AGM Report 2015 by Barry Amor

THE UKPA ANNUAL REPORT 2015

UKPA SPONSORS 2015 Thank you to all our sponsors for 2015

CONTENTS 02

AGM Agenda, Open Forum Items

Chairman’s Report

Treasurer’s Report and Financial Statements

Chief Executive Officer’s Report

Paid Secretariat Report

Coaching Development Officer’s Report

Chief Horse Welfare Officer’s Report

Executive International Officer’s Report

Executive Member Representative’s Report

Membership Report

Minutes of the 2014 AGM

Summary of Resolutions 2015

AGM AGENDA Item 1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8

Subject Apologies Approval of the Minutes of the 2014 AGM Matters Arising Annual Reports Resolutions Election of Officers CEO (tbc post results of resolution) No candidates nominated. Nominations will be taken from the floor if the resolution is not passed. Membership Representative Two candidates – Amanda Wasdell and Katie Gillanders. Each will be given 5 minutes to speak then a secret ballot will be taken. International Officer – (Uncontested) Wayne Henning Sport Development Officer (Uncontested) Gill James Any Other Business Date of Next meeting

OPEN FORUM The AGM will be followed by the Open Forum at the same venue. The following points have been submitted for discussion (submitter shown in brackets); 

 

The UKPA should do more to improve the standard of umpiring, both from better initial training and better ongoing training (such as different levels and refresher days) and support for new umpires (Iain Heaton, Exec Member Rep) Should the UKPA make it mandatory for all horse at tournaments to be vaccinated against equine flu? (UKPA Exec, from Survey) Should there be a 12am cut off for music at parties at tournaments? (UKPA Exec, from Survey)

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT 2015 has seen another successful year for polocrosse in the UK with a lot of international action too. The development of the sport is beginning to build momentum with more one day tournaments, more liaisons with outside organisations such as riding schools and livery yards, and the paid secretariat input. This year saw fourteen tournaments, including one day events, with a welcome return of the Kent Target, Welsh Dragons and Great Northern tournaments. The season has been extended at both ends this year with the One Day Arena Event in April setting things off all the way up to the Arden Winter League events, the last one being scheduled to take place in December. Congratulations to Kent Target who retained the Nationals trophy against strong opposition from the two Welsh Clubs who were in to running to take it from them. The Polocrosse World Cup in South Africa saw the UK back on form again with a commendable fourth position. There is a keen interest in doing even better in 2019 and preparations will be starting much sooner to ensure the final squad is at its peak at the event. The U21s and U16s took on Zambia at Midland Tournament with the U21s coming out on top. We say farewell to Steve Whitehouse as the Executive International Officer and offer our thanks for all his hard work. The first veterans’ tour also took place, travelling through France, Belgium and Holland building up links and friendships on the way. It was a great success and it is planned to make it a regular event. Some members also travelled to the USA to take part in tournaments there too. We also say goodbye to Iain Heaton as Executive Member Representative and Barry Amor as Chief Executive Officer. They have both been deeply involved in the development and running of polocrosse in the UK for many years and their loss will be sorely felt, but we hope they will continue to be active in the UK polocrosse scene. Very many thanks to them both. Our trial period with the new paid secretariat system has been running for nearly a year now and the Executive fully believe that the system is the best way forward for the UKPA and has tabled a resolution to change the post of Chief Executive into an appointed and possibly paid role to continue the work started by Barry. We hope the membership can get behind this initiative and give their yes vote. The UKPA Survey has given the membership the opportunity to voice their thoughts on various issues and the Executive will be looking at how the ideas can be implemented in 2016 and beyond. The UKPA Appointed officers have continued to support the Executive in their work for which we are very grateful. There are some positions becoming vacant and we ask you to consider whether you can give of your time and experience to fill them. In all, I am excited by the way polocrosse is developing and am looking forward to seeing how polocrosse will grow in the coming years.

Eric Jenkinson – Chairman

TREASURER’S REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS This last year has seen a significantly increased investment in polocrosse activities against a backdrop of almost static membership income and falling grant aid, leading to a deficit of £10.8k. This shortfall was not unexpected, but simply the consequence of decisions made to support various initiatives. Subscription income, which has been charged at the same rate for several years now, has grown by a modest 1.4% which indicates a stable but flat membership. Sponsorship income is broadly similar to last year, however there has been significant underlying change in as much as NFU Insurance no longer provides any direct financial support (the marquee at Nationals being “in kind”); almost all sponsorship monies received are as a result of efforts to secure support for Nationals. As I have indicated in past reports, grant receipts from Sport England and the BEF have contracted again and will probably do so further in the coming year. This is due to a change in emphasis in the strategy of the awarding bodies. UKPA organised tournaments (there were three this year) fulfilled their financial objectives to serve the membership without incurring a net cost or realising a commercial scale of profit. The year also saw two visiting sides from Zambia (U21 &U16) incurring hosting costs of £3.3k; the corresponding UK squads made contributions too. The Annual Ball and Awards Dinner lost a significant amount of money at £1.2k; whilst costs were consistent with previous years, numbers were down which is a great shame as it was a splendid event enjoyed very much by those that did make the effort to attend. Mandatory expenditure continues to be well controlled and has fallen 11.6%, which is pleasing. Publicity costs have risen for two principle reasons, firstly the commissioning of leaflets to promote polocrosse and secondly the UKPA has purchased the video footage of the 2015 World Cup matches which will be made available to members at no charge, on YouTube. Investment in UKCC continues at a similar level to previous years and it is testament to the hard work of Ursula and Laura Scott that we now have a record number of qualified coaches and many more in the pipeline. It is now crucial to capitalise on this investment and focus heavily on recruiting new members to polocrosse. As you all know this year was a World Cup year and the UKPA provided substantial financial support to the Open Squad to prepare for and enter this great event. In total nearly £9k has been committed to this year’s World Cup which is nearly one third of the UKPA’s income for 2015. When total Open, U21 and U16 squad support for the year is added together this proportion rises above 40% of income and exceeds the deficit reported for the period. Fortunately world cup events only take place every four years and two inbound tours in the year do not occur that often so costs should be very much lower for the next two or three years. Running the administration of the UKPA effectively in today’s environment has become a very time consuming affair and, as flagged at last year’s AGM, your Executive Committee took the decision to fund a part time secretariat position. This has cost £7.1k and I cannot emphasise how valuable this appointment has been for the membership as a whole. Quintin Cornforth – UKPA Treasurer

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 30TH SEPTEMBER 2015 Income Subscriptions and Club Registrations Sponsorship/ Marketing Income from Sport England Funding Other income Interest Tournaments and Other Activities Nationals and Early Season Tournament International Events UKPA Ball Total Income Less Expenditure Mandatory Insurance Printing, postage and stationery Meeting Costs Meeting Costs-IPC Subscriptions

IPC BEF

Publicity Magazine Leaflets Website Marketing & PR TV filming Photography Sports Development UKCC Costs, Coaching & Training Grants Umpiring World Cup Squad Development Event and Coach funding Other Paid Secretariat Executive Expenses World cup entry fee Other Total expenses Profit/ (loss) for year Balance Brought Forward Total Reserves

2015 25,354 810 2,100 115 28,379

2014 24,996 1,280 4,200 308

1099 - 3,320 - 1,232 - 3,453 24,296

1,388 85 1,303 32,087

30,784

11,443 1,025 612 528 1,457 15,065

13,272 975 645 568 1,440 16,900

418 303 357 1,078

120 120

4,504 122 4,235 120 8,980

5,922 977 200 7,099

7,075 3,265 222 15,562 35,685

270 270 24,389

- (10,759) 55,946 45,187

7,699 48,247 55,946

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 30th SEPTEMBER 2015 2015

2014

Assets Fixed Assets Shields; Cups and Trophies Sticks and Balls Pop up Stand

1,293 1,293

25,904 25,904

31,293 31,294

1,000 1,000

Loan to World Cup Polocrosse (2011) Ltd

23,238

Total assets

50,885

56,825

4,868 -1,379 - 6,247

-879 879

Bank Accounts Current Deposit Amounts receivable within 1 year Prepayments and other debtors Amounts receivable after 1 year

Liabilities Accruals Other creditors

Net assets Balance Brought forwards Profit/ (Loss) for the year Reserves

45,187

55,946

55,946 - (10,759)

48,247 7,699

45,187

55,946

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S REPORT After a frenetic few years of rule changes and upgrades of procedures 2015 has been a relatively quiet year which was a deliberate policy with the Executive. This was so as to allow the new systems time and breathing space to develop and to see how they are working. The introduction of the paid secretariat has enabled more time to be allocated to many of the administrative aspects of polocrosse and I hope that members can begin to see the benefits of this system. The Executive has put forward a resolution to allow the appointing of the CEO, rather than having them elected, to enable an independent selection of a suitable candidate to continue the work. With regards to the Junior and PJ rule changes, individual parents were contacted by email and the feedback has been very much in favour of the new systems. The main complaints being the way some juniors had been upgraded to get them in to ‘C’ division. However, I believe Kate Henning and her team of graders have been keeping a close eye on this over the year and have not allowed juniors to be upgraded incorrectly. There has been a regular checking of many players’ gradings outside of Juniors too and this will hopefully make great in-roads in to the inequalities previously present in the system. The UKPA survey received a large number of responses, though I was slightly disappointed that there weren’t more, especially as Polocrosse Extreme had very kindly donated a brand new polocrosse racquet as an inducement to enter. If members wish to have their thoughts and ideas taken in to consideration by the Executive then they must first voice them. I work on the principle that you shouldn’t complain unless you’re willing to make suggestions to improve or make yourself available to help out. The Executive will be able to use the results to identify areas needing improvement within the UKPA. A summary of the results can be found on the UKPA website. This year saw a large number of tournaments throughout the year with an extended season from April to December an even with the loss of Arden and Cotswold tournaments the season has been very busy. It is good to see some variation in the style of tournaments with the One day arena event in April, the Limemere Sparks one day tournament, Kent Target and the Arden winter league. Variety is the spice of life and a think this applies to our sport too. The Kent event received a lot of praise and shows what can be achieved when the effort is made. The visibility of such events to the equine and general public is a key measure in improving and growing our sport and every tournament organiser can learn from Kent’s success. Nationals was well attended again and congratulations to Kent Target for retaining the trophy against stiff opposition. I am standing down as the UKPA CEO after four years in the post as I think it’s time for someone new to put their mark on the sport. I hope that I have made a positive contribution to polocrosse in my time and I do believe that the UKPA is now in a better position to grow and develop as a more main stream sport, but it will always be up to the membership to go out there to the equine public and push the game. If each member convinced even only a single person to play the sport we would have around 1200 members by 2017. We could have more one day tournaments, regional events and a Nationals to be really proud of as well as the money to finance more coaches, umpires and better tournaments all round. Along with my position we have new members joining the Executive in the International and Member Representative roles and having new blood is always an exciting time to see where they will take us. I hope you will give them and the rest of the Executive your support in the coming years. The next few years should be very exciting for polocrosse and I urge all members to get involved. Barry Amor – Chief executive Officer

PAID SECRETARIAT REPORT The paid secretariat position has been a trial process to see what would be the effects of having more time spent on the administration and development of polocrosse. The UKPA’s development plan was a key aspect for the position and most of the targets set within the document have now been met. Much of the base work carried out had been done in previous years by the CEO but in an unpaid role. DOCUMENTATION The Coaching manual, mainly written by Ursula and Laura Scott, but formatted and produced by the secretariat, is now being rolled out to UKCC coaches to provide support and a forum for coaching development. Umpiring standards continue to be a regular source of complaint within the membership and the Umpires’ Manual has now been printed and is being distributed. This provides an easily accessible source of information for all umpires to assist them in developing their skills. A Powerpoint umpires’ course is virtually complete and awaiting approval which will improve consistency of teaching and make it easier for Executive Umpires to give the course. It will also allow current umpires the opportunity to refresh their skills on line. The Basic Polocrosse Skills booklet is going through its drafting checks with coaches and it is hoped to get it in to production before the New Year. This is designed to allow riding schools and pony club centres etc. to continue training even without the presence of a trained UKCC coach. Field Marshal Training and support pack and online training system in place. PUBLICISING POLOCROSSE The flyer drop to over 300 equine establishments has so far resulted in some 11 responses where UKPA coaches have been put in touch and are starting training courses. This is unlikely to result in new members in the short term, but will result in the sport being played more widely and will hopefully begin to bring in new members in a few years time. This is looking at the long game. There have been a large number of articles in the equine and general press this year, but there could have been more if every tournament organiser made sure their event was made known to the local press. We all know it is a fantastic sport to watch as well as play so let’s tell the world. TOURNAMENTS The secretariat was the key initiator in the One Day Arena Event at Rugby as well as the Great Northern Tournament, neither of which would have gone ahead without the ability to put in the time to organise them. The new one day event at Limemere Sparks also benefitted from the secretariat support as running a tournament for the first time is always a daunting prospect. The paperwork from the tournaments is now being better controlled and will be able to provide the Executive with enhanced feedback on such things as horse welfare, who the players are exhibiting regular dangerous play, and what is happening with horses sent off for displaying dangerous vices. The latter particularly has been a regular bone of contention and this new management has allowed the formal banning of a particular horse which kicked out again after being brought back in from a previous offence.

UKPA SURVEY The survey received over 80 responses which have given the Executive food for thought over many issues. The Executive is often criticised for not consulting with the membership so this was an opportunity for such consultations and if you didn’t respond to the survey then you missed an excellent opportunity to get your voice heard. A detailed summary of the results can be found on the UKPA website. THE WAY FORWARD It takes a lot of time and effort to manage a sport such as polocrosse (ask any club chairman or secretary) much of which goes unnoticed until it isn’t being done. Many of the clubs which have folded in recent years have done so as there were insufficient people willing and able to put in the time and effort to run them. Those clubs which are doing well always have a good team of active members who want their clubs to succeed. The UKPA is no different so it is imperative that there are people in place who have the time and skills to devote to maintaining and growing the sport. Is it money well spent? I believe so, but it will be up to you, the membership, to decide and to vote on how the system is to continue. Barry Amor – Paid Secretariat

COACHNG DEVELOPMENT OFFICER’S REPORT Coaching attendance was initially good this year with candidates at Levels 1, 2 & 3 starting out on the coaching pathway. Two candidates have passed Level 2 and several more are in the pipeline. However, it has been disappointing that we have had to postpone some workshop and assessment dates which candidates had agreed to at earlier sessions, due to candidates pulling out in the weeks beforehand. As we bring in outside coach educators and assessors from EQL this does not show the UKPA in a very good light. Implicit in the initial application to join the pathway is the commitment to complete the process and candidates must understand this when they apply. Vix Borland and I have attended an EQL CPD (Continuing Personal Development) session and are putting together an exciting CPD day for all current coaches and coaches on the pathway for early Spring 2016. Previous days have been very well received by all who attended them. CPD is a vital element of being a good coach and is a requirement for all UKPA coaches. Further developments in 2015 have been that Jan Jenkinson is joining the UKPA assessor team to help develop the UKPA in-house assessment system and that qualified UKCC coaches are now being provided with Coaching Manuals to improve coaching consistency and to provide ongoing support to our coaches. Enrolling coaches on the EQL system is a slow process which is why applications to be included on the next year’s course are asked for by 31st August each year. Application forms can be downloaded from the UKPA website Coaching page. So far for next year we have five new candidates for level one and four going for level 2. Ursula Scott – Coaching Development Officer

CHIEF HORSE WELFARE OFFICER’S REPORT Whilst I have been unable to attend that many tournaments this season, I have not received any reports horse welfare problems from anyone. Maybe any issues or comments regarding horse welfare could be reported directly to myself on leadonvale@aol.com or my mobile 07778 059163, by the Horse Welfare Officer at the tournament, or by any other member who would like to contact me directly. From the tournaments I have attended I believe horse welfare is improving. Obviously we have issues with ground conditions at certain tournaments, but this is unavoidable and all tournament organisers do the very best they can. There have sadly been tragic horse deaths this year, but since I have been a Horse Welfare Officer these are the only incidents that I have seen and I think it is just bad luck that they have occurred in the same year. I have no reports regarding the first incident at Rugby, but with the second incident I was present at the time. The sudden collapse of horses can happen for various reasons and whilst weather conditions and fitness and age of horse can be an issue they are probably only small factors and these problems can happen at any time, even in the paddock. It is advisable that one’s horse should have a routine health check annually. Ideally, this can be done alongside yearly vaccinations and at this time the teeth, heart and lungs can be checked. It is important that you ensure your horse is fit enough to play – I cannot stress this highly enough. One other small issue I have is rider to horse weight ratio. There are various reports on welfare limits for horses which have been published although none of these figures are set in stone! A useful guideline is that rider and saddle should not exceed 20% of the horse’s weight. Please remember that a polocrosse saddle can weigh 20-25 kilos! This is very subjective but this may be used as a guideline. The main complaints I have, as ever have been care of horses between chukkas particularly on hot days and where I have been present I have intervened on a couple of occasions and the Horse Welfare Officer should be very aware of this, chukkas i.e. cooling down as per the report last year! Martin Leith BVetMed MRCVS – Chief Horse Welfare Officer Note: The BEF is actively investigating the situation regarding overweight riders and the UKPA intends to be involved in the discussions.

EXECUTIVE INTERNATIONAL OFFICERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S REPORT World Cup Years are always challenging both for those taking part and the season at home, however, the Open team had a fantastic World Cup, finishing 4th in the world, a rise of 2 places and with great support in South Africa. I think everyone enjoyed the live feed back to the UK for the games too. Back in the UK, the under 16s played Zambia at Arden and were very competitive, but lost their two games. The under 21s also played Zambia and again played very well, winning one match and Zambia winning the other. There were two other international events in the year; a seniors tour to Europe, which everyone who went says was great fun, and three mid ranked players went to the USA to play in a series of matches. The feedback was fantastic and I think there may be further events in the USA. The way we play our sport is changing, we are now realising Polocrosse is a ball sport played on horseback and we are bringing together some African polocrosse influences into our style of play and it seems to be helping us to be more competitive. I am very proud of what our teams have done this year and as I step down as EIO, my hope is that we are going to build our team ready for the 2019 World Cup in Australia with time to raise funds, build strong bonds and support those who play representative Polocrosse. Thank you and long live Polocrosse Steve Whitehouse â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Executive International Officer

EXECUTIVE MEMBER REPRESENTATIVE’S REPORT Firstly, I would like to thank the Executive members who have served with me for the last two years. Having been on the UKPA Executive since 2006, I think I can say that in these two years a lot has been achieved and also some lessons have been learnt for the future, which is equally important. Barry has done a great job, firstly as a volunteer CEO and then in his paid administration role. In both roles he has gone above and beyond the call of duty and really helped move a lot of areas of the sport forward. If you want to fully understand what he has achieved I would suggest you review the UKPA’s Development plan and read my “Work in Progress” article which was in the Nationals programme and is available on the Polocrosse Extreme website. I’m not going to pretend it was all perfect, there have been problem areas and for me the three biggest areas that need particular attention are; growing the number of players in the UK, umpiring, and international matters (such as organisation of international squads and test matches). All of these areas have created me problems as membership representative and they need to be improved. That said, as membership representative, I haven’t received that much formal feedback so I am working slightly off what I overhear and get told informally. I would have loved to stay on and try and help move all three of these areas forwards but I simply do not have the time and I do need to concentrate on other things. I intend to continue helping where I can and for me the main focus of growth has to be The Pony Club. They have over 40,000 members and we are in the very lucky position of being a Pony Club recognised discipline, something which horse sports like horseball, vaulting and reining aren’t but would dearly love to be. Anyone who tells you this link isn’t important is, I’m afraid, wrong and if the UK Polocrosse community doesn’t realise what an opportunity they have through this association and take whatever steps are necessary to preserve it and develop it they run the risk of losing it which would be a great shame and probably the death knell for our sport long term. I intend to focus my efforts on coaching in The Pony Club and developing the sport there, via events such as The Pony Club Championships, the Home Nations competition and local Pony Club competitions. I would encourage other coaches to do the same and I will always happily help anyone who wants to help grow the sport. So, for once, I have managed to keep an AGM report quite short and sweet. Thank you to the membership for electing me as membership representative two years ago and for your support during that period, thank you again to my Executive colleagues, both past and present (some of who have served with me from 2006) and finally thank you to my friends and family who have put up with me spending quite a few evenings on UKPA matters when I should have been doing other things. Good luck to the next Executive. Iain Heaton – Executive Member Representative

MEMBERSHIP REPORT Overall playing numbers are down on last year, primarily due primarily to lower Junior numbers caused by a large migration in to the U21s. Of the 69 juniors from 2014; 25 remained as Juniors in 2015, 23 went up in to U21s and 12 did not rejoin. Seven PJs moved up into Juniors so overall we gained 18 new junior players. This is actually a better performance than in 2014 as we only gained 13 new juniors and lost 13 juniors. Overall we lost fewer players this year than in 2014, but also gained fewer new players. We will all need to continue to work on both encouraging new players to join and convincing existing players to stay in the sport. However, many of the players lost due to unavoidable reasons such as overseas players returning home, work commitments etc. We've had more 2 day temporary memberships. Several of these were taken up by riders who had not played for a few years and had been lent a horse for a tournament. Initially there were more 28 day temporary memberships, but these were upgraded to full membership.

NO CLUB HONORARY TBA TOTAL TOTALS 2014 Difference

-5 -4 8 -4 -4 7 0 3 2 3 -8 3 -14 -2

-5 -5 -1 -7 -5 7 -5 2 -3 -2 -11 2 -14 -8

4 3 0

0 0 0

-4

356 369 -13

306 325 -19

-19 -40

-59 -85

2 4 1 3 4 4 7 4 3

155 151 4

78 79 -1

50 69 -19

23 26 -3

50 44 6

1 2 3

1 3

1 9 3 1 5 1 5 5 3 1

1 1

TEMP 2

26 8 37 20 29 0 56 18 14 24 13 8 33 35

TEMP 28

5 2 1

21 4 45 16 25 7 56 21 16 27 5 11 19 33

NEW

3 1 7

5 3

26 8 48 18 29 7 58 25 17 27 8 15 23 40

5 4 3 2 4

Over Seas

Lost

8 5 1 8

Change

11 4 2 10 2 2 1 12

21 10 19 7 33 12 8 6 3 1 15 13

2014

PLAYING TOTAL

6 3 5 2 1

TOTAL

7 1 17 4 5

Non Player

Juniors

ARDEN BUCKS BRONCOS CELYN CHILTERN COTSWOLD HIGHLANDERS KENT TARGET LEDBURY LIMEMERE SPARKS NORTHERN LIONS PENNINE ROCKWOOD RUGBY WELSH DRAGONS

U21

CLUB

Senior

Welcome back to Highlanders Polocrosse Club after a few years missing from the list and congratulations to Celyn for bringing in the most new players in 2015.

1 2 3 2 3 1 4 2

2 10 11

46 67

4 5

24 15

Membership Comparison 2003-2015

Jan Jenkinson â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Membership Secretary

MINUTES OF THE 2015 AGM ATTENDEES: Eric Jenkinson (EJ) Chairman, Anna Tarbuck (AT) Secretary, Quintin Cornforth (QC) Treasurer, Barry Amor (BA) CEO, Iain Heaton (IH) MemRep, Steve Whitehouse (SW) EIO, Gill James (GJ) ESDO Jan Jenkinson (JJ) Membership Sec, Laura Scott (LS) UKCC, Ursula Scott (US) UKCC, Tom Simkin (TS) Chief Coach, Kate Henning (KH) Gradings Officer, Wayne Henning (WH) Chief Selector, Emily Gilfillan (EG) University Liaison Officer Lucinda Cornforth, Becky Davies, Dennis Hall, Donna Hall, Jake Hall, Chris Milburn, Barbara Rowland, Kevin Simmons, Rebecca Simmons, Jeanette Mitchell, Max Pedley, Sarah Simkin, Alex Bull, Agnes Duhig, Dan Duhig, Charlotte Pykett, Kerry Bean, Karen Smith, Matt Smith, Jason Webb, Tim James, Charlotte Slater, Chris Slater, Daisy Adamson, Sammy Bull, Olly Gardner, Coral Henshaw, Liz Johnson, Jess Worthington-Hunt, Debbie Harris, Layla Henshaw, Emily Newbrook, Lewis Parr, Vicky Borland (nonvoting) APOLOGIES: P Webb, R. Winder, A. Mitchell, L. Whitehouse SUBJECT

COMMENTS

Mins of last AGM

Accepted.

Matters Arising

None.

Chairmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Report

The Chairman noted that 2014 has been a year of change, with the disbanding of the regional structure and the new Junior divisions.

ACTIONS/NOTES Mins of last AGM passed.

We now need to focus once again on building the membership. Preparation for the World Cup in 2015 is now well underway, with the UK squad performing exceptionally well in both the Irish and USA test matches, winning both. Anna Tarbuck will be stepping down as secretary after two years and was thanked for her time in the role. The Chairman thanked all UKPA officers, both elected and appointed, and all volunteers, for their hard work this year.

Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer thanked Iain Heaton for his assistance this year. Insurance – Following the change to Windsor, insurance should come down again next year. Membership – A drop in membership has cost us around £3000, so it is important that we work hard to recruit new members over the next few months Sport England Funding – This has dropped considerably as the ‘secondary’ equestrian disciplines are no longer seen as essential funding, and instead more is being given to the Olympic disciplines. This funding will most probably only continue to be cut over the coming years, and should not be relied on. Equestrian sport is not growing as much as was required, and thus the BEF are likely to miss their targets.

CEO’s Report

One of the main concerns from this season has been the drop in numbers. We need to look at the reasons why people stop playing – one of these is the lack of a horse, so it might be that we need to look into the possibilities of horse hire in the future NATIONALS – Again this was very successful in 2014, and we will continue to improve Nationals and make it an ‘event’. Congratulations to Kent Target for winning the Nationals Trophy. UMPIRING – A successful umpiring practise day was run at Midland camp. We will run more of these in 2015. Debbie Harris attended the Australian umpiring course. POSTS STILL TO BE FILLED – There are several non-Exec posts that still need filling for next year. All were encouraged to consider whether they could take on any of the roles:    

Chief Umpire Marketing & Sponsorship Officer Junior Squad Coach Open Squad Manager

MEMBERSHIP – Feedback from members can be given at any time to Iain Heaton as Membership Rep. Clubs now need to start thinking about growing the sport at grassroots level, and the UKPA will provide as much support as possible. Clubs are reminded that all coaches must be UKCC qualified, on the UKCC pathway, or approved by the Chief Coach. It was noted that not all Polocrosse players are UKPA members, and that some may just play socially or for fun without wishing to affiliate or play at tournaments, so we need to make sure

that we are able to keep in contact with these people through website / social media etc. PONY CLUB – The change to allow Pony Clubs to play at tournaments under their branch / centre has been extremely successful, in particular the Rockwood Harriers have played a number of tournaments this season. University Liaison Officer’s Report

The following points were raised in the report:  

 Chief Selector’s Report

The following points were raised in the report:    

Grading Officer’s Report

We are now using the ‘three selector’ format, with the coach being one of the three. There should be no more than two selectors from one club. Proposed that selectors must have played internationally. It is hard to watch everyone throughout the season, as most selectors are players. WH thanked all the selectors for this year, plus Barry Amor and Simon Shearing for their help.

The following points were raised in the report:   

Exec International Officer’s Report

This avenue of recruitment needs time and support if it is to work. Will need the help of local clubs. One of the main problems is a lack of time and funds of students, and also a lack of appropriate facilities and horses. It is difficult to get universities playing unless they have a local riding centre that already offers Polocrosse, and these are few and far between. The university route is not as efficient as the Pony Club route.

We still have a way to go yet with the grading system, but having one contact this year has been successful. KH thanked the Exec Umpires for their assistance. Grading system to be discussed in the Open Forum later in the day.

The following points were raised in the report:   

2014 has been a very full year at all levels of international competition. SW thanked Celyn and Rugby for hosting the two Open Squad tests. We now look ahead to the World Cup in 2015, and are also hoping for international competition for the U21s and Juniors too.

Membership Report

A full analysis of the 2014 membership is available in the AGM booklet, but it was noted that for 2015 we need a membership drive, especially in the junior grades as a number of juniors will move up at the end of this year into senior competition.

Resolution 1

Resolution 1 – Proposed by Robin Winder of Chiltern Polocrosse Club

Not passed.

The Constitution be amended to include the additional membership category of Associate Member: ASSOCIATE MEMBER: A non-playing member able to hold office within the UKPA (but not the UKPA Executive Committee) and attend UKPA meetings and functions with the same voting rights as full members. The optional amendment to this resolution to disallow normal voting rights for associate members will be discussed at the AGM. However, the resolution must be voted on at this time in the way that it is set down. Points raised:        Resolution 2

There were significant concerns that giving voting rights for only a nominal fee could lead to groups attempting to control the UKPA for their own purposes. Usually clubs are set up by a few people so need all the help they can get during the first few seasons. This would see a depletion of the UKPA funds. The Chair of Bucks Broncos noted that his club paid the membership fee of their non-playing committee member. We need to help clubs as much as possible, we are trying to grow, not make a profit. Noted that in the past British Reining reduced the cost of nonplaying membership, and that this has had a negative effect. It was agreed that this matter needed addressing by the Executive with a possible resolution at the next EGM/AGM

Resolution 2 – Proposed by Jason Webb of Kent Target Polocrosse Club Any change of Playing Rules has to be voted in at an AGM to take effect the following season.

Withdrawn.

Election of Officers

CEO – no longer open for nomination. BA has agreed to stay on in the post for another year. Chairman – Eric Jenkinson. (NB, it was noted by EJ that while he was happy to continue in the post, we need to look to the future as no other nominations had been received for the post of Chairman this time round). Secretary – Two nominees, Jake Hall and Jess Worthington-Hunt. Jake Hall elected by a vote of those present.

AOB

Sport Development – the way forward is going to involve riding schools and Pony Clubs. Do we have a Sports Development plan? BA replied that this is in the pipeline for next year. Suggested that Agi Duhig would be able to help with this, as she has experience in this area. Danny Duhig stated that the World Cup squad are keen to give back to the sport, and will be running regional training days around the country next year.

Date of next AGM

14th November 2015 – at UKPA Ball

Election of officers carried.

SUMMARY OF RESOLUTIONS 2015 Only one resolution has been proposed, presented by the Executive. The position of UKPA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to cease to be an elected position but be appointed with the option of being paid. The appointed CEO would attend Executive Committee meetings, but would not be eligible to vote. The resolution will be discussed at the meeting and should it be passed the election of a new CEO will be made redundant. Should the resolution not be passed then the position of CEO will be put up for election and the Chairman will call for nominations taken from the floor in accordance with paragraph 11.2.3 of the UKPA Constitution. It is intended that the following procedure will be instigated to appoint a CEO if the resolution is passed; Action

Target Date

The Executive will produce a full role description laying out the requirements of the role

Dec 2015

The position would be advertised to the membership with the option of advertising outside the membership if no suitable candidates come forward

Jan 2015

Interviews will be conducted by the Executive committee of the suitable applicants

Feb 2016

Successful candidate offered the position

Feb 2016

Successful candidate in position

Mar 2016

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