Minutes of Previous Meeting:
Approved with no changes.
 

 

Matters Arising:
Mike tendered apologies to Harry Parkinson for the non delivery of The Clements Cup during the year.

 

Report - Chairman - Robin Clements:

Robin opened by thanking the committee for their time in helping to run the League and County. Additionally for time spent on the film day with 20/20 film on Saturday 19th by Cathy and Denis. The committee are all volunteers who freely give their time to run the game in Leicestershire.
 

Thanks also to George Parker and Simon Herbert for the excellent exhibition match.

 

During the year we lost Ted Garret (Leicester Road Hinckley) died after a long fight with cancer and Tom Ellis (Cleaver) only 25, was murdered in Nuneaton. A tragic waste of a young life.

 

The meeting observed one minutes silence in honour of their lives.

 

Cleaver Squash had suffered their 2nd flood due to the river overflowing its banks and coming up through the floor. The County gave £1000 to their crowd funding page to assist in repairs and prevention work being undertaken. We also know several individuals gave donations to save this long standing league club.

 

The County decided to proceed with the venture to showcase squash and racquetball. 20/20 films were hired to create snapshot presentations for inclusion on our new website. The filming took place at Hinckley Squash and we are indebted to them for their generous gesture in allowing us to use their club on Saturday 10th August.
 

The finished film will soon be up and running for everyone to see and use.

The new website will contain club pages for each club to advertise itself.

 

Pauline Young (Charnwood) received "An unsung Hero" award from England Squash for her work encouraging and developing Women's Squash.

 

It is hoped the inclusion of Squash into the Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles will give a boost to playing numbers. Leicestershire will be keen to make use of this increase. After Squash was shown during the Commonwealth games there was a spike of over 30% in playing numbers which E.S. failed to take advantage of. We expect the same result from our N.G.B. with the Olympics.

Report - Treasurer - Gary Hill:
Gary gave his usual detailed report of  our finances. Copies of the accounts had been circulated prior to the meeting and were accepted with no question.

 

The annual fees were increased to £25 per team.

 

Report - I.T. Administrator - Denis Husband - Wayne Carlisle:

 

Denis is away on holiday.

Wayne gave an outline of the progress made with the both the website and filming. This was slightly curtailed as most of it is still a work in progress. We hope to have it all up and running before the season starts.
 

Malc Young asked for more clarity as some of the previous content is duplicated and contradictory.

 

Report - Competitions Manager - Ollie Wood:

Ollie confirmed we were continuing with the graded County Competitions. Both Mike and Ollie appealed for more communication to club members to increase the numbers competing. Posters will be sent out soon, please display them and spread the word by mouth to team captains.
 

This years competitions will be at Leicestershire Tennis over 6th to 8th September. It is hoped there will be more entries. 

 

Report - Junior Chair - Cathy Brown:

It has been a steady 12 months for junior squash in the county. We continue to use the Aspire regional training programme to provide additional training. All juniors welcome  to try this next step in the playing/stroke coaching pathway.
 

Jackson Bowden, Bella Gokani, Grace Brown and Khia Gokani represented the East Midlands in May's Regional competition.
 

Cath is happy to help clubs set up Junior coaching schemes and assist with the Bronze and Copper E.S. competitions.
 

In the junior intercounty weekend we entered both girls and boys U13 teams and qualified for the finals in Sheffield. The boys finished 3rd in the country and the girls 7th. 
 

A special mention for Alfie Holding who was Leicestershire's player of the weekend showing amusing grit and determinations beating players ranked significantly higher than him. All players worked hard and represented Leicestershire impeccably.

 

Winners of the Junior closed champions held at Market Harborough. 

Boys U13 Finley Brown - U15 Jackson Bowden - U17 Harry Parkinson - U19 Harry Parkinson.

Girls U13 Bella Gokani - U19 Bella Gokani.
 

Next seasons Junior closed will again be at Market Harborough on either 21st/22nd September. Date to be confirmed.

 

Achievements -  Oscar Brown selected to play for England in the Home Internationals.

Oscar Brown ranked no 1 Boys U13

Finley Brown ranked 4 Boys U13

Bella Gokani ranked 1 Girls U13

Grace Brown ranked 10 Girls U13

Khia Gokani ranked 3 Girls U11.

 

Team Manager Report - Rachel Calver:

Last season we did not enter  a Men's team due to non-availability of usual players

 

The Ladies played in Division 2 and qualified for the finals in Nottingham.

We stayed in Division 1 as opposed to our usual yo-yoing between Divisions 1 and 2.

 

Racquetball - Andy Beel:

In March the second County Competition took place at Hinckley Squash. The competitions were graded and hailed as a success by all who played in them. Succeeding Ali Much as County Champion was James Bowden The League was formed and successfully played its inaugural season.

 

Andy was aware that most of the Racquetball has been centred around Hinckley Squash club and is happy to use a different club if one steps forward. The next Inter-County competition is in June and again we will enter a team. 
 

Entries to the 2024/25 season are being held open for another week to give clubs chance to enter. We so far have 8 teams forming the league.

 

Report - Secretary - Mike Blasdale:
 

Division 1 and 2 teams responded brilliantly to the flooding crisis at Cleaver. Many thanks for their assistance with the rearranged fixtures, which were all completed. Also many thanks to the individuals and clubs for their participation in the crowd funding appeal to help Cleaver with their rebuilding costs.

 

The Coaching fund offered by the County was taken up by Charnwood and Leicester Squash. Both these clubs had enjoyed success and seen an increase in players, both new and returning players.
 

The committee are willing to extend the coaching fund and listen new requests for the coming season. The requirements are a well thought out proposal is needed. Any club unsure how to proceed should contact Malcolm Young of Charnwood and he will be able to help.
 

It was pointed out the committee will not pay for actual coaching as we believe the participations should contribute to that, but we will assist in helping to finance other areas to increase player recruitment.

 

Mike pointed out that all information sent to Club Secretaries is for all players to be aware of. If they don't spread it round their clubs then their players remain in the dark about events taking place. Please be more pro-active.

 

Rules of the League:

The new rules are included in the schedules issued to all clubs at this A.G.M. and form part of the minutes of this meeting. They were unanimously approved.

 

Presentation's : Robin made the presentations to the winning secretaries

 

Division 1	Rugby Stags
Division 2	Market Harborough 2
Division 3	Rugby Stags 2
Division 4	Market Harborough 3

Division 1	Leicester Squash 2	9.00
Division 2	Hinckley Squash 2	7.89
Division 3	Leicestershire Tennis 2	7.89
Division 4	Hinckley Squash 4	8.67
Division 5	David Lloyd 5	8.09
Overall Winner	Leicester Squash 2	9.00

 

 

The Handicap Cup  - 

Winners this year were Mike's Marvels who beat New Parks 1 before a wonderfully large and noisy crowd enthusiastically appreciating the squash on show.

 

Once more there was a slow take up of entry to this free competition. Mike pointed out it gives lower ranked sides the opportunity to play teams they would not otherwise play.
 

Ollie stated that higher ranked players giving away massive handicap differences have to adjust their style of play and gives them a stern test of squash.

 

The Robin Clements Cup 

Oscar Brown (Hinckley) has made tremendous progress this year and is the winner. 

 

League Structure

The 2024/25 season leagues were sent out in early August for each club to view.
 

No club is worse off than it should have expected and there is little scope to change the divisions if any in fact.
 

The league starts on Sunday 15th September 2024. This is very tight for getting the fixtures loaded onto the system. Therefore, if this has not happened please use the fixtures lists sent out to each club on Mike's Excel spreadsheets.
 

Loughborough Students have been promoted to Division 1 and have switched their home night to Tuesday as required by the league. Due to term time and examinations some fixtures will be crammed into a much shorter time frame than usual. Please make sure you read the fixtures properly as there is little room for manoeuvre.

 

We welcome back Huncote Leisure who will be using The Red Lion for refreshments.

 

Election of Officers:

The much needed Media initiative has been started and the man at the helm is Wayne Carlisle of New Parks. 
 

The other existing Committee members were re-elected for another year.

 

A.O.B.

The new England Squash membership scheme will launch in 1 weeks time.
 

It appears they are reducing the court cost per club but then asking every player to become a member and pay up to £25 for dubious benefits. 
 

Leicestershire will not force players to become members to play in our league. We recommend that players join but in the non-paying category. This will allow them to receive information without cost, but would not give them the Public Liability Insurance cover.
 

If a player wishes to join in a paying scheme that is fine we would not discourage them,

but we will not force them to pay. 

County and Masters players will undoubtedly have to join the most expensive category. If E.S. could encourage people to play squash and increase the participation figures then we would be prepared to make a contribution. As it is we are making our own efforts to increase numbers by investing our money into the sport. We cannot do this and support a lame-duck National Committee.

 

The Loan System is still not being used for its proper purpose. Teams are using it to strengthen their sides not select a like for like player to give them a full side. If this continues we shall look to abandon the scheme or only allow players to play in position 5.

 

Charnwood had experienced difficulties in using the Aspire system for juniors. It was noted than Dan McGinn the regional coach whilst being an excellent coach lacks organisational skills. They were advised to utilize Cath Brown to get access.

 

Ladies Squash:

The committee were quizzed on why there was no representation or contact information available for Ladies League squash. The reason was that the lady who had been running it wanted no help and said she did not require our assistance. 
 

It was noted that Laura Holding had recently taken over as Chair and was keen to  reconnect with the main County. Mike offered any assistance necessary. Heath Jennings insisted Ladies Squash was a vital part of the game and all clubs should do everything they can to increase numbers playing.
 

Malcolm Young was frustrated that information was not on the Web-site. This will be included on the new version being currently worked on.

 

The coming season has only 5 teams. Teams are 4 lady strong and will play on Mondays at 7 a.m. Any clubs able to enter a team are encouraged to do so. Contact either Laura or Richard Holding. Cath Brown and Mike Blasdale will also field enquiries if needed. This is a very fun and social league with help and encouragement freely offered to all participants.

 

Hinckley Squash hosted a Challenger Event at the end of the season. Some fabulous squash was presented and Tim Solley deserves much praise for his endeavour. They hope to have a similar event next year. Well worth supporting.

 

On the Inter-National arena George Parker is currently ranked 34 in the world and at 58 is Simon (JJ) Herbert. 

 

Thanks to the committee were generously received from the floor.

 

The meeting closed at  8-55 p. m.