27/01/2009 - Meeting of the Malaga Provincial Committee

Santa Maria Bowls Club

Tuesday 27^th January 2009

The meeting opened at 10.25am and present were

Tony Winterton (TW) President and National Executive Committee rep.

Tony Frowd (TF) National Executive Committee rep

Murray Johns (MJ) Competition Secretary/ National Executive Committee rep.

Diane Chambers (DC) Secretary

Geoff Wright (GW) Los Amigos

Dave Jones (DJ) Superbowl

Ken  McBride (KM) Benavista

Ken Talbot (KT) Lauro

Charles Ottaway (CO) Belplaya

Jimmy Chalmers (JC) Santa Maria

Rob Robinson (RR) Mijas

Apologies were received from Jackie Wright/ Treasurer and Alan Turner/ Benalmadena.

TF and CO extended their apologies that they would have to leave at noon as the Belplaya Open had over-run by one day due to the same player being in two finals

1) Minutes of the last meeting and matters arising

The minutes were approved and MJ asked that representatives please convey accurate reports back to their clubs prior to the minutes being distributed which usually took 5/7 days after a meeting and this could alleviate future problems as he, TW and DC paid particular detail to accuracy of the minutes. He also asked that representatives display these minutes prominently on their Club’s notice board.

TW had issued the returns to World Bowls with a deadline of 15^th December 2008 and still had to chase some clubs for their figures which he hoped would not happen again. He also announced that there were now just under 3000 bowlers in Spain and they were now ranked 9^th in the world in numbers of bowlers.

2) Election of New FAB President 2^nd March 2009

TW reported that elections for a new president for the FEB had taken place in Madrid on 13^th December 2008. For the first time Lawn Bowls had been allocated seats in the Electoral College, two representing clubs and two representing players, a total of 4 out of 49. There were two candidates and the retiring president who we were backing was re-elected by 28 votes to 20 with one abstention.

An election is due to be held on 2^nd March 2009, for a new President of the FAB. As yet we have not been advised of the form they will take which can either be an electoral college representing clubs and players or everyone voting individually.

3) Review Malaga Cup

MJ sated that, only positive feedback had been received and RR commented it had possibly been the best ever tournament. He said he had been disappointed in the player’s interpretation of the dress code which was clearly stated on the entry forms distributed to the clubs and that this would be strictly enforced in subsequent Federated Tournaments and the Committee agreed. He also expressed concern over the problem to recruit Umpires and markers and would need to receive a greater commitment for the Provincial and Spanish Championships held later in 2009.

JC said that he had reservations about two finals days but it had worked well and alleviated the problem of players being involved in the latter stages of more than one discipline and was a formula to be adopted for future ‘multi discipline’ tournaments.

 MJ officially thanked the management of Santa Maria for their help and cooperation in staging the event.

4) Xmas Hamper

MJ again thanked Santa Maria for hosting this tournament and their excellent hospitality on a cold and wet day. After discussion, it was agreed that for 2009, entries be restricted to a maximum of sixteen Triples to ensure a full and competitive days bowling. He had been disappointed with the Costa del Sol News failing to publish reports sent on this and the Malaga Cup immediately after the events and the Committee agreed, in view of the fact that the newspaper had withdrawn its sponsorship for all bowling events it was no longer important to retain allegiance to them and he and John Carr would investigate other options with the ‘Euro Weekly’ and ‘The News’ being suggested.

5) Andalucian Championships

TW informed the Committee that the support from Malaga had been very poor with only four ladies traveling from Los Amigos.

TF and MJ had spoken with Bryan Redington from June 2008 suggesting Regional qualification which would have alleviated the need to travel as lack of support had been envisaged. This had been declined and the impact of lack of Federated members at Santa Maria and Benalmadena and the second Miraflores Open had seriously affected attendance.

MJ stated that no information on hotel accommodation had been received with the entry forms and DC confirmed that she had only received this after emailing Bryan Redington which was a pity as she had sourced half board at 20€ per day and she felt that more people might have traveled if they were aware of this.

6) Activities for 2009

            a) Provincial Championships May 9/23 Santa Maria

         This tournament would serve as qualification for Federated members in Malaga Province for 2009 Spanish Nationals to be held in September in Malaga. MJ stated that it was unlikely that he would need the fifteen days allotted but Santa Maria would be advised once the entries had been received. He also stated that he would be able to effectively run the tournament with the Officials and members of the club and outside help would not be necessary in this instance.

It was agreed the 2009 format may only be for one year as it represented a transition from previous years. It was agreed to explore additional possibilities and a working Committee was proposed to identify realistic options. TW asked TF to write a ‘discussion document’ which, through him, could then be circularized to the clubs prior to the aforesaid Committee being set up

b) Tri-Provincial, Mojacar 4/6^th September

MJ asked for someone else to take over this event as he would need to be local to  attend to the Nationals and he considered the dates untenable within the domestic calendar After discussion, it was agreed that TW, MJ and TF suggest a new date at the NEC meeting on 15^th February..

TF suggested that, following the success of the Malaga v Spain match, a Malaga team be formed for this type of competition and TW agreed that this would be an excellent idea pending the visits of international teams and worth considering.

c) National Championships Sep 8/19

MJ confirmed that the last four in each discipline from each of the three regions would be eligible to contest this first Nationals final in the ‘new’ format adopted which would reduce the need for lengthy stays and high costs to the bowler, a maximum of twelve entrants per discipline The total entry would be split into two groups and a ‘round robin’ would be played in each group to identify the 2x Group winners who would contest the final. This would mean each team discipline being played over 3 days with the Final on the afternoon of the third day and the Singles played over two days with the Final commencing mid afternoon of the second day.

TF suggested that the finals be played at one venue and MJ said that this could be put to the NEC with two being played at one location and two at the other.  MJ stated that the order of play would be dependant on players traveling and qualifying in more than one discipline as it was not intended to prolong anyone’s stay longer than was necessary.

MJ said that he would need to identify at least two people from each host club to assist with the organization and administration but this would be discussed in greater detail at the next meeting.

TW confirmed that he had liaised with possible sponsors through two clubs and was awaiting further information.

d) National Kings Cup playoff

MJ stated that dates for the National playoff had been agreed as 26/27^th September. KM asked that TW and MJ endeavor to bring the matches to Malaga in view of the failure to stage the Final in 2008 and it was agreed to take this up at the next NEC meeting.

The perpetual trophy for 2008 had been presented to Benavista at the Malaga Cup but a replica to be retained by the club, was presented to Benavista’s representative KM to take back to the club.

e) Champion of Champions/ Singles & Pairs

MJ stated that it had been agreed that the winners of the Malaga Cup pairs would participate in this competition to be held in June and the Singles would be held in October. TF suggested approaching the NEC to have these two events regionalized as they had not been held in Malaga. MJ stated that clubs had to apply to stage the Champion of Champions finals. Currently the NEC awarded the venues to two clubs that had applied to stage the events but, if clubs in this area were interested, he was not against a ‘rotation by region’ policy.

TW stressed again that if clubs could produce single sex pairs winners from a competition they would be included.

f) Summer Leagues

TW confirmed the Owners Committee retained responsibility for the Winter Season activity whilst the Federation would continue to coordinate the Summer League Programme which would be for Federated bowlers only.

MJ informed the Committee that these could start Monday 25^th May after the Provincial Championships but in view of recent areas of uncertainty, it was agreed to defer a decision on the format of each League until the end of February.

A number of proposals were discussed and MJ was asked to circularize these along with other relevant documentation and Tournament rules to each representative for discussion with their club committee. It was agreed that all responses be returned to him by 28^th February 2009.

g) Visit to Canela

Canela had suggested dates in April which were not practical due to the Santa Maria Open and Winter Championships. MJ suggested identifying dates in the 2009/10 calendar which did not conflict with tournaments coordinated by the Owners Committee with the possibility of using the Malaga squad recommended in section 6b. TW said that TF had sourced the RIU hotel at an initial cost of 35€ pp bed and breakfast but thought this could be improved upon. After consulting the handbook, MJ suggested the possibility of 26^th/29^th October 2009 and TW said he would write to Canela and confirm a possible Malaga squad of six trips.

         h) Replacement for Malaga Cup in December slot

         MJ suggested that maybe clubs might seek to restructure this ten day competition in view of the Provincial Championships adopting the same format. The concept of a two bowl tournament was put forward and he was asked to put his thoughts into the circular covering the Summer League and the Committee deferred any decision until the next meeting

7) Coaching

MJ informed the committee he was waiting for an update from Ruth Compton .

8) Umpires and Marker’s Association

MJ stated that the proposed Umpire’s course for Jan/Feb had been cancelled due to lack of support and that the Umpire’s AGM would be held on Monday 16^th February @10.30am. He was liaising closely with Lauro Bowls and would hold a marker’s course there as soon as the club was up and running

9) Report on meeting with Owner’s Committee

TW was invited on 20^th January to the Owner’s meeting to discuss communications and suggested establishing one Committee to deal with bowls which could be made up in several ways, however, he had not yet received an answer and had unfortunately missed a call from Tony Farmer. He confirmed that there were approximately 400 Federated members in Malaga at the moment.

10) Federation funding

TW handed out a leaflet to committee members outlining his application for funding in 2009 within the Malaga Province

11)  New Governing body- Progress to date and result of consultation with clubs

There were no updates to report

12) Duties of Club reps

         a) Collection of fees for 2009

b) Controlling entry sheets for competitions, collecting entry fees and advising Competition committee of entries before the draw date.

c) Checking that entrants are Federated members

13) AOB

There was no other business.

14) Date of next Meeting

This was set for Tuesday 31^st March 2009 10.30am Santa Maria

All business concluded TW closed the meeting at 1pm and thanked members for attending.