STAR SWORD CLUB MEETING MINUTES

• Meeting Type: EGM
• Date: 13th September 2007
• Start Time: 22:00
• Full Members in attendance:
  1. Peter Russell (Chairman)
  2. Helen Slee (Secretary)
  3. Christopher Powell (Treasurer)
  4. Hayley Porter (Soc. Secretary)
  5. Marisol Tailor
  6. Luis Santos
  7. Andrew McLeod
  8. Morwenna Perrot

Competitions

Tom Martin was elected as 'Competition Secretary'. The responsibilities of this position are:

• To promote upcoming competitions within the club
• To facilitate the distribution of entry forms
• To organise transport (car-sharing) and accommodation where appropriate
• To write competition reports for the website and local press.

Christopher Powell wished it to be recorded that he objected to this appointment.

Payment of Fees

Helen Slee proposed that fees be collect before the start of each session, in order to improve record keeping and avoid confusion. Proposal carried.

It was emphasised by the Chair that the monthly and annual fees should be promoted over 'visitor' payments.

Future Investments

It was decided that Star Sword Club should be looking to invest in:

• 3 full sets of electric foil kit
• A 2nd three weapon box
• 3 full sets of electric epee kit

These purchases will be facilitated through grants from the National Lottery, Millennium Stadium Charitable Trust, Welsh Sports Council and possibly external sponsorship.

September 2008 to April 2009

Chairman and Head Coach, Peter Russell will be leaving Cardiff for at least six months to train as a teacher at Bristol. It was proposed that in addition to the level one coaches, at least one individual should be trained up to the minimum of level 2 in order to ensure the club continues to progress in his absence. The duties of this individual would include:

• Coaching both class and individual lessons for the entirety of each session.
• Answering enquiries from the public
• Promoting and running a Beginners' Course
• Dealing with the major administrative elements of the club

These duties may be divide between a number of individuals, but responsibility for their completition rests with the selected individual.

It was agreed that no further action should be taken until December, when the current trainee coaches will be qualified to level 1 standard.

Coach Education

Between October and December the club will be running a series of coach education sessions. Those who are interested in taking part, either to work towards a qualification, or to benefit from additional tuition, should contact Peter Russell. The Welsh Fencing assessment will be on the 1st of December.

Club Structure

The current general structure of lessons was deemed satisfactory.

The idea of an additional Tuesday session with no coaching, was considered unwarranted at present.

It was proposed that the session start time should become more strict. The Chair brought to the attention of the meeting that around 20 minutes of each lesson were wasted waiting for people to get changed or pay fees. It was proposed that members should ensure they arrive with time to change before the session, and from now on the session would begin at 7:30 exactly.

The Chair took this opportunity to remind the meeting that the warm-up is not optional, even for experienced fencers.

Inter-Club Matches

The Chair congratulated the team on their recent victory over Gwent, but reminded that meeting that matches are intended to allow less experienced fencers the oppertunity to try out their skills in a competitive environment. As such less experienced fencers would be given priority when selecting teams in future.

Coaching Expenses/Fees

The following decisions were proposed and carried by the members:

• The head coach should receive £10.00 per session.
• Any level 1 coach making an official contribution to the sessions (e.g. taking a separate Beginner Class) should be exempt from fees that week. Should they pay monthly/annually they should be proportionally reimbursed,
• In the event that the head coach should be absent, all his responsibilities are transferred to the next most senior coach. As such they are due the £10.00 fee. It should be noted that this individual is expected to act as head coach, co-ordinating the session and coaching both class and individual lessons for its entirety.
• Coaching fees are only payable on the condition that the club continues to be financially self-sufficient.

Next Meeting

The next official meeting will be the Star Sword Club AGM in February. For information about the AGM, or in calling a meeting prior to it, please refer to our constitution here.

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STAR SWORD CLUB MEETING MINUTES

• Meeting Type: EGM
• Date: 19th April 2007
• Start Time: 22:10
• Members in attendance:
  1. Peter Russell (Chairman)
  2. Helen Slee (Secretary)
  3. Christopher Powell (Treasurer)
  4. Hayley Porter (Soc. Secretary)
  5. Thomas Martin
  6. Luis Santos
  7. Stuart Kelly

Monthly Membership Rates

Monthly membership rate of £13 for adults and £9 for children proposed by the Chair. Motion carried.

Annual Membership Rates

Annual membership rate of £140 for adults and £100 for children proposed by the Chair. Motion carried.

Visitor Fees

Visitor fees of £4 for adults and £3 for children per session proposed by the Chair. Motion carried.

Additional visitor kit hire charge of 50p per session proposed by Secretary. Motion carried.

Date for Social

Social Secretary proposed provisional date of the 12th of May for the next Star Sword Club Social.

Integration with the Cardiff Fencing Community

Ways of moving towards greater integration within the Cardiff Fencing community discussed. Proposed action:

• Start a league with matches organised with all local clubs
• Encourage members to train at other Cardiff venues
• Provide coaching at other Cardiff clubs
• Encourage comeptitive fencers to train with Star Sword

Club Closed Competition

Star Sword closed competition suggested by Chair. Provisional date of the 20th of October proposed.

Consessionary Rates

The secretary proposed the following criteria for members to apply for consessionary rates:

• Under 16 years of age
• In full time education
• An active officer of Star Sword Club

It was also proposed that the chair could grant exemption from fees to individuals who contributed towards coaching during a particular session. Motion carried.

Meeting Closed: 22:51

Minutes by Helen Slee