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Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Essex County Athletic Association held on Monday 1st
December 2014 in the clubhouse of Chelmsford Athletic Club, Melbourne Park, Chelmsford
Present:
D Staines, A Gillan, G Chandler, C Hopkins, L Williams, M Williams, J Tierney, P Cassidy, P
Sketchley, L Bates, P Bates, M Gillard, B Cox, C Cox, P Dawson, W Pearce, R Pearce, R Dawson, A
Tullett, B Wallen, P Sergeant, M Bailey, P Mingay, P Merrywest, K Merrywest, D Wooller
1a) Apologies for Absence
Louise Murphy (Braintree AC), Mark Dobson (Leigh-on-Sea Striders), J Cork, D Ferguson, G
O’Doherty, C Levey
2) Minutes of the last meeting
The minutes of the meeting on 2nd December 2013 were approved without amendment
Proposed by: R Pearce
Seconded by: J Tierney
3) Matters arising
None
4) Presentation of the Accounts
The Accounts were presented by G Chandler – this year there has again been an increase in our
balance. The initiatives put in place over the last year (free vests, increase travel expenses) have not
had a detrimental effect and there is no reason not to continue with these for a further year.
P Sketchley asked if we received any income from the photographer at the T&F Champs and if not we
should consider not inviting the same photographer again. G Chandler to check.
B Wallen asked why Bishops Stortford who are Herts based have affiliated to Essex – a lot of their
runners are Essex qualified and they have affiliated so that those athletes can compete in the
championship races
Proposed by: P Cassidy
Seconded by: K Palmer
5) Presentation of Secretary’s report
A Gillan presented the Secretary’s report and also read a cross country report on behalf of G
O’Doherty
Proposed by: R Dawson
Seconded by: K Palmer
At this point the chairman asked the attendees to reflect on how we can stop the drop out rate of
youngsters from the sport and why so few athletes had taken part in the Vets XC championships the
previous weekend. It was noted that some championship road races are overlapping with the start of
the cross country season. G Chandler advised that the reason for this is that there are so few road
races to choose between and the county likes to award the championship races to different clubs each
year
6) Election of Officers and Executive Committee
a) President: Chairman D Staines introduced B Cox as President for the year 2015. Retiring
President C Hopkins was presented with a plaque
b) President Elect: Chairman D Staines advised that J Cork would stand as President Elect
Proposed by: K Palmer
Seconded by: J Tierney
c) Life Vice Presidents & Life membership
D Staines introduced P Cassidy who made a short speech before presenting R Pearce with his Life
Membership. R Pearce said a few words by way of thanks and that it was an honour to represent the
county
d) Treasurer: G Chandler happy to continue as Treasurer
Proposed by: K Merrywest
Seconded by: K Palmer
e)Secretary: A Gillan happy to continue as Secretary
Proposed by: P Bates
Seconded by: K Palmer
f) Chairman: D Staines happy to continue as Chairman
Proposed by: R Dawson
Seconded by: P Bates
g)Vice Presidents/Life Members: The following were elected (elect 6)
J Tierney, R Pearce, K Merrywest, R Meadowcroft, J Weir, D Ferguson.
Proposed by: P Bates
Seconded by: K Palmer
h)Members of the Exec Committee (20 +1 Essex Schools rep)
L Bates
P Bates
P Cassidy
R Dawson
M Gillard
C Levey
P Merrywest
G O’Doherty
K Palmer
B Panting
P Sergeant
L Williams
D Wooller
S Gillam
A Tullett
M Bailey
P Mingay
B Wallen
Proposed by Executive Committee and unanimously elected.
Chairman D Staines gave a short speech as two long serving members of the committee were standing
down – P Sketchley and M Seaman. M Seaman was unable to attend due to illness and so a
presentation will be made to him at a later date. A small gift as a token of the committee’s
appreciation was given to P Sketchley who said a few words.
i) Honorary Auditors: R Silk to continue as Honorary Auditor
Proposed by: J Weir
Seconded by: R Pearce
j)Honorary Trustees: K Merrywest, R Pearce, J Weir
Proposed by: P Merrywest
Seconded by: P Cassidy
7) Presentation of Trophies
Anna Neagle Trophy for Senior and U20 Women to Basildon AC
( not collected)
Joe King trophy for U17 Women to Chelmsford AC
(collected by J Weir)
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Pat Mills trophy for U15 Girls to Chelmsford AC
(collected by J Weir)
George Holroyd trophy for U13 Girls to Orion
(collected by S Colley)
Sidney Taylor cup for Relays Challenge to Havering
(collected by J Tierney)
George Deer trophy for U15 Girls (Schools) to Brentwood
(collected by J Weir)
Arthur Turk trophy for Senior men to Chelmsford AC
(collected by J Weir)
Pam Jones trophy for Ladies Grand Prix winners to Springfield Striders (collected by G Chandler)
Harry Payne trophy for Men’s Grand Prix winners to Springfield Striders (collected by G Chandler)
Herbert Pash cup for U13, U15 boys, U17 and Junior Men to Chelmsford AC. (collected by J Weir)
D Staines thanked R Meadowcroft on behalf of the committee for his role has trophy secretary
8) Election of Officers for Executive Committee:
a) T&F championship secretary’s: K Merrywest & P Merrywest
Proposed by R Dawson, Seconded by J Tierney
b) T&F Secretary: K Palmer
Proposed by J Weir, Seconded by K Merrywest
c) T&F Team Managers
Senior men: Keith Palmer
Senior Women: John Stow
U17 women: Ian Pike
U15 Girls: Ian Pike
U20 Women: Ian Pike
U15 Boys and U20 Men: Paul Cheal
U17 Men: Vincent Lawrence
U13 Boys: Vacant
U13 Girls: Vacant
Proposed by R Dawson, Seconded by P Cassidy
Proposed by K Palmer, Seconded by P Merrywest
Proposed by P Bates, Seconded by P Cassidy
Proposed by J Tierney, Seconded by P Sergeant
d) Cross Country Secretary: G O’Doherty Proposed by R Dawson, Seconded by P Bates
e) Cross Country Team Managers
Male – senior and U20: D Staines
Female: P Oatham
Young athletes: P Bailey
Proposed by P Merrywest, Seconded by K Palmer
Proposed by P Merrywest, Seconded by R Dawson
Proposed by K Merrywest, Seconded by R Dawson
f) Road Running Secretary and Team Manager: D Staines
g) Race Walking Secretary: R Pearce
h) Race Walking Association Rep: R Pearce
i) Eastern Region AA Rep: C Levey
j) Officials secretary: D Wooller
k) Championships Record Secretary: R Meadowcroft
l) Trophy Secretary: R Meadowcroft
m) School Liaison Rep:
n) Website manager: J Little.
Prop: L Bates, Sec: P Bates
Prop: R Dawson, Sec: P Cassidy
Prop: P Merrywest, Sec: P Bates
Prop: P Sergeant, Sec: K Palmer
Prop: J Tierney, Sec: J Weir
9) AOB
Various attendees made comment that although the county website was much better than it used to be
it still needed to be improved. It is difficult to find information, there isn’t enough info on it and some
of it is out of date. There also needs to be a link to the Road Running website and vice versa
K Palmer has difficulties loading results onto the website – these can now be sent to A Gillan for
posting up
S Colley advised about an event organised by Orion on a Friday evening in the summer which is
similar to the Night of 10,000’s organised by Highgate. He enquired whether the committee would be
interested in promoting this event to the rest of the county. We will look at the details nearer the time.
B Wallen asked if a club is hosting an Essex Championship road race whether they needed to have
chip timing – the timing mechanism should be determined by the hosting club but Essex will always
provide a back up manual service.
Meeting closed at 9:05pm