Apologies for absence: Phil Biggs of Tameside.
Present: All clubs/squads were represented apart from Hilton Tameside, Irlam Steel, Little Lever and Walkden Methodists.
Minutes of the last meeting: These had been posted on the Internet, circulated and were agreed.
Matters arising: The viability of having BTTL, T – Shirts has appeared to have fizzled out due to lack of enthusiasm and questions as to whether sufficient would be bought by league members.
The Secretary had checked the Internet in search of grants to leagues. There was only one instance found of a grant to a league, which involved a local authority grant to set up a league from scratch. All other grants referred to clubs or community projects.
Correspondence: A letter had been received from the Chairman resigning his position.
Chairman’s Report: None.
Treasurer’s Report: The accounts were presented and the treasurer went through them answering questions put. The main area of concern were the very large fines incurred which had not been paid by the individuals concerned and it was difficult to pin these down to individuals, so the league had ended up paying.
Rule amendments: These were discussed and the voting results are attached.
Election of officers: The existing officers and Committee members were elected en-bloc without opposition apart from the positions of Chair & Vice-Chair, which were left vacant. The Committee had already decided that due to the high level of fines this year that no teams should be entered without an Inter-league Secretary in post. Three players said that they wished to enter two teams and would guarantee in writing to absolve of the league from any fines incurred. J Bradbury agreed to fill the post under such conditions. Dave Scowcroft was elected on to the Committee unopposed.
AOB: A short discussion developed on rubbers and glues and another on the new ETTA membership scheme.
Rule Proposals 2009
Proposal from Meadow Bank That the following sentence be inserted after the first sentence in Rule 19:
"If play has not started at 7:30pm, the offending team should forfeit the first set, if play has not started by 7.45pm the second set shall be forfeited. If play has not started by 8pm the match will be awarded 9-0 to the non-offending team."
1 for & overwhelming vote against.
Proposal from Hilton D
That rule 10 (b) should be rewritten as follows:
At the end of the season the two top teams in any division shall be promoted and the two bottom teams shall be relegated. However in the event of there being a spare place due to the withdrawal of a team, the subsequent vacancy shall be offered to the winning team of a playoff between the team that finished second bottom in said division and the team that finishes third from top in the lower division. In the event that the third placed team in the lower division does not wish to play in this playoff, the vacancy shall be given to the team that would originally otherwise have been relegated. As a last resort the vacancy in the higher division should be offered to a suitably experienced team from either a lower division or a newly formed team at the committee's discretion.
4 for; 26 against & 2 abstentions.
Amendment from Meadow Hill (R Caswell).
That the above should be rewritten as:
Normally two teams will be promoted. The top team will always be promoted. The bottom two teams are liable to relegation.
8 for; 22 Against & 2 abstentions
Proposal from Meadow Hill
That the following should be inserted as the second sentence in rule 12 (b).
Players must be registered so that the players in the ‘A’ team are of higher ability than those in the ‘B’ team and so on down the squad.
6 for & overwhelming vote against.
Amendment from the Committee
Instead of the above, the following should be added to rule 12 (f):
In league and cup matches, such a player may not assist a higher team in the same division.
12 for 20 against & 2 abstentions.
Amendment from Nomads
Each team must have an individual name and must be self-contained with sufficient players to field it.
2 for & overwhelming vote against.
Proposal from Committee
That Cup Competitions Rule 5 should be rewritten as follows:
Each set of a cup match will consist of 4 games. The total points from the four games will be entered on the scorecard. The total points from the 9 sets together with the handicap shall determine the result.
If a team is a fixture down for any reason, five points will be added to their league points for each match down and their position adjusted within their division before the handicap is worked out.
The handicap is determined as follows: Count the number of teams that separate the teams and are on different points than either of the two teams involved and multiply by 7, subject to a maximum of 301.
Passed unopposed.