Bath Saracens RFC AGM 2013 – Held at “The Ram, Widcombe”
Friday 31st May 2013 at 19:30
Present: Pyles, Biss, Wildsmith, Bradley, Mallon, Hiscox, Swabey, Lawrence, Van Der Waals, Bell, Goodfriend, Williams.
Apologies: Bain, Garton L, Garton R, York, Penny, Sawyer.
1. Previous Minutes
Previous minutes have been published and no comments or objections received. These were accepted.
2. Secretary’s Report
General comments
– General comments
– There were 11 meetings of the committee. Average number attending each meeting was 7.
– All in all business has operated fairly smoothly, with a number of initiatives coming to fruition, including First Aid Training.
– We competed this season in D&W Division II (North). Competition proved tough as the standard of teams in the division has improved since our last period in it. We achieved a credible mid-table finish.
– No re-structure has taken place in the D&W leagues and we will compete again in D&W II next year.
– Geometry PR has indicated that it wishes to continue sponsoring the club for next season.
– Although playing in D&W we continue to be affiliated to the Somerset and Civil Service RFU’s.
– The team manager’s post has not been formally filled this year. Due to the additional efforts of a number of individuals this has been unnecessary, but the position needs to be reviewed for next year.
– We owe Owen thanks for his hard work over the season as Club Captain and to Tom Wildsmith for his coaching work.
Ground and post-match hospitality
We have continued to receive sponsorship from the CSSA (Bath) for the costs of playing at the Sulis Club. We intend to investigate the possibility of improved training lighting over the summer. Post-match entertainment has once-again been hosted by the Hadley Arms team, who continue to provide both a warm welcome and tremendous food.
International Tickets
Mike York has continued to manage our (small) International Ticket allocation over the last year to good effect.
Social Activities
Mark Penny has organised a number of social events this year, unfortunately a number of the trips have had to be cancelled due to bad weather. My thanks to Mark for all of his hard work over the year, culminating in a very successful tour and an excellent annual dinner.
Recruitment
Like all clubs and societies Bath Saracens can only continue to exist with a life-blood of new players joining the team. We had a remarkably successful “drive” last year resulting in a number of new faces on the pitch. I hope that we can build on this next year and as a club give the full weight of our support to next years membership secretary.
Awards
Players player – Jack Goodfriend
Captains Award – Robbie Lawrence
Clubman of the year – Lee Garton
Most improved player – Ross Blackaby
3. Captains Report
Pre Season
Numbers at pre season training were promising and we had a good influx of new and returning members from primarily two sources – post-grad students from Bath University and the University American Football Team. Pre-season training started on The Rec and progressed to the Sulis Club for the season which worked well. We also organised a pre season Touch Rugby day and BBQ at Sulis Club which was a success.
Season
After the difficult & challenging season last year we were content to return to the Dorset and Wiltshire North 2nd Division.
The standard of this division was certainly higher than when we were promoted out of it two seasons ago.
Overall we had a roughly even win/loss record, and with a bit more luck with the fixtures we could have been challenging the top four; as it was, we finished comfortably mid table.
The standout games of the season were the excellent all round performance to beat Supermarine 2nds away, a record 92-5 demolition of Combe Down 2nds, a brave performance with 11 men against Cricklade and the nail-biting return fixture to win a very tight game against Cricklade.
What has been very useful to our progress is the consistency of the team we have been able to put out week on week. Having a good core of regular players in the squad has helped the team gel together, which means we perform better together.
Couple of honourable mentions: The Top Try Scorer this year was Pete Baldwin very closely followed by Harry Horner. The Top Points Scorer was Ross Blackaby.
Ross also picked up the “Most Improved Player” at the Annual Awards Dinner, which was thoroughly deserved for the progress he has shown through the season.
Jack Goodfriend picked up the “Players’ Player” – he put in consistently excellent performances – was solid as a rock in the scrum and like an extra flanker in the loose.
Training
Thanks to the efforts of Les Garton, Tom Wildsmith and Tudor Croft, training has been well organised throughout the year. We’ve also had the opportunity of a couple of training sessions with one of the RFU’s coaches Ian “Smudge” Smith which have been very beneficial. Having a few different coaches has kept the training interesting and fresh. Training has been reasonably well attended – and usually by the same core of people, but we’re still well below the numbers that should be training if we want to progress further next year. One of the difficulties we have is transferring skills/moves/tactics learnt in training to match day. Obviously this would be helped if we had more of the team at training.
Social
There were various official social events that were ably organised by Mark Penny this year and quite a few impromptu post-match ones as well. Of note was the Annual Christmas Raffle – an excellent fund raiser for the club; the Touch Rugby day; and of course the Club Dinner. The trip to Wootton Bassett was cancelled as the pitch was waterlogged but we decided to stay in Bath for drinks with a few old faces for JC’s Testimonial. Our annual coach trip to play Morganians unfortunately also had to be cancelled this year due to rearranged fixtures because of inclement weather; however I look forward to us reinvigorating this fixture next season.
Toor this year was down to Weymouth, with a fixture against Swanage & Wareham. The theme was “Saracens” and we had 21 fez wearing toorists in total, 14 of whom were Sarries Toor Virgins. The weekend was enjoyed by all and on the back this success, I believe we will be looking to travel further afield for next year with possible options open to us of Spain, France and the Netherlands.
Thoughts for Next Season
A few players will be moving on, however I believe the majority will remain, giving us a solid squad for next year. That said, we still need to actively recruit to ensure numbers for the new season.
The league next year looks exciting with local sides Avonvale and Colerne joining the division to provide a new challenge.
Overall I think we are in a great position to progress further up the league table next year.
Finally, I would like to thank my vice captain Tony Lai for his excellent leadership when I was away for extend period with work, Robbie Lawrence for all his hard work rearranging fixtures, Mark for his work organising Socials, our coaches Tom, Les, Tudor and Smudge, and the Committee for their running of the club.
4. Treasurers Report
The treasurer presented the annual accounts to the meeting. These show that the club remains in a healthy position. Copies of the accounts are available from the treasurer. The accounts were accepted by the members present.
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 Club’s 2011-12 Annual Financial Statement. The resolution was passed unanimously.
5. Changes to the Constitution and Rules
No proposals were received.
6. Annual Subscriptions
No changes were proposed.
7. Election of Officers
a. Chairman – Dave Pyles
b. General Secretary – Jim Biss
c. Honorary Treasurer – Steve Hiscox
d. Fixture Secretary – Robbie Lawrence
e. Social Secretary – To be appointed
f. Membership Secretary – Owen Swabey
g. Captain – Ali Bradley
h. Team Manager – To be appointed as necessary
i. General Committee ( Up to 6)
Mike York
Jon Bradley
Mark Penny
Hugh Sawyer
Tom Wildsmith
8. Any Other Business
Nil.
