MINUTES OF DUFFIELD LTC ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

 HELD ON MARCH 16 2016

 

Present : Secretary and 28 members

 

1.Apologies : There were 3 apologies.

 

2.Minutes of the AGM held on March 18 2015 were agreed.

 

3.House Report

The new House Manager, Phill Harrison, gave a resume of current and proposed works.

Health and Safety – John Redfern, our in-house health and safety expert is updating H&S risk assessment documentation.

 

A mainly in-house team had also set up a general maintenance plan, including electrical works. Gas safety certificates had been obtained.

 

A large section of the car park is to be re-tarmacked next week and there will be no vehicle access, including for drop-off.

 

A phased deep cleaning schedule of the premises is in place.

 

Quotes had been received to renew the ladies shower floor, including a new drain, which would be the next big job. Seating in the men’s sauna had also recently been replaced.  

 

There had been problems with some fobs, which were being looked into. New, faster broadband was being installed this week.

We had changed commercial insurers this year due to previous insurers declining flood cover. A new provider had agreed a 2-yr deal, including flood.

High energy usage had prompted a detailed investigation to try to establish a breakdown of usage, which appeared to show very high continual use by the coolers in the cellar. Marstons have been to assess the problem and there is a possibility they will provide new coolers.

Both clubs were being asked  for items for the 2016/17 budget to try to plan ahead for a programme of works.

Problems with the gas oven going out will be investigated.

Another blitz with warning stickers is needed to address ongoing concerns re unauthorised parking.

Phill was thanked for his report and for coming to introduce himself to members.

4.Treasurer’s Report

Treasurer reported membership figures of 226 adults and 172 juniors. Although adult numbers were slightly down, subs had increased by just over £1,500, mainly due to a number of off peak members switching to full membership.

Overall profit had increased by just over £7,000. As well as an increase in subs, there had been some reduction in energy costs, thanks to utility deals being agreed.  Also there had been no major expenditure other than the revamping of the pavilion and surrounding area, which was an excellent asset. Repayment of the interest-free LTA loan for floodlighting was nearly complete.

The next major expense would be our contribution to the car park resurfacing and new lounge furniture.

Cost of the recent court renewal of 1 and 2 would show in next year’s figures.   There remained £26,000 in the court renewal fund and approx. £15,000 in our other two accounts for other expenses.

Hudson was looking to ring-fence £20,000 for contingencies when the major subscriptions start to come in shortly, but hoped to also add to the court renewal fund.

The current Unique Membership Package initiative to help towards resurfacing of courts 3, 4 and 5 had so far brought pledges of around £13,000. Members were reminded to get applications in by March 30.

Hudson was asked if the club could stand the year on year loss of income from those members who take out the discounted packages. It was pointed out that the offer would be limited, with the aim of bringing in £30,000 in advance this year.   He believed we would still make a small profit in ensuing years, even with   a reduced income.

The bar continues to lose money. Losses of £1,949 were slightly less than last year. It was suggested from the floor that bar prices should be increased to bring in profit or at very least break even. It was pointed out that the tennis account always includes the cost of “lost” subs of bar volunteers. Squash is to change their system to also include this figure for the first time this year.

5.Secretary’s Report

Chris Hubbard had circulated his report to members by email in advance of the meeting.

Main points were:

Duffield was awarded Club of the Year at the recent county awards evening, based on our successful coaching programme, participation and self-funding of renewal of court5s 1 and 2.

Chris thanked the many volunteers to help the club to function, either with administration, running events, or helping with the grounds.

Grounds - work to re-site the pavilion and improve the surrounds with new slabbing and planters had been completed.

New blue and green surfaces had been laid on Courts 1 and 2, and were proving very popular and draining well. We were now hoping to replace the worn courts on 3, 4 and 5, which had been flooding badly over winter with poor drainage.

 There had been some major lessons from the recent scheme:

1. the need for contingency planning. Removal of the old carpets on 1 and 2 had revealed a poor and crumbling tarmac surface. Of three options it had been decided to take the middle course of having a thin layer of tarmac laid before the new carpet was put down. This had added £12,000 to the build cost as well as delaying works, partly due to the weather and also the contractors’ other obligations; and
2.  it would have been sensible to consult with the Council before the work was carried out. Although planning consent was not required, there had been one complaint regarding the change of colour which had led to discussions with AVBC. 

Referring to the flooding and drainage problems over the winter on courts 3, 4 and 5, Chris said the options were to either replace the carpet or rejuvenate the surface. The committee view was that rejuvenation, which would probably cost £10-£12k, would be a waste of money as the carpet was now badly worn. It is more than 15 years old. There were layers of sediment and mud underneath the carpet, and there was nowhere for the water to go. It was confirmed there were drainage holes in the tarmac surface beneath which would be cleaned out.

The hope was to replace the court surfaces this year, using  different sources of funding.  There had already been conversations with three contractors, who had slightly different ideas. A drainage ditch could be dug behind court 5 to act as a soakaway.

Cost of new carpet plus surround chain link fencing was £50-£60k, plus the need to build in a contingency. The existing fence posts were in good condition and could be simply painted to match.

There would need to be a number of sources of funds-

• The Unique Membership Packages scheme which was offering 10, 5 or 3 years memberships with a 10% discount.
• An interest-free loan from the LTA for up to 10 years which could provide up to half the funds.
• Remaining court renewal  funds.
• Donations from business, including the company who had installed the latest court surfaces. There had been 7 reference visits from other sports clubs already.

We should know by late April if the scheme was viable and, if possible, to carry out the work in the autumn. But nothing would be done to put the club at risk.  

Members stressed that the drainage problem needed to be solved to try to ensure this it did not become an issue again.

In answer to a further question, Chris said that suppliers did not offer guarantees on tennis carpets as they could not control what was done with them, but contractors did offer a number   of maintenance visits. Regular brushing was needed and the club had invested in a special  brush which members were requested to use.

Under the LTA’s Clubspark initiative, an on-line booking system for all courts was being launched imminently. Instructions have been posted on the noticeboard and will also be sent out by email. Individual bookings would be limited to two hours per day, with 30 minute time slots.

Under Clubspark, on-line payments for subscriptions will also be available shortly.

Thanks were expressed to the social committee for organising a number of excellent joint events.

We had held the second annual tennis tournament in memory of Keith Murcutt, and again hosted the County Championships for both juniors and adults. Thanks also to Jon Gillespie and team for organising the club championships in September.

The club entered a record 13 teams in Derbyshire summer league in 2015 – 6 men’s, 4 ladies’ and 3 mixed, with more junior boys particularly playing in the men’s teams. Club captains Julie Corne and Mark McAnulty and individual team captains were thanked for their contributions.

 

6.Coaching Report

Head Coach James Grindell outlined the developments on the coaching side assisted by Ashley Broomhead, Gareth Griffiths, and when available, Keith Reynolds.

About 20 minis played in the winter indoor league in red, orange and two mini green teams, winning 2 mini green divisions and being runners up in mini orange. Mini reds came 3rd. More than 30 juniors played in last summer’s Aegon matches in all 3 mini groups, and the boys and girls u12, u14 and u18, taking second place in 5 of the divisions.

 A solid group of juniors are now taking part in tournaments around the country, with good representation at the County Closed held at Duffield. A number of girls are among around 20 youngsters who have now moved into county training, which was relaunched a year ago. A number of girls are now hitting with a group of  ladies on Saturday mornings.

 More minis are playing than ever before and there are more performance groups. Regular grade 6 events had been held on Saturday afternoons. Sessions are delivered for 3 local schools, including Ecclesbourne.

The decision to incorporate better junior boys into the adult teams had been very successful, with a number of juniors helping the re-vamped men’s third team to win their division.

Adult coaching, both group and individual, continues to grow.  Tennis Tuesdays initiative for ladies had started recently and after Easter cardio tennis would be introduced.

7.Teams Report

Ladies summer results were: Ladies 1  4th in Div 1, Ladies 2  2nd in Div 2 and promoted, Ladies 3  4th in Div 3, and Ladies 4  5th in Div 4

Mixed 1 were 3rd in Div 1, Mixed 2  3rd in Div 3, and Mixed 4  4th in Div 3. The aim this season will be to strengthen the 2nd team to win promotion to Div 2. A new mixed 4th teams has also been entered this summer.

Winter indoor league – we have 2 teams playing this year with Ladies A, currently lying second in Div 2. The new Ladies B team are currently 5th in Div 4, but only 2 points separate the teams, with one match to go.

Winter box league has been difficult with many matches cancelled or postponed because of the weather.

Again the ladies had greatly enjoyed a number of sessions with Keith Reynolds.

An end of season night out at Salva’s Italian restaurant was supported by more than 30 ladies. An excellent night out.

Men’s summer results – the new 3rd team development squad involving our top juniors had had great success, winning the 3rd division title, and promotion. The best juniors would need to leapfrog into higher teams, while strength in the 3rd team would need to be maintained to stay up.

 Credit too to the 4th team who were runners up in Div 4 and also promoted.

As previously Men’s 1 and 2 had finished 3rd and 4th respectively in the Div 1 behind David Lloyd and Church Broughton. Men’s 5 were 4th in Div 5 and Men’s 6 were 6th in Div 6 with 6pts! This is an excellent social team which keeps many playing matches.

Duffield were runners up to Church Broughton in the Lawson Wood Cup, in an excellent final at Duffield, but which lacked home supporters.

Again match practices would be split between men’s 1 2 and 3, and 4 5 and 6.

Thanks were expressed to Amanda Heath for so efficiently arranging 94 fixtures for this summer.

8.Election of Officers and General Committee

Dave Dawkins has decided to stand down from the committee and was thanked for his contribution.

All officers and the rest of the committee were re-elected en bloc, proposed by Fred Green and seconded by Martin Pearson. 

9.AOB

It was confirmed that all CCTV monitors were now working again after it had been discovered that damage to cars in the car park had not been monitored because of a fault.

Our Wimbledon allocation this year was 16 pairs of tickets. 138 members had opted in for the ballot. Only those who had done so would be eligible for tickets. 

Jon Gillespie appealed for help with a spring tidy up of the grounds next week. Mick Bosworth and Mike Robinson were making an excellent job of repairing benches and picnic tables in the grounds.

Club Finals’ Day was confirmed as Sunday September 25th. 

The meeting closed at 9.15pm