Minutes of Management Meeting on 1 May 2008

The Management Committe of the National Stoolball Association met at 53 Kings Road, Horsham, on Thursday 1 May 2008 at 7.45pm.

Present

• Shirley Reed (President)
• John Price (Chairman)
• Kay Price (Secretary)
• Michael Ledwich
• John and Barbara Fitzpatrick

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies:

• Kevin Hilliard (Vice-Chairman)
• Peter Cheesman (Treasurer)
• Rick Mason (Website Administrator)

Minutes of the last Officers’ meeting

The minutes were signed and approved as a true record.

Matters arising from the last meeting

BingoLotto

The Chairman, John Price, reported that the first phase of BingoLotto had concluded and that it would be relaunched in September.

He then explained about the “buddy system” which had been introduced after the initial launch at the end of February. A club, league or association would undertake to sell a specified number of tickets each week and would deduct 20% of the ticket sale (40p) at source before banking the remaining 80% or £1.60 per ticket.

It was pointed out that stoolball is mainly played between April and September, with a smaller number of clubs maintaining contact with each other during the winter months. Players are usually involved in another sport during the October to March months and it was envisaged that there would be difficulty in selling tickets on a weekly basis during this period.

Sport England publicity

John Price reported that there had been widespread publicity on the “recognition” of Stoolball. In summary, 40 newspapers and magazines had printed the press release submitted by Sport England, with some local newspapers printing half-page articles on the game, 8 radio stations had asked for interviews and BBC South East Today, covering Kent and East Sussex, had visited Claverham Community College to film indoor stoolball which was broadcast the following day in its entirety (about 2 minutes) at lunchtime and there was a smaller clip in the evening news programme. A message of thanks had been sent to the Public Relations Department at Sport England.

National Governing Body application to Sport England

This application had been acknowledged by Sport England and would be assessed at a meeting in July. Copies of the four files of data were circulated for everyone to look at.

The activities of the NSA

Barbara Fitzpatrick had produced an A4 document outlining all the activities that the NSA undertook on behalf of members and it was agreed that copies of these should be circulated to, in particular, equipment agents to pass on when they make sales. Barbara undertook to make a few small changes to the text, but was congratulated on producing this document.

Ice Packs

It was agreed to add Ice Packs to the list of equipment items available to members which will cost £1.00 each. ACTION: Rick

Correspondence

• Thailand: The NSA has received another update from Graham Bailey at the school near Chang Mai in Thailand. Last year Graham took some stoolball equipment for the children to use and since then has provided us with regular progress reports.
• CCPR: Daily new bulletins, CEOs e-Forum and European Update (April 2008 editions) and a notification of the next meeting of the Games and Sports Division which is due to take place on Tuesday 13 May 2008 in the Main Hall, Woburn House Conference Centre in Tavistock Square, London
• News from India: The Indian Stoolball Federation is making tremendous progress and has been given permission to manufacture balls, bats, wickets, rules and score books in India. They will be sending the NSA samples of all the equipment so that we can approve each item
• Primary Times: The NSA has received a copy of the latest edition of Primary Times which is a magazine for parents, teachers and primary aged children in the Kent, Sussex and South East London. It was decided that we would consider the merits of whether to advertise in this publication later in the year.
• SABR UK AGM meeting: The NSA has been invited to attend this meeting which is taking place at The Three Kings pub in Clerkenwell Green in London on Saturday 7 June 2008.
• Sussex County Sports Partnership: Notification of a UK Coaching Framework seminar which is being held on Sunday 18 May 2008 at the University of Sussex and which will be covering “The Impact of High Quality Coaching on Learning Behaviour Management”
• ESPAN (Eastbourne Sports and Physical Activity Network): Notification of a Sports Club Forum which is being held on Thursday 8 May between 6-8pm at Eastbourne Town Hall.

Treasurer’s report

In the absence of the NSA Treasurer, Peter Cheesman, who was attending a funeral, the Income and Expenditure Account for the period ending 28 April was circulated. It showed a balance of £10,257 in the Investment Account and £4,583 in the Current Account with a net surplus for the period of £865.

Insurance

The NSA Insurance Officer, Michael Ledwich, had received an invoice from Perkins Slade for premiums due this year of £5,935 which was based on the clubs participating in 2007.

For Civil Liability Insurance 117 clubs have received renewal notices and to date 77 have responded. The Personal Accident renewals were sent out later and details of this insurance cover will be given at the next meeting.

The new NSA Logo

Congratulations to Rick Mason on producing a very professional report advising the NSA on what is required for a modern and meaningful sporting logo. The merits of each type of logo were discussed and it was agreed that black and green were the most appropriate colours, considering the need for reduction, magnification etc.

The question of what we are trying to achieve with our logo was raised and it was generally agreed that we wanted to appear professional, modern, fresh and at the same time give a meaningful impression of our sport. In the end it was decided that the representation of a player should have a more streamlined outline and should be playing a more obvious stoolball shot, preferably an overhead, offside shot which would portray the bat more clearly. It was also felt that “National Stoolball Association” did not need to be prefixed by a “The” and any logo should be accompanied by a website address.

Stoolball and the National Curriculum

The Chairman expressed his concerns on how best to make an entry into the school market to make capital out of the appearance of stoolball on the National Curriculum. Whilst a number of clubs throughout the counties had made good local contacts with primary schools, it was agreed that a national plan was necessary. The Secretary was asked to contact Melissa to establish the latest situation on the production of the Year 7 lesson plans.

Marketing/Publicity/Website

The bi-fold leaflet, the video clip, suitable music for the video clip and our search for a Press Officer are still in progress and updates will be provided at the next meeting.

Advert for Physical Education Matters: Our thanks go to Peter Carter for completing the artwork for this advertisement on stoolball and it will appear in the June edition of this magazine. Physical Education Matters is the official journal of the Association for Physical Education (afPE) which is published four times a year. It is circulated to all members of afPE and also to universities, educational establishments and schools.

Equipment

Sales of equipment have gone well pre-season and as a result more bats have been ordered from Gray-Nicolls, in particular some lighter-weight junior bats, and deliveries have been received from Hunts County bats and Newbery. A further delivery of balls has been received from Waft Sports.

Any other business

• John and Barbara Fitzpatrick will follow up on whether the NSA should purchase a supply of Webber practice balls from Wisdom Sports.
• It was reported that there are plans afoot in Ditchling which could mean that part of the Ditchling Cricket Club ground could be built on. This news could have an impact on two clubs playing stoolball - Ditchling Stoolball Club and Bluebells Stoolball Club.
• Shirley Reed – Newsletter items are needed for the next edition which is due shortly.
• A newly formed club at Cranleigh in Surrey have posted their details on our website.
• Emails from a parent from Mayfield Primary School wishing to run an after-school club; a ladies netball team wanting to play stoolball as a summer sport; an enquiry from a School Sports Co-ordinator in the Littlehampton region organising a cluster tournament on Monday 9 June and would like a set of rules – all these are being followed up.
• Items of memorabilia received from Shirley Reed.

Date of next meeting

Friday 6 June 2008 at 7.45pm.

The meeting closed at 10.45pm.

Kay and John Price, 4 May 2008

Tags: meetings