Wednesday 18 September 2019

Winter AGM Update

WINTER AGM UPDATE
Thanks to everyone that attended the meeting last night at the Hare & Hounds. A few teams still need to confirm their knockout entries. This information should be passed to Bertie as soon as possible, so he can collect the fees, and let me know the names for the preliminary round draws.
No major issues were raised. The Committee will stay the same, Bertie as Chairman, myself as Secretary and Anthony as Treasurer.
We have 22 teams for the Winter season, the same as last year. So again these will be divided into two divisions of 11, each team will have 10 home and 10 away matches, with 2 byes.
The season will start on MONDAY 7TH OCTOBER 2019. There will be two free weeks for rearranged games, one just before Christmas (Mon 23rd Dec) and another at the end of the season (Mon 27th Apr). This will be the LAST DAY for League games to be played. There will be a week with no games in between Christmas and New Year (Mon 30th Dec).
There are a couple of team changes due to mergers/relocation from last Winter. The only team 'new' to the Winter League this year is Drakes, who joined us in the Summer. The two old Duke of Marlborough teams have merged to become Duke 'B'. The old Eagle B team have relocated to the Duke of Marlborough, to become Duke 'A'. The old Dog & Gun team have relocated to the Civil Service Club, and become Civil 'C'.
The bottom three teams in Division 1 last Winter, dropping down to Division 2 are Century Club, Dog & Gun (Civil C) and Papermakers Arms.
The top three teams in Division 2 last Winter, promoted to Division 1 are The Fox Loud, The Fox, and Lashings D.
Drakes, as a new team, will start in Division 2.
No rule changes were proposed. Everyone seems happy with the 8pm start time, so that will continue. The 'No Talking' rule continues in doubles matches, only talking at the start of the visit, and the first shot after the break. Some teams may still talk if it's mutually agreed at the start of the match, but most teams have been sticking to the 'no talk' rule, so it's good practice to do that.
As was the case in the Summer, postponed/rearranged games require 48 hours notice (ie. Saturday night 8pm). If less notice is given, it will be the other team's choice whether they want to rearrange, or claim a 6-0 win (8 points). Any unplayed games at the end of the season will be awarded as 6-0 wins. No 'double headers' will be allowed.
It was decided that if a team drops out at any point in the season, all the points will be removed. This is the fairest option, as some games would've been played at home, some away.
I think that about covers everything. Any queries, get in touch with Bertie or myself.
Have a good season...Cheers!