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Minutes - BOTSC 2011 Annual General Meeting

Queens Head, November 20th , 2011

The following minutes are unapproved. If you were at the meeting and you believe changes are required, please email them to The Cub Secretary ((Ariel Minelli)).

 

1. Meeting Called to Order 12:01 p.m.

 

2. Review Minutes from the 2010 AGM

3. President’s Report – Brian McLaughlin

The year 2011 is best characterized by a year of changes and challenges.  We continue with some growing pains as a twelve team league.  We added St. John’s Ambulance to promote a safer environment for our club members.  Peter Barrett began the Master’s Division.  Our waiting list was stretched to the limit for the first time ever.  We added some new referees to bolster our club.  We had our very first 80 year old playing member this year and the celebration of Lucien Jooris will carry on for some time.

St. John’s Ambulance
The addition of St. John’s Ambulance was a very positive step for the BOTSC.  We have a group of executive members to thank for this initiative – particularly Les Takacs.  They were kept quite busy throughout the year with a lot of minor player injuries.  Fortunately, they weren’t needed for anything too serious.  It was a comfort to know that, if needed, help was only a few steps away.

Master’s Division
Peter Barrett did a wonderful job of proposing and then organizing this group. Games were played on Thursday mornings by members of the club who were 55 years of age and older.  It turned out to be a throwback for players, as they got to play a game with no referee and common understanding of the rules.  From all accounts, this was a great success.

Social
Our social activities were not as well received as they have been in the past.  I’ll let our social convener elaborate.  Suffice to say, we have strong desire to bring back a stronger social aspect to the club.

Charity
As a club are a club we promote charity.  We donated to St. John’s Ambulance and the Burlington food bank again this year.  And, in a show of spontaneous generosity at awards night, we gathered $750 for the family of a young man with cancer.  That gesture alone, made me proud to be a member of this club.

Club Spirit
The topic of club spirit is one very near and dear to me.  As I look around this room, I see a lot of friends – except the ones who piss me off, they are more like family.  I’ve been with this club for 11 years this year and I have to admit, a lot has changed.  We have certainly faced some obstacles.  I hear a lot of calls to go backwards to find the answers.  I’m not a believer in going backwards.  Our greatest strength is our membership.  As a club, we function better when every member takes an interest in the club.  And we have an exceptional group of people in our midst.  I feel that the task at hand is to reinvent our club.  We need to use the past as a guide.  The spirit of our club has traditionally been one of camaraderie.  We need to find a way to strengthen that bond in a changed environment.  We need to reinvent our thinking.  We need new ideas – fresh ideas – to rekindle the passion of our membership.  As we welcome new members, it’s the responsibility of every member to introduce those new members to the BOTSC way of life.  We have always governed our own actions on the field – when a player steps outside the acceptable, as teammates and as friends, we would draw them back in and tell them that our club doesn’t operate like other soccer clubs.  Peter Barrett’s vision of a group of guys going out onto a field for a pickup game on Thursday morning needs to be our focus on Sunday.  We need more people with Peter’s vision to step forward and make our club better by addition rather than subtraction.  It can be our view of the past that guides us – but, it needs to be our vision for the future that carries us forward.

Personal thanks
As I finish my final term as club president, I have a great number of people to thank.  First and foremost are the members of the executive.  Without their commitment and dedication, we could not achieve the lofty ambitions of running this club.  I’d like to thank the many, many volunteers who help us tirelessly and anonymously throughout the year.  Mostly, I’d like to thank you – the membership – for your support and encouragement over the past two years.  I have stated on many occasions that I believe it is the responsibility of every member to take an active role in the promotion of our club.  Whether it’s serving on the executive, working as a volunteer or simply promoting the BOTSC to other club members, family and friends, all of us are a part of this club.  It’s our similar passion for the sport we love that brings us together each week, but, the true splendour of our club is the variety we find in the differences in each of us.

4. Financial Report for 2011 – Roy Tomaney

5. Social Conveners Report – Ian McRorie

6. Discipline Chairman’s Report – Chris Lynch

7. Changes to the Constitution

Proposal for change to By-Law 20 put forward by Nick Hopwood, seconded by Chris Lynch

  • Addition to BY Law 20 Item “C”: Any player who has failed to communicate his absence to his convener for 4 consecutive games will be deemed to have resigned from the club. The responsible Convener will then be able to request a replacement player from the waiting list.
  • This proposal was discussed, put to a vote and was carried.

Proposal to change By-Law 2 (B) from Bryan Clarke, seconded Phil   Williams

  • From: All Club members registered in the previous playing year, who, since their registration, have participated in at least 60% of the scheduled games,shall have the right to be included in the player draft for the current year. Players who fail the 60% attendance rule during the current playing season shall have their membership terminated, subject to a review by the Executive Committee.
  • TO: All Club members registered in the previous playing year have the right to be a playing member in the current year, providing they participated in 60% of the previous year's games and still meet by-law 1(a) requirements or at
    the discretion of the Executive Committee. It is a requirement that they register by the date specified by the Registration Committee for registration.
  • - This motion was discussed, put to a vote and was carried

Proposed from Roger Knight for Constitutional Additions, seconded Dave Hammon

  • Article 2: Aims and objectives
    • To establish transparency of day to day club business by allowing all playing members in good standing to attend regular club executive meetings but who will not be allowed to take part in the meeting unless with the express invitation of the executive. In the event of a need for privacy the club president shall have the option to close the meeting to all none executive members.
    • This motion was discussed, put to a vote and was carried

Article 7: Appointed positions – proposal withdrawn

    • The Discipline Committee Chairman shall not be a club game official.

Proposal from Murray De Pape for Constitutional Additions to By Law 20 “C”, seconded Dave Hamon

    • It is a player’s responsibility to attend scheduled games. A player that misses 8 games over the regular season will be eligible for replacement by the Convener. The registered player would also become ineligible for next seasons draft. - This motion was discussed, put to a vote and was carried
    • A registered player will be considered a “no show” when they do not attend a scheduled game regardless of circumstance or notice given. An injured player that attends the game but does not play has demonstrated commitment to the team and club and will not be considered a “no show” - This motion was discussed, put to a vote and was carried
    • Any player removed from the league for missing 8 games can participate in the BOTSC in future seasons and while they will be considered a returning player they will be placed at the bottom of the waiting list. - This motion was discussed, put to a vote and was carried
    • Once a registered player has missed 7 games they have the option to resign prior to the 8th game in order to be eligible with priority for next seasons draft. - This motion was discussed, put to a vote and was carried

7. Nominations for Executive Positions

8. Annual Positions

9. Appointed Positions

10. New Business

Motions put forward by Les Takacs, seconded Cid Pietrantonio

  • Motion to reduce the number of teams in the BOTSC from 12 to 10 effective in the 2012 season. – This motion was discussed, put to a vote and was – Amended to say that the final decision on the number of teams and players will be the responsibility of the executive based on registration.
  • Motion to increase the number of players per team from 17 to 18 – decision as above
  • Motion to eliminate the purchase and supply of new uniforms each year moving instead to a pool of uniforms that would be replaced every few years as needed. – This motion was discussed, put to a vote and was defeated

Motion from Ariel Minelli, seconded Peter Hawley

  • Motion to make every game count and for the club to ensure that a qualified referee and linesmen are at every game. - This motion was discussed, put to a vote and was defeated.
  • Motion to establish a process within the executive to review performance of the referees at all club games. This motion was discussed, put to a vote and was carried.

Motion from Bryan Clarke, seconded Ian McRorie

  • Motion to create a new position on the Executive “Masters Convener” responsible for managing of the Masters Division within the BOTSC. - This motion was discussed, put to a vote and was carried
  •  Bryan Clarke nominates Peter Barrett for this position, seconded by Brian McLaughlin – This nomination was discussed, put to a vote and was carried

New Business from Dave Hamon, seconded Rowly MacPherson

  • Would like the executive to consider reformatting the playoffs to shorten it by 2 games. The main reason is that this club is about fun and the playoffs take away from that. – This was discussed and put to a vote and was carried.

New Business from Dave Hamon, seconded Ariel Minelli

  • Would like the executive to support shortening the season to end at
  • thanksgiving in October – this was put to a vote and was defeated

New Business from Bryan Clarke

  • regarding the possible need for increased registration fees due to the cost of artificial turf that we may get forced into by the City of Burlington. Some discussion that considering the average age of our players artificial turf fields are not the best for us physically.

New Business from Brian McLaughlin

  • Fees for the Senior players should be increased from $87.50 to $100 to show a proportionate increase to the rest of the league.

11. Meeting Closed