LANCASHIRE  BTBA

 

3rd Quarterly Meeting held at Superbowl Bowl Morecambe

 

on Saturday 23rd July 2005

 

MINUTES

 

Present

            Edwin Whitehead,(chair),  Bryan Wiggans, Mike Glover,  Lynne Little, Ken Little,  John Barter, Carol Barter, Barbara Glover, Chris Aldersley, Alf Hanwright, Cath Dennison, Chris Lansdowne, Mike Duckworth.

 

Apologies

            Pete Singleton, Laurie Wilson, Jim Missen, Richard Beck,  Steve Ray.

 

1.                  Adult report. The meeting was informed that Ken Little had accepted the position of Adult team manager working alongside Chris Aldersley.  Ken was thanked for his commitment and wished luck with the team in the forthcoming adult inter counties.

Chris Aldersley reported that she was still waiting for replies to her letters sent out regarding the intercounties on the 4th September.

She confirmed that they were planning a fun day get together for the squad in the near future.

2.                  Junior Report.  The meeting was informed that Jim Missen had confirmed that he would be available on certain dates thoughout the year to assist with the Lancashire junior training programme.  It was decided that Richard Beck, Barbara Glover and Pete Singleton should meet up with Jim to discuss the way forward.

Barbara Glover reported that the u16 boys won the gold medal and the u14 girls won bronze medal at their junior inter county tournaments.  Well done to both teams.

 

3.                  The u10 Academy.  Bryan Wiggans reported that it was still in its early

stages but after 3 sessions the benefits were already becoming apparent.  They were intending to go to 1 instructor to 2 children to allow for more assessment to take place.  There were 3 more sessions planned for this year.

 

4.                  YAC report.  The meeting was also informed that Gary Little had accepted

the role of YAC manager working with Rachel Jennings. Neither was at the meeting but it was understood that they would be getting together soon to sort out the way forward for the YACs towards their intercounty event next February.

     

5.                  Senior Report.  Carol Barter confirmed that the first round of the

Intercounties had taken place at Sunderland and the ladies team were in first place going into the second round being held next week at Lincoln.  The men unfortunately were not so well placed and had a lot to do to qualify.

 

       6         Trials 2005.  A long debate took place regarding the format and the

                   location.

                        In brief as follows:-

                   Edwin Whitehead suggested that the trials should be run not just as trials

                   to qualify for Lancashire  but also as a money tournament to encourage

                   more entries. Mike Glover confirmed having looked into this and BTBA

                   rules did not prevent this format.

                   Mike Glover also confirmed that the trials were a process that each county

                   had to go through  within the rules of the  Intercounty tournament.

                   Lancashire also wanted to make sure that wherever possible the best

                   bowlers in the county were available to represent  Lancashire.

                   A number of people from the floor disagreed with the idea of a money

tournament.  They made the point that it should only be bowlers that     wanted to bowl for the pride of their county and not for money.

                   They made the meeting very aware that when intercounty events were

                   held in Lincoln or Dunstable as previous years, it cost individuals a lot of

                   money to represent their county.  It would be no use picking those who

                   had done well in the trials because they had taken part for financial

                   reasons only to decline the opportunity to represent the county because of

costs of travel and time.  They needed committed bowlers that wanted to           and were bowling for pride of Lancashire and not money.

                   Edwin argued strongly for the need to get more county bowlers

                   participating in the trials.  He pointed out the large number of good

                   high scoring bowlers that he came into contact with, that did not take

                   part in the trials in their present format.

                   The floor did not disagree with this but felt that the bowlers should

                   be committed to the Lancashire cause whatever the circumstances and

                   not, as has sometimes been the case in the past , when they have not done

well in the first round  they make themselves unavailable for the 2nd          round.

A vote was taken with a considerable majority in favour of not linking

the trials to a money tournament.  There were 2 abstentions.

Edwin continued to express his belief that the meeting was making a mistake.

 

The format was agreed to be as follows

 

                 1st Round – to be held on Sunday 20th and 27th November 05.

 

 8 games (4 in the morning, 4 in the afternoon) for all groups except juniors who would do 3 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon.

The lane condition in the morning would be drier with a wetter condition being put down for the afternoon, giving a better overall assessment of

bowlers abilities to handle different conditions than those they are used to

 in their home centre.

                 Worsley was the preferred venue but Edwin expressed concern at Worsley’s ability to provide the two different conditions. Ken Little said that if necessary he would offer assistance to the bowl on this matter.

(Post meeting note – Edwin confirmed that they were able to provide 2 conditions)

 

                 2nd Round   to be held on two Sundays in early January 05 (date TBC) when the bowling calendar is quieter.

 

     This would be for adult men only bowling 8 games. The preferred centre would be Preston Lakeside but this has yet to be confirmed.

 

It was agreed that in exceptional circumstances a wild card selection could be used from those outside the squad of 15 but only with the agreement of the executive committee.

 

Edwin Whitehead put forward a proposal to reduce the squad in all age groups, except juniors that were already different, from 15 to say 12 or even 10.  He was keen to make qualification into the Lancashire squad a more difficult objective to be strived for.

It was decided that due to time constraints this should be deferred until the next meeting.

 

Chris Aldersley and Bryan Wiggans agreed to run the trials.  Mike Glover confirmed that he would also be available to assist.  Any other volunteers would be gladly welcomed.

 

 

7.             Tournaments.

The Lancashire Tour.  Edwin  reported that he had held 2

events which had been reasonably well supported with 75 entries although he could do with having more.  He felt he was not getting the publicity out to the right audience and was looking for an improved distribution process.  He needed to target younger bowlers.  Could the YBC’s help with this by encouraging their bowlers to take part.

    The next dates were :-

 18th September Burnley Trios

  9th October Wigan Singles

  18 December Worsley Singles Matchplay Final

 

                Grand Prix Handicap Doubles.  13th and 14th August.

Mike Duckworth reported that he had received a good response with 31 teams already entered and more expected closer to the day.

 

                Grand Prix Scratch Doubles.  A Team England Merit tournament on 29th and 30th October.  Mike Duckworth also reported already having 10 teams entered and anticipated a lot more from all over the country. The executive offered any support that Mike needed in running this tournament as it was the first merit tournament to be held in Lancashire for a number of years and it was important to make a success of it to ensure its return in the future and its continued inclusion in the ranking tournament circuit. Further information and entry forms available on,    www.go-bowling.co.uk

 

 8.           Shirts. 

    Bryan Wiggans reported that he did not have many left in stock.  The

Senior Ladies were still keen to get a new style shirt that they would pay for. It was agreed that this needed further discussion as it affected the entire county teams of all age groups.

It was suggested and agreed that either samples or a poster be displayed at the trials to judge the feeling of the membership on this matter.

 

 9.           Treasurers Report

                   Bryan Wiggans tabled the latest set of accounts for the county which were

                available for all present to see.

                    He reported that Steve Ray was doing an excellent job of fund raising for

                 County and any assistance or suitable raffle prizes that were available

would be very welcome.  Steve was attempting on behalf of the county to     sell a bicycle kindly donated by Cath Dennison on Ebay

                     Edwin Whitehead proposed that the County finances should be published

                for all to see.  The meeting in principle did not disagree. This should be a

                matter for the executive to decide.  It was also thought that the National

                Executive of the BTBA should publish the national accounts. Mike

                Glover was asked to look into this.

                Mike Glover also asked about what should happen to the small amount of

                money  left at the end of the year, should it be carried forward?

Lancashire BTBA was a non profit making and therefore this should some     how go back to all its members in some form not just to the teams representing the county as is often the case.

                This again was a matter for further discussion by the executive.

 

10.           Any other business

None

 

11.           Next Meetings

22nd October at Warrington (Edwin Whitehead to sort out a room)

7th January 2006. at Preston Lakeside AGM. (Mike Glover to check on

availability of room)+6