ENGLISH ICE HOCKEY ASSOCATION RECREATIONAL SECTION ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING MINUTES

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1 ENGLISH ICE HOCKEY ASSOCATION RECREATIONAL SECTION ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Date Sunday 10 September 2006 Venue Time Express by Holiday Inn, Eastlake Park, Milton Keynes 1pm MINUTES PRESENT EIHA REPRESENTATIVE Tony Boynton Linda Matthews John Freeman Tony Wood Richie Clark Alan Batchelder The Chairmans opening remarks were to introduce the top table and Mr Batcheldor from the EIHA. REPRESENTATIVES OF THE FOLLOWING TEAMS Ashfield Avalance, Basingstoke Cougars, Bradford Cannibals, Cambridge University Women, Cleveland Comets, Eastern Star, London Devils, Milton Keynes Jesters, Milton Keynes Rumble, Nottingham University Mavericks, Oxford Bulls, Peterbrough Preditors, Solihull Vikings, Solihull Wolves, Eastern Stars [by proxy]. APOLOGIES FROM Irene Jones, Mohammed Ashraff, Ron Christison, Altrincham Aardvarx, Basingstoke Hyenas, Bristol Warriors, British Army Blades, Cardiff Titans, Chelmsford Nighthawks, Grimsby Lightning, Guildford Smoke, Imperial College Devils, Kingston Cobras, London Legion, Medway Madness, Nationwide Knights, Newcastle Coyotes, Newcastle University Wildcats, Oxford University Blues, Oxford University Vikings, Peterborough Rinkrats, Sheffield Blazers, Slough Tornadoes, Southampton University Spitfires, Telford Spartans, Westminster Statesmen, Whitley Wildcats. The Chairman commented that he was disappointed in the turn out.

2 APPROVAL OF LAST YEARS MINUTES It was proposed by Chelmsford Chargers, seconded by Ashfield Avalanche and unanimously resolved that the Minutes of the 2005 AGM be accepted, there were no matters arising. CHAIRMAN AND ADMINISTRATOR S REPORT CHAIRMAN S REPORT As Chairman I must apologise to a lot of people within the EIHA Rec, due to a lot of personal hassle of my own making during the year I have not been able to give the commitment I have in past years, having said that I have got to thank everyone on this table for taking work on that they were not expecting, Tony Wood in particular who found himself taking on discipline when he wasn't expecting it, as well as work on the website. Overall, rec hockey is people having fun; we don't want to stop people enjoying it we just want to make sure its safe for everyone out there. The way I look at it is, at the end of the day I don't want to walk into a rink and find a guy sitting in a wheelchair who got injured in one of my games as we didn't look after his safety which is why we have the insurance in place which is try to say please make sure your players keep insured, its fine if you want to play unregistered players and you get caught and something goes wrong don't come crying to me as I can cover your arse. If you do it the way we ask you to then we can give you some kind of cover. Our insurance is better than the EIHA league insurance in one way; it gives person to person liability. Say for instance, if a person slashes me during a game and manages to break my neck and I end up in a wheelchair I can sue this person. If it happens in a league game there is only the club to sue and it becomes very difficult. The insurance is there to protect you in a major injury or major law suit if something goes wrong. ADMINISTRATOR S REPORT {read by the Chairman in Ron Christison s absence] I apologise for not being at the meeting. We have 2163 members registered during the last year. 74 clubs, 21 in the North, 24 in the Midlands and 29 in the South. There was an increase in the number of University clubs affiliated to the section currently at 17. Universities are still registering through us, as far as I am aware there were no previous consultations or negotiations regarding this University body joining the section, it has its own Constitution and rules of membership. At the start of this registration period a back log built up due to the insistence of a minority of clubs insisting on following up their initial renewal input with single registrations two or three times a week. I also encountered a problem when I exhausted my supply of licence cards, the company who provided

3 these had ceased trading and it took me five weeks to obtain a new supply. Consequently no new licences were produced during that period. You will see from the s you have received regarding the new look website that hopefully licence renewals will be computerised and hopefully we will be using this system within the next 2-3 years. Despite an all round increase in the cost of insurance premiums, I was able to negotiate renewal of our Policies without any increase in the fees payable. I have continued to have a good working relationship with the policy providers. They were able to cap the costs due to our reasonable level of claims which we made during the year and our strict administration procedures. Following the last AGM, I was surprised to find that reduced fees were being sent with registration requests. These annual fees are determined by the EIHA Executive, the Treasurer arrives at his annual spending based on these calculations. The Section does not have the authority to vary these fees. The full insurance policy premium payments are payable for the whole of the Policy year. The choice to register late in the insurance year is up to the individual clubs. As it stands at the moment, we have a fixed price for the year and cannot be reduced for part of the year. If anyone wishes to make a claim they must contact me immediately and I will send you a claim form. Please do not leave it for a few weeks before I am informed as this could delay or hinder your claim. The new registration will hopefully be a huge success and I will be able to assist you in any way by telephone, after 7pm weekdays or by . The representative from Chelmsford Chargers asked the Chairman about insurance for overseas tournaments. The Chairman replied that there is a policy with the EIHA that Tony Oliver has details of. Team to let the Chairman know they are travelling to a tournament overseas and to contact Tony Oliver with details. The insurance only covers injuries, not repatriation. Intersport in Leeds offer holiday package insurance covering playing ice hockey. There were no further questions. TREASURER S REPORT The Treasurer announced that we are predominately funded by the EIHA, the Rec Fest at Sheffield is paid for by the EIHA and the monies received for entrance fees for Rec Fest are to cover mainly administration and out of pocket expenses. The starting balance for September 2005 was 2, and the closing balance being 2, The Administrator has received approx 1,000 for out of pocket expenses including telephone, fax, postage etc. The cost of the room for this meeting to be paid for by the EIHA.

4 Our major payout being insurance, this taking the bulk of the 33, the rest helping with training and coaching throughout the EIHA programme. A lot of this not impacting on rec hockey but we do need to have coaches and officials. The rec section paying the least to register each player. There were no further questions. WEBSITE UPGRADE TONY WOOD Tony Wood reminded us that at last years AGM the question was asked "can registrations be achieved On-line?". With this in mind, various companies were contacted with the result being that the EIHA approved a sum of 2,500 to enhance the website. This was completed, and went live 1st September, with the help of Bespoke Internet a programming company and new site host. Tony continued by outlining some of the new functionality brought to the site. In that, when the appointed representatives from a team logged in, they could access any teams registered player list. This could then be downloaded and used to make sure that your opposition are icing only registered players. The onus for checking teams rosters is now on the team managers and not the game Officials. It was noted that this list will also show who must wear visors under IIHF rules due to their age. Once your teams photos have been entered onto the site, there is the functionality to print a Roster. This Online roster can be used instead of the Licence/Roster system currently in use. This year hopes to be the last for paper rosters as photographs and all the information will be available On-line. There was also a new page containing game scores. This page would be updated from the games sheets submitted by each club for official games. Game sheets still to be forwarded to Tony Wood, this was highlighted as many teams are not too hot on this and we will be enforcing this throughout the 06/07 season. There were some questions about registering players this year and Tony reminded everyone that the procedure was different this year due the site upgrades and that all new Applications should come to himself. Re-registrations can be done On-line by ticking the players you wish to reregister in the Player list and sending the cheque to Ron. Or by using the existing paper method. Tony also reminded everyone that Coaches and Officials registrations have to be fully processed before applying for a free Rec Player Licence. Tony further advised that although he had been looking into the possibility of clubs being able to make electronic payments for registration, this was unlikely to be possible until next year at the earliest.

5 REGISTRATION AND INSURANCE The Chairman confirmed that the registration fee remains at 33. Coaches paying 40 for coaches licence to get registration free to one club. The fee to join second club being 20. The 33 registration fee stays same whatever time of year a player joins. If a team has a member of the armed forces in their team, the respective force has to ask the relevant team manager permission for the person to play in the armed forces team. It was passed unanimously that the 33 registration fee be accepted. OFFICIATING AND DISCIPLINE Mr Alan Batchelder introduced himself and apologised for Mr Ashraffs absence. He explained the new rules being that the hockey stick is to be used to play the puck only and not hinder the opposing player by gaining an advantage by illegal means. Using volunteers he demonstrated the changes. Mr Batchelder suggested that local officials be invited to a teams scrimmage to explain the new rules would be helpful. The Chairman announced that if two teams arranged a scrimmage he would travel to the ice and explain the new rules. The representative from Chelmsford asked if an instructional video was available. Mr Batchelder explained that one was not available yet. The representative from Chelmsford Chargers asked whether we can ask local officials ourselves. The Chairman suggested that when a game is put on the website if an official had been approached by the home team and he agreed to referee the game then his game to be added to the notes section as an official willing to officiate the game. The Chairman added if, for some reason, officials did not turn up for a game, captains from each team or two players to officiate the game. As long as the game is logged on the website, insurance will be valid in case of injury. Also, a scrimmage can take place between two teams, not classed as a game, without officials as long as no game sheet and no clock are used. Also, there are no leagues in recreational ice hockey, just cup competitions. The IIHF state that recreational hockey cannot have a league, if they do, a team which has foreign nationals must have an ITC card to play in this country which costs 750 per player. Alan Batchelder on behalf of the EIHA Referees opened the floor to questions regarding officiating of which the following items are those that reached decisions. Alan explained that the level 1 course for linesmen, which lasts two years, is 40 each. If a team has a group willing to do a course to get in touch with the Chairman.

6 The Chairman announced that the up to date officials price list is on the EIHA rec website, with the maximum amount paid in a game is 137. The Chairman announced that it was not compulsory for the home team to offer refreshments to the officials. CHILD PROTECTION. The Chairman stated that players aged 18 and under are classed as minors. It was emphasised that this effectively meant under 19s are minors, as there had been some confusion in the past that minors were under 18s. As such when a game is played which involves a minor, both home and away teams must have a level 2 coach. Any level 2 coach, in the rink, could stand in. At training sessions involving minors a level 2 coach must be present. Mr Batchelder also stated that one man systems are now not allowed, but stated that if a two man system was allocated for a game and one official pulled out, the one official would be able to officiate the game as two were originally allocated. If there is a three man system, one official could be a minor, two man system both must be adults in case one is injured. CHAIRMANS CLOSING REMARKS The Chairman thanked everyone for attending the meeting. There being no further business the meeting closed at 3.15pm

ENGLISH ICE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION RECREATIONAL SECTION ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING MINUTES

ENGLISH ICE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION RECREATIONAL SECTION ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Date: Sunday 9 September 2007 Venue: Time: Glacier Suite, Ice Sheffield 1.45pm MINUTES PRESENT: Basingstoke Cougars, Bracknell