Annual General Meeting of Elm Mount Chess Club 2006

 

Date and Venue :- 8.15 pm on Monday 18th September 2006.

 

 

Attendance :- 21 Members attended as follows :-

Victor Murray, Gary Byrne, Gerry Barry, Peter Scott, Sean Davoren, Tomas Bajcar, Bernard Boyle, David Fitzsimons, Pat Fitzsimons, Alec Tyrrell, Eugene Donogue, Eugene McMorrow, John Loughran, Eamonn Pitts, Alan McDonagh, Kevin Murray, Zygas Jacubauskas, Gerry McElligott, William Ffrench, Donal Harrington, Harry Carey

 

1.         Minutes of previous meeting.

 

Minutes were agreed as presented.

 

2.                  Matters Arising.

 

There were no matters arising that were not already covered on the agenda.

 

3.         President’s Opening Address

 

Victor made a brief introduction to the meeting by thanking those members present for attending the AGM. He also commended his fellow committee members, including team captains, for their work during the course of the previous year.

 

4.         Secretary’s Report

 

Pat outlined some of the achievements of club players during the previous season and informed members of the outcome of the recent AGM of the ICU and the EGM of the LCU, where revised rules for the latter’s competitions had been adopted. The main rule change of concern to some members was the decision to drop the provisions for adjournment of games so that all league games would henceforth be played to a conclusion at one “sitting”. Some members expressed the view that as this was a very important rule change, a meeting of club members should have been held in advance of the LCU EGM to facilitate discussion on what the club’s position ought to be on the matter at the EGM. Victor pointed out that the Secretary had circulated the notifications of the ICU and LCU AGMs and the LCU EGM by email to members inviting them to provide their views on any motions being put forward. As far as he was aware, there had been only a negligible response to the emails in question and no requests for meetings of members had been made. It was also his view that using the email to communicate with members was a perfectly acceptable and appropriate means of canvassing members opinions on important issues that affected the club.

 

It was also noted that, in any event, from a “show of hands” at the meeting a considerable majority of those present were in favour of the rule change concerning adjournments.

 

After some discussion on both the procedural issue (i.e., how members were consulted about rule changes that affected the club) and the issue of adjournments, it was generally agreed that the best way to address LCU/ICU matters in the future was to hold the Club AGM before the end of May each year. It was noted that this earlier AGM time would broadly coincide with receipt by the club of the notification about the LCU AGM and would facilitate discussion about any motions proposed by the LCU or which members themselves wished to have put forward by the Club.

 

5.                  Treasurer’s Report.

 

A copy of the treasurer’s report had been circulated in advance of the meeting. It showed that the club had a surplus of income over expenditure of almost €1,000. It was also noted that the policy of advising members that they could pay their membership fees to committee members and team captains had improved the efficiency of fee collection.

 

Some discussion also took place on the level of fees payable having regard to the fact that the gross fees payable, inclusive of ICU membership fees, had the effect of creating some inequities amongst members as the ICU fees varied according to age and employment status. It was agreed that the club’s fee structure would provide for just two rates exclusive of the ICU fees, viz €65 for adults and €50 for juniors (players under 18 on 1st September). Thus if members paid their ICU fees through the club, the gross annual fees would be :-

 

 

6.                  Webmasters Report

 

John circulated a written report and outlined the main highlights for the meeting. It was noted that the site had received around 3000 hits during the past year.  Ciaran Quinn had developed an Elm Mount Blog for club match results and news and each site had a link to the other. The Club website also contained links to Peter Scott’s Chess league website and the ICU website.

 

7.                  Reports from Team Captains

Each team captain present gave an update on their teams progress during the 2005/06 season. The Armstrong team held its own in the top division finishing comfortably in mid-table. In the Heidenfeld, while the “A” team finished 5th ( well short of the promotion places), the “B” team were relegated. The main highlight for the “B” team, in what proved to be a difficult season, was Alec Tyrrell’s impressive 7.5/11 score. The teams in the other divisions held their own in their leagues.

 

While club teams made little progress in the Branagan Cup, Victor’s team were unluckily eliminated on the tie break rules in the Killane Shield competition after drawing with holders Curragh in round 2.

 

It was also noted that the club would more than likely continue to be in a position to enter 6 teams in the Leinster Leagues for the 2006/07 season.

 

8.                  Reports from Tournament Controllers

 

Donal indicated that, apart from one section, the club championships for 2006 had been completed broadly on time and that the outstanding section from the previous season had also reached a conclusion and that the results of the latter would be submitted for rating. It was noted that Wednesday night was a possibility for playing some rounds of the club championship so that the timetable for completing future tournaments, notwithstanding holiday absences, should be adhered to.

 

9.                  Coaching

 

The question of providing coaching in the club from both existing members and the possibility of paying top players to provide sessions during the season was discussed. It was noted that it was difficult to arrange coaching during the league season owing to the demands of having 6 teams competing in the Leinster Leagues and the consequent unavailability of club premises. It was acknowledged that players who would be interested in attending coaching sessions could be frequently unavailable due to league match commitments both at home and away.

 

It was noted that a considerable amount of informal coaching already occurred in the club through game analysis etc. It was generally agreed, however, that the provision of some more formal coaching sessions would be a good idea and that this could be explored later in the season when the leagues were completed.

 

10.              Club nights and opening hours

 

It was noted that there was very little take-up of the Wednesday night option, but it was generally considered that this night should be retained so long as it was on offer as part of the existing rent arrangements with the Ierne.

 

11.              Club Constitution

 

It was noted that the constitution had been drawn up some time ago and that it might be opportune to review it and update it as necessary.

 

12.              Irish Senior Championships 2007

 

There was a very general discussion about whether the club might consider putting in a bid to run the Irish Senior Championships in 2007. It was noted that the level of entries in recent years had been disappointing  and the main concern was to ensure that the Championships, which should be a “flagship event” for the ICU were run properly.  It was decided that the question of whether the club might seek to become involved in the 2007 event would be considered again if and when the ICU sought expressions of interest from parties to run the event.

 

13.              Award of Prizes

 

Club Championship and Board Prizes were presented to the relevant members who were present. Outstanding prizes would be provided to the recipients by the Club Secretary, while the Player of the Year award would be made at the annual Christmas Blitz Tournament normally held around a week before Christmas.

 

14.              AOB

 

Election of Officers for 2006/07

 

There were no changes to the Club’s officers for 2006/07. The officers are as follows :-

 

President                            Victor Murray

Secretary                            Pat Fitzsimons

Treasurer                            Gerry Barry

Webmaster             John Loughran

Librarian                             Tomas Bacjar

Tournament Controller        Donal Harrington

 

It was also noted that Bernard Boyle would continue to assist the Tournament Controller and that Donal Harrington would take over from David Lynch as Captain of  the O’ Hanlon Team, so team captains for 2006/07 would be as follows :-

 

Armstrong Cup                   Ciaran Quinn

Heidenfeld Trophy  Pat Fitzsimons

Ennis A                              Eugene McMorrow

Ennis B                               Victor Murray

O Hanlon Cup                    Donal Harrington

BEA Cup                           Sean McGowan

 

The meeting then concluded.

 

 

Pat Fitzsimons

Secretary

Elm Mount Chess Club

May 2007