Please click here to view and download the minutes and here to view and download the slides.

Bowdon Hockey Club

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 3rd May 2022

The Chairman, Jonny Grant opened the meeting and then asked for a moment’s silence for members and supporters of the club who have passed away in the last 2 years.

David Barclay
Barney Holden
John Allured
David Holden
Nigel Petter

36 Members Present –. Jez Allen, Resli Taylor, Charlie Dowdle, Jonathan Grant, Julie Saunders, Sally-Anne Kurton, Bill Ball, Meindert Boysen, Adam Haines, Lisa Waterhouse, Deb Hurst, Simon Egerton, Alexis Kent, Rachel McDowell, Di Bellin, Dave Bellin, Nancy Driver, Kim Swarbrick, Dave Swarbrick, Ollie Hawkins, Emma Bell, Kate Cherrill, Will Tyler, Mike Entwistle, Sam Entwistle, Nick West, Neil Leach, Steve Holt, John Hinchliffe, David Moss, Julie Skinner, Sam Jackson, Valerie Beresford, Matt Burkinshaw, Lizzie Entwistle, Janet Grant. 

Apologies – Jimmy McKenna, John Rowley, Roger O’Brien, Martin Ferrett, Roger Dawson-Smith, Linda Dawson-Smith, Richard Oakley, Lucy Hargreaves, Rick Oakley, Helen Matthew, Dom Maguire, John Heathcock, Helen Bray, Bruce Maclennan, Sam Jackson, Sam Cooke, Heike Addiscott.

Minutes of 2019 AGM

Minutes of 2020 AGM held on 9th July 2020. 

The minutes were accepted as a true record of the AGM held on that date. 

Proposed: Bill Ball
Seconded: Sally Anne Kurton

  1. Women’s Section Report – Sally Ann Kurton

Sally-Ann Kurton presented a report on the Ladies’ section as per the slides appended to these minutes.
Key points – great performance from the 6th team, but in general a strong performance from all teams.
5th team – a very small squad so difficult to manage and reflected in performance. Something to be aware of for next season.                                                   

  1. Men’s Section Report – Adam Haines

Adam Haines presented a report on the Men’s section as per the slides appended to these minutes.
Simon Egerton, 1st team Captain reported on the season’s performance. A disappointing season. Lost games they should have won. A very long season which actually started back in July 2021 due to the delayed Tier 1 Cup. . Some players unable to commit as they have in the past. New players coming in for next year. Need to stimulate the commitment again. Disappointing overall, but Simon is optimistic for next year. 

General thoughts for next season are that better planning is required to ensure that junior players are properly integrated into teams and that their progression is well managed. Adam is confident that this will be addressed for next season. 

  1. Junior Section Report –Julie Saunders

Julie Saunders presented a report on the Junior section, assisted by Lisa Waterhouse as per the slides appended to these minutes. 

Julie started her presentation by looking back at Season 20/21 when we were affected by Covid. Highlighted that Bowdon were able to facilitate more hockey than any other North West club, thanks in no small part to volunteers such as Kate Cherrill, Janet Grant and others. 

4.    Financial Report 

Charlie Dowdle presented the accounts to year end 2019/20 & 2020/2021, as per the slides appended to these minutes. 

2019/20 saw a big improvement on previous year results despite the disruption caused by Covid. Costs were down as a result of Covid, but coaching camps were able to provide a real boost for the year end contribution. 

2020/21 was an even stronger year – costs and income were both down as a result of Covid, but the decline in costs was more significant than the decline in income which enabled us to produce an excellent year end result. Junior fees were also well up. Thanks to the efforts of the Junior volunteers and also the digitisation of payments and introduction of direct debits. At the end of 2020/21 our balance sheet was in a much stronger position ensuring that we do now have funds to help us invest in the future. We were also able to repay funds owing to the Main Club.

Members were asked to approve the year end accounts 

 Proposed –  Adam Haines
 Seconded – Janet Grant

 The meeting voted unanimously to approve the 2019/20 & 2020/21 year end accounts

5. Chairperson’s Report

The Chairperson Jonny Grant presented his report based on the slides appended to these minutes.

Jonny referred specifically to Covid and thanked the efforts of people who helped us get through that period.

Thanks were given to our main sponsors McAuliffe Group as well as Price Slater Gawne and W. Howard

Thanks to Simon Egerton for his efforts with the ‘Covid’ Summer Camp

There is now a desire for the club to look ahead and move forward as required by England Hockey. Jonny reported that that we have now achieved our ClubMark accreditation thanks to the efforts of Mike Power, Amanda Partington & Julie Saunders. This ensures that we will be able to progress as an EH Talent Centre.

Jonny presented slides relating to our vision, mission and our acceptance as an EH Talent Centre – one of only 36 clubs to be accredited as such. We have not applied to be a ‘Talent Academy’ the next step up from ‘Talent Centre’. However, we will formally support Timperley HC who have been accredited as an Academy.

Jonny reported that we have engaged Amanda Partington who has undertaken a review of our current structures and processes and is making recommendations as to how we should move forward. This review and her recommendations do not just focus on Juniors but also senior players.

Jonny and Julie Saunders then presented the concept of the 4 ‘pillars’ which will govern our future ethos and ensure the consistency of our coaching, match play and preparation throughout the club.

Jonny commented on the change to teas which had proved very popular. He noted that the provision of teas do incur a loss, which will need to be considered for future provision

JG reported that Mike Egerton is working on application to extend our planning permission for lights extension on a permanent basis.

Pitch replacement – The Main Club have reviewed the capital plans and are now asking for the Section to contribute a minimum of £20k over the next 2 years. Fundraising will be required ensure that we can achieve this figure.

Jonny reminded members of the upcoming junior awards evening and the Wales v Scotland international matches taking place on the Wet Pitch during the coming weekend. Members were also encouraged to support the Bowdonbury Festival on 20th & 21st May.

Jonny thanked the management committee. In particular, Sally-Anne Kurton for all her work as she is now standing down as Vice Chair of the Women’s section. 

Jonny reported that a meeting will be organised in the near future to present the details of Amanda Partington’s review and recommendations for the future structure.

Members were then given the opportunity to ask questions. 

Sam Jacksonhow much money is in the ‘Pitch Together’ fund?  Answer – Currently we have £27k in the account. This is made up of £17k from fundraising. There is also an amount of £10k which was owed to the main club, but the main club have agreed can be added to the pitch fund. In addition, there are legacies of £5k from John Neill and £30k from David Leese which the main club have agreed may be added to the pitch fund.

Meindert BoysenCommented that the section relies very heavily on the fees from Junior activities. Does the club have a budget and does this also rely heavily junior fees? Charlie Dowdle replied that the percentage of income from junior fees will reduce next year, but we recognise that we need to ensure that professional coaching is offered to Juniors to ensure that this income stream can be maintained. Lisa Waterhouse acknowledged the need for better paid coaches but difficult to recruit. 

Meindert asked if we could also give the drink discount afforded to club members via their ‘black card’ to volunteers. Mike Egerton (main club vice -chairman) responded that the discount is open to all club members – social members pay£41. How would we define the criteria for volunteers? If criteria can be defined the main club council would consider it.

6. Election of Officers

The following people were nominated and elected as officers of the section for the year 2022/2023. Captains and team managers will be named at a later date by the Vice Chairs of the Men’s and Women’s sections. 

The following were elected:

Chairman – Jonny Grant
Vice Chair Ladies –  Position vacant
Vice Chair Men –  Adam Haines
Junior Section Chair – Julie Saunders
Secretary –  Jez Allen
Treasurer  – Charlie Dowdle
Fixtures Sec Men – Howard Bray
Fixtures Sec Ladies –  Emma Bell
Management Committee Member – Bill Ball

7.  Jonathan Dare Award

The Jonathan Dare award is presented to the Club Member or Volunteer who is considered to have contributed significantly to the club in an ‘off pitch’  volunteer capacity.

Julie Skinner (Jonathan’s sister) was present to make the award to Heike Addiscott, who was unable to attend the meeting. Heike has put in countless hours of work to update and then manage the club’s behind the scenes match fee and junior payments. Unnoticed by most people but her diligence has ensured that the system has worked smoothly with very few debtors!

  1. Any Other Business

There was no other business and the Meeting closed at 21.30.