26/09/2011 - Meeting of the Malaga Provincial Committee - Miraflores Bowls Club

F.A.B. MALAGA MEETING

16TH Septemeber 2011

@ MIRAFLORES B.C.

Present;- Malaga Delegate; John Carr (JC)

Treasurer; Jackie Wright (JW)

Secretary; Diane Chambers (DC)

Miraflores; Derek Shemmings (DS)

Benalmadena; Mike Stapleton (MS) & Bill Gregory (BG)

Mijas; Pam Coles (PC)

Santa Maria; DJ Hilton (DH)

Los Amigos; James Monteith (JM)

Benavista; Ken Mc Bride (KM)

J C introduced himself to the Committee as the new Malaga Delegate and thanked everyone for attending. He expressed his disappointment that there was no representative from Superbowl and opened the meeting promptly at 11am.

1) Appointment of new delegate for FAB Malaga Province

John Carr stated that he had taken over from DH and although the Federation had had its ups and downs in the past, he hoped the way forward was a better understanding between the Federation and Owner’s Committee and that they could work together to promote the sport of lawn bowls.

2) Current position of the FEB and FAB

JC stated that the Federation was at present supporting training sessions for Markers, Umpires and Instructors and helping the National squad and invited comments from each of the club representatives in turn as to their views to improve matters.

Each Committee member spoke in turn but the general consensus was that the corporate fee should never have been rescinded and that the fees should not have been increased at the beginning of the recession. This had led to a dramatic fall in Federation membership and all agreed that a reduction was necessary to encourage membership and this needed to be put to the governing body. DH stated that he had explored the possibility of reducing the fees by arranging sponsorship but the figure of 7000€ was considerable and he did not think this would be a feasible proposition. JC informed the Committee that he had a good working relationship with the new President and he would express the views of the Committee to him but made no promises. He stated that FEB looked after all sports in Spain except Petanca and the Sports Council issued funds to improve the game and they partly funded the National squad but the onus was on the Malaga Committee to apply for the funding they required a year in advance.

There had been problems in the past between the Federation and Owner’s Committee but all representatives agreed that a line be drawn and move forward. There had been controversy over DH forming a Malaga squad from Federated players and there had been an unfortunate clash with a major competition through no fault of his as the Spanish team could only play on certain dates; but JC said he hoped this team would continue and expressed his delight at the excellent results achieved when they had played the Spanish National team.

BG asked for clarification on who collected fees for Federated competitions and was informed that the onus was on the club Federation representative who then paid the fees to JW the Treasurer.

3) FAB Accounts

JW handed out the balance sheets to the Committee and announced that there was still a debt of 224€ owed to Superbowl but the money would not be available until October and both DJ and JC had apologized to the club. She stated that there was no word on the Federation fee for 2012 and JC agreed to clarify this.

It had also been agreed that Federation members in clubs with insufficient Federated members to form teams could play with Federated members from another club but it would be deemed that they were temporary members of the ‘adopted’ club for the purpose of the game and they would not be able to change during a season to play with Federated members from another club.

4) Standard Course fee

JC stated that this was a proposed Instructor’s course which he wanted to discuss with the Owner’s Committee. It would be partly funded by the Federation and it would be open to Federated members who would pay 30€ and non Federated members 40€.

5) Enlightening the Malaga Bowling Community about the Federation

JC proposed, subject to more discussion with the Owner’s Committee, that the Federation run half day competitions at a venues to be announced and that JC would give an informal, constructive talk about the Federation to both Federated & non Federated members sometime during the event.

6) Coordinating with Owner’s/Managers Committee

This was essential to prevent the clashes that had occurred in the past.

6) Malaga Events

a) Malaga Cup 26th November-4th December to be held at Santa Maria

b) Federation Hamper 13th December venue TBA

c) National Pairs Fours There was not enough space within the calendar and the committee questioned the loss of dates originally given to the Andalucian Championships. DS explained, each club ran one major tournament and the Federation had been allocated the same privilege as clubs. JC thought that the Federation should not be categorized simply as a single club and promised to clarify the situation with the Owner’s Committee.

d) King’s Cup JC had recently attended a FEB meeting in Mojacar and had been asked if Malaga would reinstate it.

e) European Championships 2013 JC informed the Committee that Spain had made the only bid for this event and suggested that Malaga might be able to tender for it. PC stated that 5 greens would be necessary to run it and JC agreed to collect more information.

f) Malaga Singles Ladder JC suggested introducing this competition as a Single sex Competition whereby the bowler could only challenge the person so many places above him/her on the ladder.. DS said it was necessary to discuss with the Owner’s Committee and DH asked for the fees to be clarified. JC agreed to provide more details asap.

7) Over 50’s Expo

This was held successfully at Estepona on a yearly basis and Sheila Gravelling from Mijas had suggested that the Federation take a stand there to promote bowling. JC had spoken to the Organiser and although the cost was 600€ for a stand, he had indicated the possibility of a reduced fee. JC had spoken with the Owners Committee who had asked for more details. He had been informed that people came from great distances to this expo and all clubs would be presented equally; an enquirer would be given literature for his or her nearest bowls club or clubs and the choice would be theirs. The possibility of using a short mat was suggested instead of a table and DS thought that the use of the stick in the middle might be avoided to best display the concept of the open green that we used in Malaga. KM stated that the open mornings being held at Benavista to recruit new members had been successful and suggested that more clubs adopt this and all run one together on the same morning as a follow up to the Expo. JC said that he would welcome more information on these ideas and the location of a carpet. JM stated that he thought there was such a carpet at Los Amigos and would let JC know.

8) AOB

JW suggested that the Committee consider using all venues along the coast regardless of their Federated membership. JC said that he would look into this possibility although Federated clubs could make objections. KM reiterated the need to reduce the fees to increase Federation membership.

All matters concluded JC closed the meeting at 1.15pm