's Report on the accounts. Copies were circulated. We need members to pay their subs as early as possible this year.
9. Outstanding match fees and membership fees (name and shame). Main membership fee defaulters discussed. Their names will not be given to the FCA this year until all 2006 debts AND ALL 2007 fees due are paid in full.
10. Fee levels for 2007. Joining and membership fees level for the year (2007), recruitment incentive (25% fee reduction), and free scholarship ideas.
There was general discussion on the issue of match fees and the past difficulties in collecting them on match day on a reliable basis and so it was proposed by Marc Dudman that the match fee element of the club's income be loaded on to the existing membership fee levels for 2007. The revised higher membership fee levels would then need to be announced on the club forum to receive feed back etc. The meeting gave the Club Committee the power to fix these higher fee levels for 2007 subject to the agreed consultation via the forum and a consensus of acceptability.
The number of SM45 and T20 open fixtures are to be confirmed with the FCA and then the potential match fee income calculated and then this amount redistributed across the current membership. ACTION -
Subscriptions and other fees for 2007 - Proposal for agreement via forum.
The one-off Joining fees are to be retained.
No match fees to be charged in 2007.
A 25 Euro insurance payment is to be integrated into the 2007 fees as shown below.
Fees levels for agreement:
Playing Member (Adult employed) 225 Euros
Social Member (Adult employed non playing) 25 Euros
Junior Members (under 21 years on May 1st of each year) 50 Euros
Student Members (on May 1st)+ Unemployed Members 125 Euros
Part season formula to be retained (total matches/matches played).
All fees to be paid in full by 1st May each year. Members may pay by monthly instalments in Jan, Feb, March and April by using their unique banking reference or Viite number for online payment.
No player may play in a league game UNLESS THEY ARE A FULL MEMBER OF THE CLUB (i.e. fully paid up member). No pay no play!
Recruitment Incentive
A proposal to introduce a recruitment incentive: up to 25% off their own next year's membership fee for each new fully paid up member you introduce was AGREED. Paid by way of discount off next year's fees of the introducer once the new member has paid fees in full. The incentive is 25% of the new recruit's or the introducer's fee level which ever is the smallest (to avoid juniors, socials or students getting a 50 Euro rebate for introducing an adult member (if the adult fee is 200 Euro say)).
e.g 1. Junior introduces an adult full paying member (junior gets 25% of own membership fee)
e.g. 2. An adult full member introduces a student (adult member get 25% of the student fee off own membership)
Scholarship
It was proposed (
It was proposed (Edward Ford and seconded Jo Hadley) that applications be considered and voted on each year by the whole membership. Perhaps on the club forum. Proposal was AGREED unanimously. ACTION -
11. Proposals to change club rules.
a) As the fair translation of the English rules to Finnish were not available at the AGM it was proposed that the straight forward translations be accepted by the AGM as there would be no material difference between the English and Finnish versions. AGREED. ACTION -
b) Insert new rule 23 - The Club Committee shall invite one suitably qualified or experienced club member to act in the capacity of Head Coach each season who will coordinate and work in cooperation with any other club members holding coaching qualifications to develop and deliver the club's cricket skills development activities. Was amended by the meeting to:
The qualified coaches (ICC recognised) in the club shall invite one suitably qualified member from amongst their number to act in the capacity of Head Coach each season who will coordinate and work in cooperation with any other club members holding coaching qualifications to develop and deliver the club's cricket skills development activities. AGREED. ACTION -
c) Amend rule 6 - the following paragraph: The Cricket Sub-Committee shall consist of a chairman who will be a member of the main Club Committee (other than the First XI Captain), plus the First XI Captain and one other playing members. The Club Chairman shall conduct the Selection Committee Meetings and have only a deciding vote in the case of split decisions on matters of selection. Is to be amended to:
The Cricket Sub-Committee shall consist of a chairman who will be a member of the main Club Committee (other than the First XI Captain), plus the First XI Captain, the Head Coach and Vice-Captain. AGREED. ACTION -
........and general discussion on selection ensued so that was taken at this point in the meeting:
SM45 Games - Same system as in 2006 - Irrespective of whether a playing member is one of the "9 nominated players" they shall be ineligible to play on match day unless they are fully paid up members and have attended 1 in 4 previous training sessions (the 25% rule). The minimum accounting period for the statistic shall be 2 months (starting from the first training session of the season). This does not apply to new members for the first 2 months of their membership. The Captain shall ensure that numbers and names are recorded etc to aid his decisions on eligibility for match day play. AGREED.
T20 XI Open - New criteria for the T20 OPEN format were needed. It was decided thet the Selection Committee would ensure fair representation between regular SM45 and other floating players for the fixtures in this new format. AGREED.
T20 (8) Developmental - Same as before. Juniors and beginners get priority, plus vets to support them, then floating players can play. AGREED.
12. Selection of incoming Chairman and other members.
Chairman: Richard Wheeler to continue - AGREED.
Secretary:
Treasurer: Nick and Anu
Ground and Equip Sec - Jan von Steuben - AGREED.
Ground and Equip Committee No 3: Position still open.
The Captaincy was decided by a vote (pre prepared ballot papers (Only fully paid up members voted). Jo Hadley returned the result of the ballot and confirmed Zaki Kamal duly ELECTED.
Note:
The new Captain chooses his own Vice-Captain.
The Committee chooses the 20/20 Captain on the advice of the SM45 Captain.
The T20 OPEN team selection is via the Selection Committee
The T20 Developmental team selection is via the T20 (8) Captain and Head Coach. ALL AGREED.
The new Captain decided not to choose his Vice-Captain during the meeting but would make an announcement at a later date.
13. Selection of one or two auditors, and a vice auditor for 2007 books.
It was explained that now the club is starting to grow we need to ensure minimum general level of oversight of the finance aspects as required in the rules and so an audit can be reported each year at the AGM. As luck would have it our two newest members have business management backgrounds (Edward Ford and Ric Thorneycroft) and wished to be considered at 2007 auditors. AGREED.
Other business
14. SM45 and T20 2007 Season - Update
Richard gave an update on the new 2 equal SM45 divisions/leagues and how the the championship competition would work, There are 4 SM45 over matches this year in our 45 over division against-
There was an extended discussion regarding the unsatisfactory situation regarding umpiring in
A proposal was made that the Club Committee make a formal proposal to the FCA that a new solution to provision of umpires to be found. ACTION Committee.
15. Winter Training (format, priorities, programme? What do people want?)
The consensus was for us to work to a programme like last year (subject to the coaches' amendments) and that there would be an element of back to basics as well. ACTION ALL COACHES (Phil Davies, Dave Scamans, Richard Wheeler, Marcel Burton and
16. 2007 Empire Cup fixture(s). How many matches in 2007?
The consensus was that we should aim to make the Empire Cup just one well supported fun fixture that would also double as a family day.
17. Club Strategy 2007 - GROW THE CLUB
Proposal that the Committee proceed with the development of a club strategy and all the associated aspects of good club governance as detailed in ECB guidance, including medium and long-term goals and priorities was AGREED. - ACTION Committee.
Ric Thorneycroft expressed interest in the marketing side of this and it was suggested he be linked up with Michael Hutchingson-Reis to help work on the general strategy. AGREED. ACTION -
18. 2006 Season Prize Giving
a) Empire Cup Winners - The Jaguars BEAT the Panthers in the 2006 club cup challenge. Acting VC Zaki Kamal was presented with the new Empire Cup trophy.
b) 2006 Club Points winner - Zaki Kamal (SM45 winner) was presented with a club cap and a set of Kookaburra whites as prizes. Congratulation Zaki!
Other honours and congratulations went to:
Laurence Suba - the 2006 Training Attendance Champ!
Zaki Kamal 6th best bowler in League.
Zahed Kamal T20 Club Member of the Year.
Jan von Steuben - Voted Most Improved Player on the club forum recently.
Marcel Burton, Phil Davies, Richard Wheeler and
19. Outline of Malmi ground proposal to FCA.
The current status of a proposal to seek funding from various national and international sources for the construction of a dedicated cricket ground at Malmi were outlined.
A draft proposal will be available soon. More information in due course.
Mark Dudman suggested that although it is early days that the possibility of licensed premises be looked into as something for the future, ACTION - Nick Burton to find out what the situation is in this respect.
AOB
Match days - General discussion about setting up the ground and mat on match days. Minimum time to arrive is 09:30 to 10:00 for an 11:00 start.
Catering for home games - Reesh Sharma, Lloyd Pollack-Laune AND Marc Dudman may all be able to offer a service this year! Exact details and costs to be look into later. ACTION Committee.
SKK Socialists - Invitation from SKK for friendly matches to be accepted. Empire friendly XI name to be agreed, Capitalists, Empironians, Imperialists? etc. ACTION Richard Wheeler to reply to SKK and Phil Davies to set up forum poll on the Empire name,
Open day - AGREED that we should have something like this but not much discussion on it. ACTION Committee to consider what we can do.
2007 Awards evening - Edward Ford suggested we hold a 2007 Awards Evening and Mark Dudman suggested we introduce further awards in the form of SM45 and T20 Best Bowler, Batsman, All-Rounder, etc. Phil Davies agreed to do statistics and photos etc. AGREED as a good idea. ACTION Phil Davies and Committee during 2007.
Sponsorship announcement - Marc Dudman announced that he may be able to increase his sponsorship in 2007 to XX,XXX,XXX Euros - but that a decision on this would take a few weeks to confirm. MORE LATER. ACTION Committee.
Vikingline free tickets - Lloyd. There was not much interest in an organised club trip to
New Members in 2006/7
Welcome to Marc Dudman, Edward Inglett, Obaidullah Sadiqui (ex
Goodbye to Maruthi Gangumolu and
The meeting Closed at 15:30.