AGM REPORT Tom Webb

Details

Written by: sjb

Category: Club News

Published: 22 July 2021

 

A report of the MCA AGM 

Of 21/07/2021 held at Aigburth Cricket Club 

 

This was a sparsely attended AGM with 3 clubs [Hoylake, PKA, Waterloo not attending, the meeting was however, quorate . St Helens(formally Widnes have withdrawn from the League)

The following items were discussed 

1  Lessons from the 2019-20 and 2020-21 season 

Every one agreed that the 2019-20 season had been abandoned although Liverpool still have a strong sense of injustice and feel they won the Division 1 title. Their actions after the closure of the season claiming certain matches as forfeiture was condemned by an Atticus representative and their demand that that the Web controller withdraw his email was also rounded on. Discussion was curtailed by the chair and moved onto the next season. 

Representatives of Liverpool felt that the time limit set for the on-line league was too long and that this had put off many players from their club which is why they didn’t enter the competition. Discussion ranged around the topic but it was generally agreed that the time limit worked well. All agreed that Martin had done a marvelous job in setting up and running the competition in a very professional manner. 

For next season the priority would be to establish over the board [OTB] chess and there were no current plans to run an on-line league, although the possibility of ad hoc on-line tournaments may be run if there is sufficient time, capacity and interest 

2  Treasures Report 

The bank balance is extremely healthy with £7,000circa in the bank with no outstanding debts 

For 2021-2 the ECF have said they would prefer individuals or for preference, clubs pay for membership…the Club should collect the fee and pay in batch. For this reason, the MCA will in future, not be collecting and paying ECF fees 

By way of note the current lowest membership [Bronze] is £18 and if paid before August will run until Aug 2021 

Action Point for Atticus decide on ECF fee and Club membership fees 

For 2021 -22, due to the healthy finances of the MCA there will be no board fees. This should help clubs revitalize their own finances or reduce membership fees 

3  Election of Officers 

The following decisions were reached 

President Russell Cowell 

Vice President Tom Webb 

Secretary Nick Martin 

Treasurer  Leon Wolszcak 

Website and fixtures Martin Blasczyk [if he is prepared to continue] 

Tournament controller  Dr Will Cook [if he is prepared to continue] 

NCCU Delegate Nick Martin 

Junior Organiser Jim Gallagher 

Child protection Kevin Sartain 

Committee Members The same as this year [if they are prepared to continue] i.e. 

Graham Heath [Wallasey], Gareth Ellis [Widnes], Alan Kelly [Wallasey], 

Luke Boumphrey [Atticus], Mike Clarke [Liverpool] and Bart McHugh [Skelmersdale] 

Grader  Vacant Action Point is anyone in the club prepared to take on this role? 

 

4  Leagues and Cup competitions 

 

Main Leagues 

Division 1  [7 Boards]  Controller Dave Whitby

Aigburth 1

Atticus 1

Atticus 2

Hoylake 1

Liverpool 1

Wallasey 1

Waterloo

 

Division 2  [6 Boards]  Controller Leon Wolszcak

Aigburth 2

Atticus 3

Liverpool 2

PKA 1

Southport 1

Wallasey 2

 

Division 3    [6 Boards]  Controller Jim Moran

Atticus 4

Formby 1

Hoylake 2

Liverpool 3

Skelmersdale 1

Wallasey 3

 

 

 

Division 4    [6 Boards]  Controller Russell Cowell

Aigburth 3

Formby 2

Liverpool 3

Liverpool 4

Skelmersdale 2

Wallasey 4

 

600 and 440 Leagues 

 

600 League  [4 Boards]  Controller Dave Whitby

Aigburth

Atticus

Formby

Hoylake

PKA

Southport

Waterloo

 

All teams play each other once 

 

440 League  [4 Boards]  Controller Luke Boumphrey

Aigburth

Atticus

Formby

Hoylake

PKA

Wallasey

 

All teams play each other once 

 

Knotty Ash Cup and John Ripley Leagues 

Both competitions have 10 entries for 2021-2 

 

 

5  Any other business 

Playing and Covid protocols 

Quite a broad ranging discussion but in summary 

Any ECF guidelines would be adopted 

Captains arranging games would confer with their opposite number any specifics 

In general the clubs would have to follow the house rules of the venue 

Promoting chess across Merseyside 

Generally thought to be a good thing! Some discussion on widening across social media 

Russel Cowell, the new president, has some initiatives in mind