H.F.A. A.G.M 2000

Minutes for the Annual General Meeting (30th May 2000)

The meeting was held at the Leather Bottle Public House, Leverstock Green, Herts. The meeting was opened at 7.05 p.m.

Present

Jason Fox (Chairman, Watford), Phil Miller (Treasurer, Watford), James Lee (St Albans, Welwyn-Hatfield), John Wyatt (Dacorum), Caroline Saunders (St Albans), Michael Waterworth (St Albans)

Apologies for Absence

Chris King (Dacorum), Steve Monk (University)

Minutes of Previous Meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting were read and amended - Phil Miller had given an apology for his absence at the previous meeting

Chairman's Report

All the usual competitions had been run in the previous season, this year at the Royal Masonic School for girls. The introduction of a new U14 sabre had been a great success, with the second largest entry for the age group competitions. The entry was good or rising in the lower age groups, but continued to be disappointingly low at the higher age groups. The county championship entry was down slightly, and the team foil event had an entry of six teams, the event winners were as follows:

Men's Foil: Andy Docherty (Watford)
Men's Epee:Mark Schofield (Watford)
Men's Sabre: Andy Aitken. (Welwyn-Hatfield)
Ladies' Epee: Juliette Hall
 
Although the county had been invited to Excalibur in May, a full team could not be fielded due to a lack of female foilists and therefore the county had withdrawn. This would guarantee an invitation to next year's event.

A new novice league had been set-up and run by James Lee through the year. This had increased the amount of competitive novice fencing available in the county and had been well received. James was thanked for his efforts and it was hoped would continue to offer his organisation skills next year. The chairman welcomed the foundation of a new fencing club at Hitchin and hoped it would be a success.

Treasurer's Report

The treasurer presented a combined balance for the years 1998-2000. The balance presented had been reconciled over this longer period due to disruptions caused by changing make-up of committee since Bob Dye's departure. Monies had been fairly static and the association remained healthily in the black. This had been due to not having to cancel any events during the period in question.
Money had been given to the association as fees received for coaching given by Graham Read (Welwyn-Hatfield) and Mike Whale (St Albans). Payment for their services needed to be resolved. This was to be arranged, once the new committee had been set up as signatories to the H.F.A. accounts.

Committee Motions

A proposal was made for two new events to be run next season provided interest was forthcoming:
1) Invitational Lottery Team Event to be organised for September/October.
Hitchin Fencing Club had approached the chairman to run an event at their venue next year. Discussions with Paul Cramphorn (University) at the Eastern Region team foil, had come up with the idea of a team competition where the teams consist of a novice, and intermediate and an experienced fencer, with the teams drawn by lot. Initial response had been encouraging.
2) Invitational Novice Team Foil Event to be organised in January..
The Treasurer had noted a lack of events for novices directly after their initial introduction to fencing and had observed a drop of interest due to this. He proposed an additional team foil event for adults novices to take place concurrently with the age group competitions. This would also make more economic use of the facilities hired.

Both motions were passed unanimously

A proposal was made to continue the Novice Inter-club Matches:
James Lee had run these during the previous year on a trial basis. The general opinion was that the competition had been a success and should be continued. It was pointed out that the organisation took a lot of effort, and would be eased by the election of an organisational contact at each participating club, who would also find out which weeks the club was not available for matches.

The motion was passed unanimously

A proposal was made to reduce Medal Engraving Costs:
It had been noted that since the number of competitions organised by the association has been steadily increasing (Ladies Sabre, U12 Foil, and U10 Foil) medal-engraving costs had been rising. The bill for this had more than doubled in the previous three years. It was pointed out that since the H.F.A engraved a year on each medal, any competition with a poor turn out would result in wasted medals.

A discussion ensured before deciding that:
1) a die for an H.F.A. centre rose should be obtained
2) The category of the competition should be engraved on the medal
3) The letters H.F.A and the year of competition should not be engraved on the medal.
4) A certificate containing the category of the competition and the year should also be presented.

The motion was passed unanimously

Election of Officers

The Chairman and Treasurer stood for re-election and were elected unopposed. The Chairman could not continue to double up as secretary as the constitution disallows this. Michael Waterworth stood for Secretary and was elected unopposed.

The new committee was as follows:
Chairman:Jason Fox (Waford)
Treasurer:Phil Miller (Watford)
Secretary:Michael Waterworth (St Albans)

Any Other Business

The Secretary needed to write a letter to Alan Skipp, inviting him to run courses in the county, in order to retain his coaching services.
Any proposed competition dates should be publicised at least three weeks in advance. The H.F.A. has a section on the University Fencing club website, and all competition details would be updated there as well.

The meeting was closed at 8.15 p.m.