Forth Valley AGM Minutes 2017
Posted on Wednesday, April 26, 2017 at 6:42pm
ROYAL CALEDONIAN CURLING CLUB – AREA 6/FORTH VALLEY
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Held at Forthbank on Tuesday 25th April 2017
Present –17 members attended.
Apologies – Forth and Endrick Province and clubs, Scottish Central Province and clubs – both provinces holding their AGMs concurrently in Balfron and Doune respectively, Also Alex Duncan, Bonnybridge Marcus Wood, Bridge of Allan and Caroline Carnie, Uphall
Chairman –Joe Barry, Senior Area 6 representative chaired the meeting.
Minutes of AGM 2016 – The minutes were approved by Derek Young of Drymen seconded by Phyllis Beattie of Kilsyth Ladies and are filed on the Area website. There were no matters arising.
Chairman’s Report –
The three competitions organised by the Area committee were successfully completed and the prizes will be awarded shortly. Despite plenty of warning and reminders, there were two teams who didn’t send a team to the Area Bonspiel, embarrassingly one of them was my own club Livingston. This is frustrating for their opponents and infuriating for the offending club’s treasurers who have to pay ice fees for both their own club and the opposition.
As Area Representatives, Joe and I attend the meetings of the Area Standing Committee, where all sorts of issues, concerns and grievances are aired. I will bring one or two of them to your attention tonight.
There has been a rethink about selecting Scottish teams to go to the World Championships in an Olympic Year. In 2014 it was decided that the team representing Great Britain should not enter the Scottish Championships or have the chance to go to the World Championships so that their entire focus was on winning medals at the Olympics. This has changed, and from next year the Olympic team will still not play in the Scottish Championships but after returning from the Olympics, they will play off against the team that has won the Scottish, to see who represents Scotland at the World Championships.
Following the switch to Kinross from Stirling last summer after problems with the ice plant at the Peak, the elite Scottish players will be training at Kinross one more time this summer. By next year the new four sheet training facility at Stirling should have settled down and be able to provide the consistent, quality ice required.
There has been a lot of difficulty caused by teams pulling out of the Province Championship at very short notice in the last two years. To try and find out why this is happening, the RCCC has surveyed all the Provinces. The results varied. The general dearth of quality players prepared to commit to a long weekend at Greenacres was an issue. Other teams were put off by the cost and the feeling that they weren’t strong enough to compete at that level. I’m glad to report that all the Provinces of the Forth Valley Area have been able to fulfil their commitment to this competition.
The finals of the Scottish Seniors competition, which has been held successfully at Hamilton for a number of years, is being moved to Braehead next season, where it is claimed they can provide a higher quality of ice. There has been quite a backlash to this announcement as Hamilton was generally popular with the competitors. They felt it scored highly on accessibility, handy accommodation, in house catering and spectator viewing.
Next January will see the arrival of the Canadian men’s tourists to Scotland who will try to regain the Strathcona Cup. They will be playing at the Peak on Monday 29th January. Stirling will have to provide eight strong men’s teams to play them over two sessions before entertaining them to dinner in the evening.
A Notable event occurred during the season, namely the 300th Anniversary of Kilsyth Curling club. This was celebrated by a bonspiel, followed by dinner in the Westerwood Hotel, Cumbernauld.
Finally I’d like to thank the rest of the Area committee for helping me throughout the season. From booking ice, contacting Provinces and clubs, collecting fees, recoding results, photographing competition winners to attending meetings as required; I’d be lost without Joe, Alan and Ritchie. So a big thank you to you and also to the Province presidents and secretaries who have supported Forth Valley Area over the past season.
Area 6 Competitions 16/17
The Bonspiel was won by Stirlingshire. The trophy was presented on the night to Margo Bain, President of Stirlingshire Province. The Knockout was won by Buccaneers and
The Area Champions Trophy was won by Kilsyth and the trophy was presented to Les Goodfellow of Kilsyth.
Area 6 Council and Representatives – Joe Kincaid of Stirlingshire Province is the second representative for the Area. Joe Barry indicated he would serve one more year as Senior Representative to ensure continuity in the role particularly with the incoming Canadian Tour and asked if another representative could be identified from either Scottish Central or Forth and Endrick to replace him next year.
Financial Statement –The Treasurer Ritchie Stewart of West Lothian Province presented the accounts. The trophy engraving was not completed in time for the accounts, and will be included in next Year’s accounts – expected around £34. The account closure date will be extended next year to 30 April 2017 due to the extended length of the season. There was an increase in cash in Bank to £1414,37, although increased expenditure will be incurred next year due to the incoming tour.The accounts were audited by Jim Marven.
The accounts were proposed by Malcolm Duncan of Grangemouth and seconded by Les Goodfellow of Kilsyth.
Area 6 Subscription – no change recommended and agreed.
Election of Secretary and Treasurer– Alan Wilson remained as Secretary and Ritchie Stewart as Treasurer
Election of Auditor – The appointment of Jim Marven, auditor of Stirlingshire Province accounts to audit the Area 6 accounts was confirmed.
Ladies’ AGM – Tuesday 9 May at Greenacres, Bowfield.
RCCC 179th AGM – Saturday 17 June at Braehead Curling Rink, Glasgow.
A.O.C.B. – No additional business was identified and the meeting concluded at 20:35 with the presentation of prizes. The photographs of the winners are on the Area website which is currently undergoing change by RCCC.