Held at the Pavilion, Barrowby. 14th August 2019
Committee Members in Attendance:
Dave Pearce Chairman / Barrowby
Andy Mayer Vice Chairman / Acting Welfare Officer / Gonerby
Steve Hynard Fixtures / Barrowby
Sally Simon Secretary
Jayne Wheeler Treasurer
Gary Reeves Football Co-ordinator / Ropsley
Clubs Represented, Barrowby, Bottesford, Caythorpe & Fulbeck, Colsterworth, Gonerby,
Grantham Flames, Leasingham,
Apologies for Absence: John Young, Rules Officer / Barrowby; Cranwell JFC
Clubs not present: Ancaster Athletic
Minutes of last A.G.M. and Matters Arising.
The Chairman opened the meeting at 19:40 hrs and welcomed all those present to the
Grantham Youth Football League Annual General Meeting.
The existing member Clubs were asked to agree the minutes of the 2018 AGM. Proposed:
(Stuart Mullenger, Grantham Flames); Seconded: (Paul Cope, Colsterworth). All agreed.
There were no matters arising.
League Chairman’s Report.
The Chairman’s report contained the following:
Good Evening and welcome to you all.
Firstly, a reminder of your committee members,
Andy Mayer, Vice Chairman and League Welfare Officer.
Sally Simon, League Secretary.
Jayne Wheeler, Treasurer.
John Young, League Rules Officer.
Gary Reeves, Football Co-ordinator
Steve Hynard, Fixture Co-ordinator,
And, Myself, Dave Pearce Your Chairman
Firstly, I’d like to say a huge thank you to all of the team for all the time they give up and the
efforts they put into running the league and supporting you and your teams etc.
I would also like to thank all of you and the volunteers at your clubs for the effort and time you
put into providing Football for our youngsters in the Grantham and Sleaford area. Please pass
this message on to all involved.
Last Season:
The GYFL continued to successfully deliver a football programme for the U7-11’s in the
Grantham and Sleaford area,
Our Futsal programme continued to bring an exciting alternative to traditional grass based
football competitions whilst developing the players confidence and ability, their control on the
ball and improve players quick decision making while playing the game, we’ve also had our
feedback on Futsal and will announce some changes to the programme for the coming season
based on that feedback.
Whilst match cancellations reduced last season they continued to be a problem with our older
ages, whether there’s a link between the better players availability and match cancellations I’ll
leave that with you to decide, however a reminder that you set the tone at your clubs and I ask
that you would encourage your teams not to cancel, but rather play some of the other perhaps
weaker players to enable their development also, which in turn will strengthen the team’s
development and confidence both now and in the future.
Again our under 9’s were supported by Grantham Bowl who provided the venue and bowling
Free for our Futsal winners and Runners up. This is a great presentation event for us and one I
wish to expand on, Thanks again to Jane and the team at Grantham Bowl.
The feedback I’ve received about our Finals days has again be a point of personal pride for me
as it’s clear (but for a couple of minor issues) that nobody does Festivals, Futsal events and
Super Sundays Finals day better than the GYFL, and this is all down to those AGL’s and
volunteers that pull these events together, so a huge thank you and well done to all of those
clubs and volunteers.
On a slightly less positive note the league were unfortunately unable to attract any new teams
other than U7’s despite the offer of free applications and player registrations to join, in hindsight
I accept that I was perhaps a bit late in attempting to bring this to life, however more on that
later.
We continue to be financially stable under Jaynes guidance, however Jayne may go on to
explain that we made a loss for the season in isolation, and that this was because we embarked
on some investment in a new fit for purpose League Website and can hopefully announce its
launch shortly, more on this from Jayne and Gary in a bit.
During the season we held some forums with different age groups along with the Chairman and
Secretaries of our member clubs, again from the feedback of these meeting some changes are
forthcoming, some give a bit more flexibility and some may be a bit more stringent etc, and John
will elaborate on these with you either this evening or in due course, I believe your clubs have
all had the detail already.
The Season Ahead:
- The season ahead will not be without its challenges,
- fewer teams and therefore team retention,
- attracting new teams/clubs,
- attracting enough people to shape, deliver and support the implementation of our
development plans and join the committee. - Replacement of committee members
I pointed out at our last meeting that NONE of the current committee members have children
still playing in the league and spoke of the need for some new blood to the group to support the
leagues sustainability, Thank you for those that are supporting as AGL’s but as you will hear
shortly we still need some additional key support
As I said we will have challenges ahead of us, however we will face into these and do our best
to help the League continue and to grow, you will, I hope, be pleased to know that we have a
plan and with your help and continued support I am confident that it will deliver.
Part of that plan is to the makeup of the League Committee Roles, whilst the Officers roles will
obviously continue we have decided to make some subtle but exciting alterations to the
remaining roles.
The previous roles were
Chair, Secretary, Welfare, Treasurer as officers. With…..
Football coordinator, Fixtures officers, Rules Officer (Club members, no current members)
The new makeup will be as follows….
- Chair, Secretary, Welfare, Treasurer continue as officers along with rules Officer.
The Football and Fixtures officer roles will now be combined into one with Steve Hynard
taking up this role, Steve will head up our AGL’s and with their support be responsible
for the footballing and fixtures matters within the league, The league through Steve has
plans to get ALL fixtures and formats including Trophy events, Festivals and Futsal out
to the clubs/ teams ASAP, along with supporting the team managers and coaches with
their footballing queries etc.
At this point I would like to welcome and say thank you to our AGL’s for the coming season.
- Graham Almond – Cranwell
- Carl Holman – Leasingham
- Ellis Brown – Caythorpe & Fulbeck
- Michael Budden – Caythorpe & Fulbeck
The next New Role I would like to discuss is that of …….
The League development Officer,
- This new role will be headed up by Gary Reeves and will be responsible for our
development plan for the future, Gary with the support of others (hopefully some of you)
will be working on some of the League’s biggest priority and opportunities over the
coming seasons, the biggest of which will be new Team and Club attraction. The team
will also be looking at how we expand our Futsal programme, Girls participation, Youth
Involvement, and - All of this will be very exciting and will continue to promote the Leagues values of
Development Football for all and Player centred coach development.
Another development within the committee will be the introduction of a discipline sub committee.
- This will be headed up by John Young, the League Rules officer, Chairman, Welfare
officer and possibly one other. (volunteer/s needed) - The purpose of this sub committee is to give a swift response and resolution to
complaints of a disciplinary and or conduct nature, which previously would have been
delayed until the next Committee meeting.
To bring my report to a close I would again like to thank you all for your ongoing support, but I
can’t stress enough that we need more help. Later we will be discussing our recruitment needs
and I hope that you will leave here with a view to actively helping us find suitable people and
pointing a few our way. This may not be you, but you may know some experts in Websites,
Admin, Working on projects, or just plain wish to help, who could prove invaluable to us. So
please help us to help you and encourage them to give me a call.
Roles we need to recruit for are
- Media Officer to manage the New League website and social Media sites.
- League development plan asst’s
- Discipline Officer asst’s
- Welfare Officer.
- League Secretary
Dave Pearce
Chair GYFL.
League Officers Reports:
Welfare Officer (Acting)
League Welfare Officers Report: AGM 2019
This is my third season as the Welfare & Safeguarding officer of the GYFL, and I am pleased to report
that during the 2018-19 season had no major/significant welfare or safeguarding issues to deal with.
Once again, the issues that have come to my attention have involved “over enthusiastic”
spectators or managers and coaches forgetting they are watching children enjoy playing
football, and I am pleased that the Clubs involved have worked with the league to address any
issues with those involved.
The League fully supports the FA Respect campaign and expects the teams in our League to do
the same, starting with a Respect barrier. We all have a responsibility to create a positive and
encouraging environment for our boys & girls to play the game. We also have a number of
young referees officiating in our league, to who we have the same duty of care and would
expect to be encouraged and supported in the same positive manner.
Accurately reporting your Respect scores on FA Full-time after every match will help us monitor
this through-out the season, to recognise those teams that are leading on this, and those the
League needs to help and support to improve.
We went through last season without a County Welfare Officer in place, but I am pleased to
report now that Sarah Pridmore has now taken on this role, and at a recent League Welfare
Officers meeting, she highlighted the following for next season;
- Respect workshops for Managers & Coaches
- Ground Risk Assessments (County Cup)
- Silent Sidelines weekends
- Respect Club awards
- A youth council for each league?
Finally, a reminder that all teams playing in the GYFL should have a coach that is CRC/DBS
checked, completed the FA Safeguarding & First Aid course, which the League will help to
organise.
I am happy to continue for a final season in this role but will be leaving the Committee at the end
of the 2019-20 season.
Good luck for a safe and enjoyable season ahead.
Andy
Andy Mayer
GYFL Vice-Chair & CWO
Secretary
The Chairman and Officers Reports cover most of the issues that need to be discussed.
So I just want to say that the past 15 or so years of my involvement in the GYFL has
been rewarding and full of memories. However now is the time for to step down as
League Secretary. I will be around in the background for a while to complete the
affiliation requirements to start the new season, and also be available to help the
committee should they need it until a new League Secretary is recruited. Please give
the committee your support and assistance in any way you can.
Thank you, Sally Simon, out-going League Secretary.
At this point The Chairman thanked Sal and her late husband, Mark, for their
contribution to the GYFL of the years, and presented Sal with flowers and wine.
League Treasurer
The League Treasurer presented the draft League accounts which have yet to be independently
verified.
TREASURER’S REPORT FOR AGM 14 AUGUST 2019
For the season 2018-19 the league draft accounts show a loss £3,469. This was predicted and
budgeted for as it includes the initial cost of the new website which we voted to undertake to
help market and develop the league for the good of the league and the clubs within the league.
The new billing system with Carres has ensured that invoices from them are received and paid
in a much more timely fashion.
The remainder of the deficit is due to the reduction in team and player registrations due to less
teams being entered to the league.
Last year we reported that we were looking into the setting up of a grant/designated fund to
financially assist our member clubs. We are still committed to implementing this but it has been
delayed due to the fact that the committee now only consists of 7, soon to be 6 members and
we have had to concentrating on other more pressing issues and the new website. We hope to
be able to announce the format of the new grant scheme very soon.
Jayne Wheeler MAAT
GYFL Treasurer
Rules Officer
Rules Officer not present. The changes to the League Rules have been issued to all Member
Clubs prior to the meeting. In addition to the Standard Code changes some amendments were
proposed:
Rule 2c
The radius of the geographical area the league will accept applications to become member
clubs from 40 miles to 20miles.
Rule 4a, 4b, 4c and associated rule supplements.
Background – the league has traditionally required club and team entries to be made and paid
for by 31st May. Other local leagues require club and team entries to be made by 1st May. The
committee proposes to change to 1st May for club and team entries to be made and paid by 1st
May to match the other leagues.
Rule 5a
The majority of current committee members are likely to step down from fulfilling committee
roles over the next two years. The committee is anxious to bring new committee members on
board to ensure the sustainability of the league. Despite a number of requests, no new
committee members have come forward therefore a more formal approach to ensure the
sustainability of the league is necessary. To get more people on the league committee below is
the revision to rule 5a. New text shown in italics.
The Management Committee shall comprise the Officers of the Competition and up to
12 members who shall all be elected at the AGM. Member clubs are required to nominate 1
person per club who will attend committee meetings as called by the League Committee. The
person nominated shall be a member of the club they represent and be associated with a team
that plays in GYFL. Committee members may be co-opted as necessary.
Rule 5d – new Supplement to Rule 5d.
Background – there have been a number of communication problems with messages not getting
to the people who need to be informed. To alleviate this problem the committee, propose to
revise this rule as follows:
To facilitate improved communications between the league and clubs the communications
protocol shall be:
All Governance issues will be Club Secretary to League Secretary and vice versa.
For all Football issues the Team Manager may contact the relevant League Official and
vice versa with Club & League Secs copied if necessary.
Rule 8 and associated supplemental rule.
To provide as much flexibility about kick off times and the days matches take place, the
committee propose the following supplemental rule to rule 8.
Matches will normally be played Sunday mornings or afternoons with kick off between 09.30
and 14.30 depending on pitch availability and travel time of the teams involved. However, if the
Team Managers mutually agree before the match, the match can be played anytime over the
weekend it is programmed to be played. If a KO time/day cannot be agreed, then the KO will
default to 10.30am Sunday or as close as possible to that time considering pitch availability.
Note that matches cannot be moved to be played on different weekends to those programmed
unless approved by the League Committee.
Appendix 8 Note No 14
Background – the committee are aware that in some instances Managers are agreeing between
themselves to field a different number of players than the maximum number of players as
specified in the league rules. All Clubs are reminded that the specified number of players must
be fielded and Appendix 8 Note 14 sets out the rule requirements:
The number of players on each team must not exceed the permitted number of players for each
team for any game within the relevant age group. 5v5, 7v7, 9v9 etc must be played as such
with the exception of ‘Powerplay’ where permitted.
Appendix 12 – NEW – Power Play option.
Background – the FA introduced the ‘Powerplay’ option for all clubs/teams as specified and this
was introduced to the league in January 2019. This new appendix sets out the Powerplay
option and is similar to the briefing sheet issued in January 2019 with a few minor text
revisions. See the proposed 2019/20 rules for details of Powerplay.
John Young, Rules Officer
Fixtures Officer
Overall last season went well. The issue we have is managers still not entering the information
correctly on Full time. To be clear all score must be entered and the respect score as well. This
is to be done on the day of the game. The new Matchday app allows this to be done from a
smart phone straight after the game. Can I please encourage all clubs to ask that this is done
for every match?
The upcoming season we are having a few issues with Wholegame and full time which I hope to
be resolved quickly to enable the fixtures to be put on. Failing that I will manually send out the
fixtures for September no later than the 24th August.
Regards
Steve Hynard, Fixtures.
Football Co-Ordinator
Next Season the League’s Development officer’s priority is to grow the number of teams, and
establish a development plan. He hopes to visit as many of the Clubs as possible to get their
views and input into this plan.
New website – hopefully launched in the next few days. Input still needed from member clubs.
Futsal – changes to the schedules planned to make the competition more interesting and
possibly a Futsal League.
Appointment of League Officers and Committee Members.
Chairman Dave Pearce
Vice Chairman Andy Mayer
Acting Welfare Officer Andy Mayer
Football Development Gary Reeves
Fixtures & Football Steve Hynard
Discipline & Compliance John Young
It was agreed that the above League Officers be re-elected on-bloc. Proposed: Paul Cope.
Seconded: Stuart Mullenger. All in favour.
League Officer Vacancies:
Secretary
Player Registration Officer
Referees Officer
Website / Social Media
Assistant League Development
Assistant Discipline and Compliance
Amendments to League Rules.
A copy of the proposed Rule Changes and FA mandatory standard code of rules were sent to
all member clubs prior to the AGM, there were no objections received. These were explained at
the meeting.
There being no challenges the League Rules were accepted by the Member Clubs.
AOB.
Honorariums for the Secretary and Treasurer were discussed were agreed (£800 each).
Proposed: Andy Mayer Seconded Stuart Mullenger. All agreed.
With no further business the Chairman wished everyone all the best for the new season and
closed the AGM at 21.30hrs.
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