President's Report

President's Report

Annual General Meeting 2020/2021

Ibelieve that the 2020/21 season has been another stellar period in the Club’s continued quest for excellence.

As with all clubs, maintaining and growing membership is crucial not only to our prosperity but indeed survival. Sorrento emerged well from the Covid-19 closures with an overall membership of 814, including 256 registered bowlers.

Marketing strategies are essential for membership success. As well as membership drives, we are involving social media such as Facebook to target the younger demographic.

Bowling Performance

During the 2020/21 season Sorrento fielded 23 Pennant divisions of men and women. We never forfeited a game and achieved great success that included: • Promotion to Men’s 1 White Saturday • Promotion to Men’s 2 Blue Saturday • Promotion to Women’s 1 Blue Saturday • Competing in the Premier Division and other playoffs • Retaining Premier Divisions for both the men and women.

Sorrento had no demotions for Tuesday and Saturday Pennants but did experience some demotions on Thursdays. This is understandable when our Club fields so many divisions and supports so many players. On many occasions Sorrento’s 8th, 9th and 10th ranked sides were competing against the 3rd and 4th sides of other clubs.

Sorrento was a strong supporter of State Championships, not only by making its greens available but by fielding a strong contingent of competitors with 128 competition entries. The Club performed exceptionally well winning the: • Men’s State Pairs • Men’s Over 60s State Triples • Men’s Over 60 State Singles • Women’s Over 60s State Pairs

In addition, Sorrento players were: • Runners up in the Men’s State Pairs • Quarter finalists in both the Men’s and Women’s State Triples • Two Players finished in the top 20 BWA rankings.

Croquet

Membership remains static at 27. Club Captain Kerry Bomford and her team have been positive in encouraging new members to the Croquet Courts.

Capital Investment

We invest significant resources for capital investment to maintain and improve our clubhouse, five grass greens, one croquet court and club surrounds. Our usual annual capital investment spend is between $60,000 and $80,000. During the 2020/21 season Sorrento continued to replace furniture and equipment; replaced the rubbers on three greens; made improvements to the Club’s café with the purchase of a commercial dishwasher ($10,000) and extremely popular contemporary coffee vending machine ($10,000). The Club installed non-slip treatment, extended asphalt pathways, replaced computers, upgraded its computer systems, technology platforms and CCTV security. Greens’ renovations and maintenance costs were an additional expense funded from our maintenance budget.

Communication

Communication with members and key stakeholders is an ongoing and important component of running a successful bowling club. This is an area that requires considerable expertise and resources. The Club operates a comprehensive Communication and Marketing Strategy that considers the Club’s key messages, its audience and the best communication channels.

In addition, we produce high quality 64-page quarterly magazines. Printed copies are available as well as online via our website. Our monthly and weekly e-Newsletters are also proving to be extremely popular and ensure that our members are advised about forth coming events. These communication channels are supplemented by regular emails, notice board and personal announcements and face-to-face contact with Governing Council and committee members. Sorrento uses Facebook and Mail chimp platforms to communicate digitally with members.

Financials

The Club’s financial statements and notes comply with the Accounting Standards as explained in the financial statements as presented. The Clubs financial statements including the notes to the accounts give a true and fair view of the Clubs financial position as at 30 April 2021.

Bar and Club Management

The Bar performed extremely well during 2020/21. Bar sales of $522,432 were up from last financial despite the impact of the Club's Covid -19 closures. Congratulations to Bar Manager Ian and his staff for maintaining an extremely high level of work ethic and professionalism in the performance of their duties.

Volunteers

Volunteers are the lifeblood of any successful club and is an area

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Contact Joseph Williams on (08) 97226742 www.connecthearing.co.au

where Sorrento has particular focus. Our Volunteer Plan sets out a process for the recruitment, training, rewarding, and recognising our volunteers. Sorrento has about 120 regular volunteers, representing 12% of our members. This is an impressive number of volunteers who contributed over 17,000 hours in 2020.

Duty of Care

Duty of Care is increasingly important for clubs. Sorrento embraces its responsibilities by undertaking annual independent audits for maintenance, general occupational health and safety. In addition, the Club maintains policies applicable to alcohol management, smoking, transport, healthy food and drink, member welfare, road safety, risk management and code of conduct.

Vibrancy is one of the most essential ingredients of a successful bowling club. Sorrento operates its bowls program six days per week, all year through. The Club serves an average of 100 meals from its café on Friday nights with often another 50 people within the clubhouse. Chase the Joker, meat raffles, regular entertainment and our numerous TVs and large screen ensures that all are entertained and the place exudes both friendship and excitement.

Overall, while the work of our Club is never over, I believe the Club has positioned itself well to maximise the opportunity and respond to the challenges that lie ahead, with 2020/21 and past years proving a solid foundation.

Conclusion

In conclusion I would like to acknowledge the hard work undertaken by our Governing Council members; Office Manager, Pauline Marsden, Vice President of Sport and Participation, Trevor Orton, Vice President of Operations, Wayne Gray, Treasurer, Pat Dichiera and Director of Governance and Communication, Brian Lucas. All

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