UYVC Committee Meeting
26th September 2006

In attendance: Ben Brown, Nick Villani, Charmain Heah, Matt Bianco, Sunny Kuok

Meeting open: 11.05

1. Finance

Ben highlighted changes to the financial procedures of the AU in the coming academic year. Transport costs will now be taken out of a central budget, so the club need not worry about budgeting for transport. However this means the club is allocated with less money to spend, hence when term starts club membership fees should be obtained quickly for capital.

1a. Equipment

Equipment bought over the summer—6 balls in a bag, net with pair of antennae
Outdoor ball has been budgeted for but not yet bought

ACTION: Nick and Charmain to sign claim form and bring it to the AU office for Ben to be reimbursed for payment of equipment

1b. Sponsorship

Matt brought up the possibility of a monetary sponsorship from a pub/company, which could then help pay for hiring an external coach. Ben pointed out that a suitable external coach would be difficult to find, and the club would expect to pay about £40 a week over a 30-week season. Everyone agreed that sponsorship is not immediately feasible but can be further explored in the future.

1c. Closing of the External Bank Account

The AU has mandated closure of all external bank accounts held by its clubs.

ACTION: Nick to go to NatWest to find out how to close the account.
ACTION: Ben and Nick then to act as signatories to close the account, and obtain proof that the account has been closed.

1d. Internal Bank Account

ACTION: Nick to find out the balance of the account
ACTION: Nick to find signatory list and add one extra signatory to the list once the mens’/womens’ captains have been nominated or the full committee has been finalised
ACTION: Nick to produce a spreadsheet that works as a balance sheet, broken down by month
ACTION: Ben to email Nick the budget sheet

1e. EVA Affiliation

ACTION: Nick to check that the cheque sent by Ben has not been cashed

2. Training

2a. Fees

Membership Fees:
The membership fees for joining the UYVC are as follows:
£15/ club member
£5 for a term’s membership only
Membership for more than a term will be subject to the full fee of £15

Match Fees:
£1.50/team member for home games
£3.00/team member for away games
These fees are to offset costs of court rental/referee charges, etc. and are to be paid by every member of the team. It is the responsibility of the team captains to collect these fees BEFORE each match and give it to Nick.

Other Fees:
AU membership: £15/year
Sports centre membership: £25/year
In order to train with the club, all UYVC members must also be members of the sports centre and the AU. Sign-up for both the AU and sports centre can now be done online, at the same time.

2b. Sessions

For the first 2 terms, the club will train on a single court on Mondays from 6-10pm, and on Thursdays from 5.30-7.30pm on two courts. For the first Monday of term 1, the women will train from 6-8 and the men, from 8-10. In subsequent weeks women’s training is from 6-7.30, followed by a beginners’ session from 7.30-8.30, and then by men’s training from 8.30 to 10. All sessions will take place in the tent. Ben has taken action to email the AU president about the possibility of training in the main hall, but nothing has been done by the AU.

2c. Coaching

Ben has made himself available from 6-10 on the first training of term, and will also be happy to continue coaching men’s sessions. Charmain suggested that the women’s team will wait and see if an experienced player can assume a coach’s position. Ben also said he might be willing to help out with women’s training if he is free/able to do so. There were suggestions that the men’s team might benefit from having two coaches, but no definite decision was made on this.

2d. Beginners

Fees for beginners:
£5 to become a member
£1 per session
Alternatively, beginners can just join as full members if they intend to stay with the club for more than a term. The club aims to move beginners into the main sessions.
Week 2 beginners’ session will be for everyone at £1 each for the session, and there will be no need to join the club as yet.
Ben said he would like to see current members volunteering to help out and coach at the beginners’ sessions. This will help develop some coaching skills, as well as facilitate beginners’ training.

2e. AU Mart

The AU mart will be held on Saturday Week 1 (14th Oct) in conjunction with freshers’ fair. The club will have 1 table and 1 board in the sports centre. A sign-up list will be provided by the AU.

ACTION: Charmain to produce small flyers with training times and the web address
ACTION: Ben to email Charmain last year’s flyers
ACTION: Charmain to be in charge of the display board

2f. Elections

Elections are to be held for the following positions: Men’s/Women’s team captains, webmaster, ordinary member, social rep.
They will take place on Thursday, week 2.
Charmain suggested that the election for ordinary member should be moved to a slightly later date so that newcomers who might want to run have more time to make themselves familiar to everyone in the club. Hence it was agreed that the election for ordinary member will be moved to Monday, week 3.

2g. Socials

Ben suggested going to a campus bar on Thursday week 1, after training. There should also be a start-of-term social in week 3.

ACTION: Matt to think about the start-of-term social

2h. Website

The website has now been upgraded and everyone should sign up on the website, as well as subscribe to the mailing lists/email lists used by the club. The club is still getting £10/month from Kitlocker.com for placing its advert on the site. Ben has invoiced his payment for the website’s hosting for a year.

ACTION: Nick to write Ben a cheque for £48.00

2i. Members’ List

ACTION: Charmain to create and update a spreadsheet of members’ names, email addresses, college, contact numbers and also indicate if they have paid for AU/club/sports centre membership.

3. AU Charity Calendar

The AU is producing a charity calendar and has asked the club if it would like to be on one of the months. Everyone to think of ideas for the photograph.

4. BUSA Player Affiliation

BUSA has mandated that all who play in its league must be affiliated to it, and people cannot play unless registered. The affiliation card costs £4 and must be paid for by players because the club has not budgeted for it. Players must also provide a passport photo of themselves. The form must be submitted by 20th October. The team captains will keep the cards and bring them along to every BUSA match.

5. Matches

Week 2: women play at home, men play away in Newcastle
The sports centre has given an extension till 8pm on Wednesdays, so home games can be scheduled at a later time, allowing more people to make themselves available for games.

Meeting closed: 13.00