Committee Meeting

1. Apologies

None of the four people present at the meeting had received any apologies from other committee members prior to the meeting.

After a 15 minute delay, a quorum had not arrived at the meeting.

It was agreed by those present that DOS would chair the meeting, and no voting could take place during the meeting.

2. Previous Actions - Umpires 2006; DOS/0502-01

It was agreed that as previously suggested DOS would approach the final year Pony players and ask if they would like to return as umpires next season. DOS/0502-01

KS agreed that as the General Manager for the Bronco and Senior games he would be responsible for finding a designated umpire for each team entered into the BBF league by BaseballMK next season. KS/0506-01

RH suggested that BaseballMK should fund the umpire clinic costs for the designated team umpires.
DOS asked when the clinic was held.
RH said that previous clinics had been held at either the end of February or the beginning of March. KS added that he believed the next clinic would definitely be held at a southern location.
All agreed that this was a good idea, and deferred the subject until the committee could vote. C/0506-01

3. Previous Actions - Club Ethos Discussion; AS/0502-01

Even though Andy Simmons had suggested the discussion at the previous meeting should be taken to an email exchange, it was noted that no exchange had taken place. It was then agreed that had become less relevant, and therefore the action was closed subject to a committee vote. C/0506-02

4. Previous Actions - John Clark Letter; KS/0505-01

KS explained that he had spoken to John immediately after the previous meeting and John had apologised and said that he was unable to continue in his role as committee member due to family issues.
RH then asked whether it was appropriate for the committee to co-opt a new bronco team rep for the final two months of the season or whether the committee position should remain vacant until the AGM. Those present all agreed that it would seem logical to leave the position vacant until next years committee reformed.
However, if any member feels that have something to contribute to this season as Bronco Rep, then please contact KS so he may bring it to the committee.

5. Previous Actions - Knowlhill Meeting; KS/0505-02

KS reported back on the meeting he had regarding the Knowlhill diamond development. KS explained that having spoken to the new project manager the outlook was rather less positive than we had originally been led to believe. The project to build the diamond and baseball facilities does not appear on any of the current site building schedules. This is because the baseball project will not be started until it can be funded by the sales of the other properties that are due to be built on the site. KS did explain that he had received confirmation from the developers that they had agreed that the most recent plans had included an erroneous change to the baseball designated area. The developers have now agreed to meet with KS so that the baseball facilities can be agreed for future development. KS/0505-02

RH pointed out that this meant that BaseballMK would have to use the facilities at Woughton for at least one more year, and this would make considerable changes to the finances for the 2006 season. RH pointed out that notified increase in costs at Woughton for next season, and the fact that the Senior team costs would increase as they would not be benefiting from the BSUK introductory discount could cause the club serious financial issues for 2006.
NS agreed to begin working as soon as possible on the financial projection for 2006, so that if a shortfall was projected the club had the maximum amount of time to take remedial action. NS/0506-01

6. Previous Actions - Senior Roster; RN/0505-01

RH said that Rob Norris had provided all the information he had requested and this action could now be closed.

7. Financial Report

NS said that all committee members should have received his weekly update of the club finances. Everyone thanked NS for his spreadsheet.

RH then questioned whether the caps should be considered assets as if we changed uniforms for next season, they would have to be written off. C/0506-03
KS said that he thought the club had missed an opportunity, by not marketing the caps to non-playing members more actively.

KS also said he had been discussing with Rob Norris the possibility of having road jerseys for 2006.
DOS expressed some concern that some of the Senior players should be cleaning their club supplied uniforms more frequently.

KS then explained that Estelle Sherman was now the UK dealer for a Czech baseball equipment supplier and so finding equipment should be easier for club members.

8. Practice Schedules

KS said that he was planning to continue practicing at Woughton until the day light no longer allowed. He did however add that the diamond had officially been returned to Woughton control and so it was likely that goal posts would be erected in the outfield.

RH asked whether there were any plans for winter training this year. KS said he had spoken with Rob Norris and they were considering an arrangement were all three age groups would be catered for in a structured fashion. RN/0506-02

9. Grants & Sponsorship

KS reported that Estelle had not made any recent applications for grants or sponsorship.

RH asked why Estelle was not comfortable doing the job she had volunteered for.
KS said that Estelle had withheld much of her efforts due to her concerns of the politics that had occurred in the BaseballMK committee during the 2005 season.
DOS then asked whether Estelle was likely to begin her activities again shortly.
KS said that he believed she would be starting again before the next meeting.

10. End of Season Team Reports for Web

RH requested that each team manager would produce a short review of the season to be posted on the web site.

KS agreed to do the report for the Bronco team. KS/0506-03
NS agreed that in the absence of Andy Simmons he would report on the Pony team. NS/0506-02
The committee will also be asking Rob Norris to have one produced for the Senior team. RN/0506-03

11. End of Season Meal / Presentation

RH suggested that this was combined with the club AGM. The committee agreed that this was a good idea as most youth players parents attended this event.

DOS asked where the event could be held.
KS suggested that a Ridgeway Community Centre room could be hired.
DOS was then asked whether she would produce a plan to suggest food ideas for the event for the next committee meeting. DOS/0506-01

12. Andy Simmons Resignation

KS explained that he had spoken to Andy at the last Pony game of the season and Andy had returned the club equipment and told KS that he did not intend to attend the end of season committee meeting.

KS then recommended that all committee members should update their email distribution lists to exclude Andy Simmons and John Clarke.

13. Invalidate Previous Draft Constitution

RH explained that regardless of whether Andy or Genny Simmons had lodged their constitution with the bank, the constitution had never been agreed by the membership and was therefore not official. RH pointed out this was actually quite fortuitous, as the club constitution drafted by the Simmons had not included any kind of amendment clause.

14. Constitution; RH/0502-02

As the season was now complete, the task of building the club constitution has now become a priority for the committee. This need was further highlighted by the previous discussion regarding the constitution held at the bank.

RH said that he had done some investigation into constitutions and believed that having reviewed the possible template constitutions that BaseballMK should attempt to build a constitution that would easily allow them to convert to become a charity.
Everyone present agreed that they believed that the club should be aiming for a standard of administrative transparency that would allow them to become charitable.

RH then offered a draft constitution based on a charity template that he had prepared earlier in the season. RH stated explicitly that he did not consider this a complete work, and rather a starting point, including many areas needing improvement that required detailed peer review by every member of the committee. RH agreed to transmit this constitution to the members of the committee. RH/0505-02

15. Election of Sub Committee (SC-a) for Pony season investigations

It was agreed that the election of a BaseballMK sub committee would take place should BSUK request any additional information from the club.

It was electronically agreed prior to the meeting that Andy Simmons, Nigel Sheppard and Robert Hodgson could not be part of the sub committee as they were directly involved in the issues. C/0506-04

RH said that he hoped that even though Andy Simmons had now resigned from the club, he would do his best to help the sub committees investigation as requested.

16. AOB- Letter from Darrin Muller (Bracknell Baseball Club)

DOS submitted an e-mail she had received from Darrin Muller that included a complaint relating to the matters that will be addressed by the sub committee (SC-a).

KS & DOS agreed that the e-mail did not contain anything that needed immediate attention; therefore, DOS was asked to e-mail Darrin explaining the matter would be included in the BaseballMK investigation and he would be notified when the investigation was complete. DOS/0506-02