Message From ECA Secretary

Hi All,

John Brown as ECA Sec. asked that we pass on a message to our club members, here it is:

Dear All

When replying please reply to jmbroons@ntlworld.com

I know that you have already had a response from your Area Representative on the ECA (James Hustler) to the information in the recent newsletter from your President of the SECC about the recent ECA AGM and the constitutional changes which were carried through at that meeting.

I would like to clarify the situation regarding one of Gordon’s paragraphs – he states the following:

“My main debate about these changes is that it was pointed out to me that the ECA constitution was not followed, and as such the changes were invalid. The ECA has responded that because no one protested at the meeting the changes are valid.”

I am not sure who has alleged that the Constitution was not followed but I presume they were at the AGM to infer that this was the case and if they were they raised no objection at the time.

For clarification the clause which it is alleged was not followed states:

Para 3.3 (ii) “Proposed constitutional changes, without prior notice, may be dealt with if two-thirds of all eligible votes are present and with unanimous consent.”

There were 14 out of 21 eligible votes present at the meeting.

It was made quite clear at the relevant point in the AGM that the proposals which were about to be discussed had arisen from the Council meeting a few hours earlier and that they would now be voted upon. No objections were raised and so unanimous consent of the 14 voters present was assumed.

The ECA is satisfied that the constitution was followed and that therefore the proposed changes to the constitution are valid and are adopted into the constitution as per Rule 13.1 of the Constitution. They will therefore apply until amended at any future AGM.

It is the right of any member of the ECA to propose a motion at an ECA AGM to change any rule of the ECA.

Please also note that on Sunday 5th October when I believe there is an opening bonspiel at Fenton’s Rink, the ECA will be present with a roadshow highlighting the work which the ECA does and which it hopes to do in the future. I believe that we are in a time of great change in English curling and the ECA look forward to working with all of its member clubs to provide what is best for the future of the sport in England. The changes to the constitution which were made at the AGM in June reflect some of the comments which were received in the Review Questionnaires and more of those outcomes will be acted upon in the near future.

And finally, one other constitutional change which was adopted at the AGM was that there would be two Council members from each area – as you know James Hustler is currently one of those Council members for the South. If there is anybody else who would like to take on the second position please get in touch with your Club President or Secretary.

John Brown

Secretary

English Curling Association

Letter From The President #6 23rd July 2008

Letter From The President #6 – 23rd July 2008

Dear Fellow Curler,
I hope everything is well with you as we crash on through the summer – nights drawing in, not long til the Xmas stuff is in the shops, the lot!

The club committee met this week.
Susan Young is head BBQ honcho, so you can expect to hear from her soon asking you to let us know if you’ll be coming, with a cheaper entrance for early bookings.
Sat Sep 6th is the date, and if anyone wants to offer their services in helping out on the day, do let us know – also if anyone has an activity idea they think would be good.

Our posters, fliers and promotional material has arrived, and it looks great! No doubt when you see it you’ll be wanting to congratulate Adam’s work, and it sets us up nicely to have a crack at our target of recruiting new club curlers from the non-club bookings at the rink.

Jo and I went to an event about funding for sports clubs, and we got a book which is packed from cover to cover with all sorts of funding avenues – did you know for example that the Football Foundation funds any sport, not just football? (you do now)
A main point to consider is that a lot of sports grants will not pay the whole cost of a project, the club has to contribute. This means we cannot create projects willy nilly, we would have to be accutely aware of club budget. It makes sponsorship a more attractive route at present.

You can aslo expect to hear from Secretary Suzie, who will be sending out the membership forms – our admin time line is as follows – once the membership forms come back, Lizzie can then properly finalise the games calendar once we know who the members are. Once that’s done Jo can then send out invoices to everyone based on the games they are commited to.
Please aim to return your membership forms as soon as possible.

You will notice on the membership forms that the rink and club have kept our fees the same as last year.
The increase comes from a new ‘associate member’ sub from the ECA. This means that any member of our club has to pay either £23 or £10 to the ECA, and we have set our subs to reflect that increase.

This measure was voted at the ECA AGM in Sheffield, and has caused some debate, (most notably in my head).
The associate member does not get voting rights, or allowed to play in the nationals, or in the InterClub.
It does allow play in the 4 Nations.

Another measure voted was to change the ECA voting structure to 1 member 1 vote, with the provisos of no proxies, and that the AGMs would continue to be held in Sheffield.

My main debate about these changes is that it was pointed out to me that the ECA constitution was not followed, and as such the changes were invalid.
The ECA has responded that because no one protested at the meeting the changes are valid.
The committee meeting this week took a final position that it was a technicality borne from human error, and was not something to get bogged down in.
However, we would write a letter to the ECA via our rep, expressing our concerns and expecting those concerns to be addressed.

I also put a proposal for a club EGM to let the members choose if they still wanted to be in the ECA. That was not voted through.

Our next meeting is Augst 19th – please be aware that Aug 31st is the closing date for the ECA Seniors, the ECA Mixed Doubles, and the InterClub.
Dates and locations for these competitions can be found on the forum, link below.

Ok, that’s it for now, feedback welcomed and encouraged as ever. Remember we won’t know what members want unless members tell us!
Enjoy the summer and it’s over and out from me!

‘Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness
Gordon
P.S. Don’t forget the website for news updates and archives:
http://www.southofenglandcurlingclub.com

Also the English Curling Forum:
http://www.englishcurlingforum.com