Minutes: Bath Saracens RFC AGM 2024
Location: Bath RFC Club House, Lambridge
Date: 21/06/24 at 19:00
- Previous Minutes
Accepted
- Secretary’s Report
- 11 monthly meetings were held, 9 at the Devonshire Arms, 1 kindly hosted by chairman Ed Bell, and one on-line. with variable attendance from committee members. However, despite this, business operated smoothly.
- In total Bath Saracens played 16 league games in Dorset and Wilts Central 2 finishing sixth out of seven in the league. Warminster II’s dropped out of the league which resulted in us losing points when their results were expunged. This resulted in us dropping to the bottom of the remaining clubs as other clubs suffered less impact due to their results against Warminster. Training at the Bath Rugby Lambridge Ground continues but with attendance numbers fluctuating most weeks. We still struggle for numbers at home and away games, and it is a credit to all involved that unlike so may other clubs at our level, we played the entire season without forfeiting a game. This has been acknowledged in appreciation by other clubs in our league and by the Dorset & Wilts RFU.
- We continue our relationship with Bath RFC through an annual contribution for use of Lambridge. We hope to keep building this relationship and Bath RFC have already confirmed that we can continue our current arrangement in the coming season
- Post-match entertainment has once-again been hosted by Graham and Carol at the Hadley Arms, who continue to provide both a warm welcome and tremendous food.
- Sadly our coach Mark Fordham and Safeguarding officer Tracy Fordham had to relinquish their roles mid-season, and a the club has recorded a note of thanks for all their hard work, we hope to see you again in the near future, meanwhile further thanks is recorded to Sarah Rowe for stepping in mid-season as Safeguarding officer & match day first aider, and to Captain Jamie Navarrete for his admirable efforts in leading the players on matchdays and coordinating numbers for matchday squads and training.
- Post-match entertainment has once-again been hosted by Graham and Carol at the Hadley Arms, who continue to provide both a warm welcome and tremendous food.
- Training at the Bath Rugby Lambridge Ground continues but with attendance numbers
- CSSC Bath have continued to fund our cost of training and matchday pitch hire. As always, we are grateful for this valuable source of income and hope that this can continue in future seasons
- Although playing in D&W and associate members of the county RFU, we continue to be affiliated to the Somerset RFU and also the Civil Service RFU’s.
International Tickets
- After many years looking after our international ticket allocation, Life VP Mike York has handed over the role to Dean Taylor. Going forward, Dean will be keeping the committee and membership updated with ticket availability. The club would like to thank Mike for his work with this over the years and Dean for stepping into the role.
Social Activities
- The club held a number of social events including two well attended curry nights the infamous Xmas draw and social at the Hadley Arms, 2 visits to the recreation ground to watch the England under 20’s, a super Saturday with post-match 6 nations rugby and skittles at the Hadley arms, and the end of season dinner and awards night, for which we returned to the Huntsman this year. A note of thanks has been recorded to Martin Williams who stepped into the role of social secretary this year and to Rob Langan for coordinating the end of season dinner and awards night
Recruitment
- Like all clubs and societies Bath Saracens can only continue to exist with a life-blood of new players joining the team. We have had a good number of new recruits join the team however as in previous season match day numbers were often below the number required for a full squad and this was reflected in the results which often ended as narrow losses due to less than 15 players on the pitch at the final whistle. Focus this season needs to be continued recruitment with a further emphasis on retention and regular availability.
- End of Season Awards
The worthy recipients of this year’s awards were:
The Robin Luxmore trophy for ‘Players Player’ – Jamie Navarrete
The Andrew Blackburn trophy for ‘Most Improved Player’ – George Rowe
The Royal Liver trophy for ‘Captain’s Award’ – Alex Johnson
The Wilf Chippendale ‘Clubman award’- Robbie Lawrence
The report was unanimously accepted.
- Captains Report
- Jamie reported an enjoyable season from the playing aspect however availability on matchdays was a constant frustration
- Recruitment must remain the focus for the coming season with further emphasis on retention
The membership formally accepted the report.
- Treasurers Report
Mark Boxall has sent apologies as he is away on business. He has provided the end of year account and a narrative which is typically used to record the position of our finances for the purposes of the AGM. Ctd
Presentation of Report
The treasurer has provided a full set of reports for review. These are available here:
Opt-out of requirement for full audit.
Under the provisions of RFU Rule 5.1.5(c) the Club agreed to opt out of a formal audit or
examination, by a qualified accountant, of the Clubs 2023-24 Annual Financial Statement.
The report and motion to opt out of audit was unanimously accepted.
- Changes to the Constitution and Rules
The following proposed changes to the constitution were received:
Section 3. (a) “A General Committee shall be formed to administer all business of the Club. It shall be composed of the Officers of the Club and six others.” At last year’s AGM it was proposed and agreed by a majority vote to reduce the number of general committee members. A proposal was made to reverse last year’s change to allow us to vote in more general committee members especially useful when we are pending allocation of Officer roles.
Section 4. (b) “Monies collected as match fees and retained by the team captains shall be regarded as captains’ petty cash…” Propose removal of this paragraph as it is not relevant to the way we currently operate match fee collection.
Section 4. (b) ii) “…An agreement signed by the three Committee members concerned, that the expenditure was necessary.”. Propose rewording to “An agreement from the three Committee members concerned that the expenditure was necessary. This is to be recorded in the following Committee Meeting minutes”
Section 5. (a) “Ten members shall form a quorum for the AGM”. I propose we revert to the same number required to form a quorate committee meeting (6).
Section 5. (c) “A Special General Meeting of members shall be called by the General Secretary on receipt by him of a requisition”. It was proposed that this ‘gendered language’ is reworded
The above proposed changes were unanimously accepted and the constitution will be amended accordingly ahead of the forthcoming season
- Election of Officers
The following officers were elected:
- Chairman – Ed Bell
- General Secretary – Robbie Lawrence
- Honorary Treasurer – Mark Boxall
- Fixture Secretary – Robbie Lawrence
- Social Secretary – To be confirmed at the July committee meeting
- Membership and VP Secretary – Owen Swabey
- Publicity Secretary – Nick Williams
- Captain – Jamie Navarrete
- Safeguarding Secretary – Karen Rowe
General Committee
Rob Langan
Dean Taylor
Pete Astley
Matt Tomes
Joe Manasse
One general committee posted is vacant
The committee may co-opt further members as necessary.
The above appointments were proposed and unanimously accepted.
- Any Other Business
The first committee meeting of the forthcoming season will be held remotely via teams on 01/07/24. It was confirmed that the format of subsequent meetings would be on location at the Devonshire Arms, once availability of a suitable date and venue is confirmed with the landlord, with occasional use of on-line meetings if this is required to ensure that meetings are quorate.
A vote of thanks was proposed to all officers and general committee for their work over the course of the 2023-24 season, and a special vote of thanks is recorded for Karen Rowe who stepped in to fill the safeguarding role and match day first aid mid-season
These motions were unanimously accepted.
