Minutes of the
Annual General Meeting 24 November 2007
New
South Wales Chess Association Inc.
Meeting:
The Meeting
was held at the Rooty Hill RSL Club, 55 Sherbrooke Street,
Rooty Hill commencing at 2.30pm.
Present
Council
Members: Bill
Gletsos, Norman Greenwood, Peter
Cassettari, Keith Farrell, Tom Accola, Shane Burgess and Jason Hu.
Other
Members: Brian
Jones, Alfred Flatow, Johnny Bolens,
Joshua Christensen, Tony Baldwin, Daniel Bell, Robert Keast, Martin van
Elmpt,
Peter Parr, Phil Bourke, Robert Ambalong, Levi Descallar and Lorenzo
Escalante.
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In
Attendance: Matthew
Sweeney, non-member as an
observer.
1. Welcome and Apologies
Bill
Gletsos as President and Chairman
declared the Meeting open at 2.35pm
and welcomed Members to the Meeting.
Apologies
for non-attendance were received
from Richard Gastineau-Hills, Steve Carratt, Brett Tindall, Patrick
Keuning and
Laura Moylan.
2.
Confirmation of the Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting
The
Minutes of the 2006 Annual General
Meeting were available at the Meeting and had been on the NSWCA website
for
almost twelve months.
Motion:
That the
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held
on 26 November 2006 be accepted and signed as a correct and true record
(Moved Shane
Burgess, seconded Peter Cassettari) Carried.
3.
President’s Report
Bill
Gletsos gave a verbal Presidential
Report. He highlighted the following matters.
Finances
The main matter
to report was the turnaround in finances in that for the 2006 year a loss of $11,000
after
equipment write down of $1,700 had been incurred, whilst for the 2007
year the
result is a loss of $3,443 after equipment write down of $1,664.
Losses on
tournaments for 2007 was approximately $2,600, but tournaments since
the end of
the financial year comprising the State Championships and the
Ryde-Eastwood
Open showed slight profits
Membership
Membership
numbers had decreased this year.
Tournaments
The Teams
Challenge tournaments were well received by players. Consideration will
be
given to running more rapid play events. There may be too many
tournaments in a
short space of time e.g. SIO, Doeberl, May Weekender. There appears to
be no
support for the 9 week competition at weekends.
The NSW Open
held at Parramatta
this year was a breakeven situation as the players increased over the
previous
year when it was held at Hakoah.
The Council is
endeavouring to organize budgets so as not to incur losses on
tournaments.
Sponsorship was
received this year for the State Championships and there may be more
next year
In regard to
Grade Matches the numbers were down for 2007. The problem seems to be
that
players do not wish to travel. The idea of dividing the competition
into zones
is difficult because of the numbers.
Newsletter
The ongoing
publication of the Newsletter has increased costs without any benefit
and it is
proposed that the Newsletter will be replaced by a one page Information
Sheet
Appreciation and
Thanks
Bill Gletsos
thanked all Council Members for their work and effort during the year.
4.
Treasurer’s
Report
The Financial Report comprising the
Statement of Financial Position at 31 July 2007
(Balance Sheet) and Statement of Financial
Performance for the year ended 31 July 2007
(Statement of Income & Expenditure) and the Report by
the independent Auditor thereon had been circulated to Members present.
The
Report showed that the Association had incurred a loss for the year of
$3,443 as
compared to incurring a loss of $11,248 for the previous year. The loss
from
tournaments was about $2,600.
Norman commented that the commitment for category
prizes may decrease.
Brian Jones queried the amount in the
balance sheet of $300 for Grand Prix Fees Prepaid and was advised that
the fees
were in respect to tournaments to take place in the 2007-2008 financial
year.
Motion:
That the
Treasurer’s Report be accepted (Moved Jason
Hu, seconded Keith Farrell) Carried.
5.
Other Office Bearers’ Reports
Registrar’s
Report
The
Registrar reported that the Membership had
fallen from 375 to 303, but expected to finish the year about 35
members less
than the previous year.
In regard to the Grade Match competition,
fees were still owing for some players, but their respective Clubs were
following up the matter.
Country
Representative’s Report
Keith
Farrell reported that the 2007
Country Champion is Alan Tankel. The number of players in the
Championship competition
were down as compared to the previous year. Blayney and Bathurst
had become more active Clubs.
6.
Determination of Annual Membership and Club Affiliation Fees for 2006
The President advised that the Council had
considered introducing three year and five year memberships at
discounted rates
for the standard and concession memberships, but not for country
membership.
The proposed fees structure is as follows.
3 years
5 years
Standard
68.00
106.00
Concession
54.00
85.00
The
discount was effectively 10% for three
years and 15% for 5 years.
Peter
Parr pointed out that 28 years ago
the membership fee was $25 and by introducing discounted three and five
year
fees, the overall income of the Association will be less. Bill Gletsos
responded
that the reduced membership fees may lead to more members. It could be
decided
next year to raise the standard fee to $30.
Fred Flatow proposed there be a vote to
increase all fees by $5. Bob Keast responded that if membership is down
by 30
players, more may be lost because of the increase in fees.
Peter Parr commented that in 1975
membership was 700 and there were 500 members playing in the Grade
Matches.
Also, NSWCA provides rating services for no charge. He considered that
all
people who play chess should pay a fee to have their games rated. At
present
people play and do not pay. He suggested a basic charge of $10 to
non-members
to have their games rated. Brian Jones raised the point of enforcing
the rating
fee. It could be enforced through the Clubs in that any Club which
wanted its
Club Championships or other tournaments rated should ensure that all
players are
members of NSWCA or they pay the rating fee of $10. Peter Parr
reiterated that
there should not be a free service for non-members. Bill Gletsos
suggested that
the fee of $10 be a non-voting fee. Shane Burgess commented that the
additional
fee could place a strain on Clubs.
Peter Cassettari advised that Council had
under consideration to increase the Rating Fee to 30c, the additional
5c to be
paid to NSWCA as a rating fee.
Motion:
That the
Membership Fees and Affiliation Fees be
increased to $30, Concession Fee remain at $20, an Associate member
(rating
only) fee of $10 with no voting rights to be charged for players in non
NSWCA
events such as Club normal and rapid tournaments who are not members of
the
NSWCA and the Country Membership Fee remain at $10 (Moved
Peter Cassettari, seconded Fred Flatow)
Carried with one against and four
abstaining.
Peter
Cassettari commented that the idea of
multiple year membership be scrapped.
It
was noted that a list of members should
be maintained on the website in order that Clubs can check the status
of their
members.
7. Election
of Office Bearers for 2008
It was agreed that Bill Gletsos remain in
the Chair.
President
– Bill
Gletsos (Proposed Shane Burgess, seconded Peter
Cassettari) Carried.
Vice-President
– Jason
Hu (Proposed Shane Burgess, seconded Norman
Greenwood)
Peter
Parr (Proposed Johnny Bolens, seconded Robert Ambalong)
The voting was 11
in favour of Jason Hu, 5 in favour of Peter Parr and
there were 4
abstentions.
Jason Hu was duly
elected as Vice-President.
Treasurer
– Norman
Greenwood (Proposed Peter Cassettari, seconded
Jason Hu) Carried
Secretary-
Tom Accola
(Proposed Robert Keast, seconded Peter
Cassettari) Carried
Registrar
– Peter
Cassettari (Proposed Robert Keast, seconded
Shane Burgess) Carried.
Ratings
Officer – Patrick
Keuning (Proposed Keith Farrell,
seconded Shane Burgess)
Carried.
Webmaster
– Martin
van Elmpt (Proposed Tom Accola, seconded Norman
Greenwood) Carried.
Tournaments
Officer – Shane
Burgess (Proposed Tom Accola,
seconded Joshua Christensen) Carried.
Communications
Officer – Laura
Moylan (Proposed Jason Hu, seconded
Keith Farrell) Carried.
Publicity
Officer – Trent
Parker (Proposed Shane Burgess,
seconded Joshua Christensen)
- Peter
Parr (Proposed Peter Cassettari,
seconded Johnny Bolens)
The voting was 13 in favour of Peter Parr, 4
in favour of Trent Parker
and there were 3 abstentions.
Peter
Parr was duly elected Publicity
Officer.
Club
Liaison Officer – Trent Parker (Proposed Shane
Burgess, seconded Johnny Bolens)
Carried.
Country
Representative – Keith
Farrell (Proposed Norman
Greenwood, seconded Shane Burgess) Carried.
Member
Without Portfolio – Brett Tindall (Proposed Shane
Burgess, seconded Jason Hu)
Phil Bourke (Proposed
Brian Jones, seconded Keith Farrell)
The voting was 8 in favour
of Brett Tindall, 6 in favour of Phil
Bourke and there were 6 abstentions.
Brett Tindall was duly elected Member Without
Portfolio.
8.
Appointment of Auditor
Motion:
That Ross
A Hamilton, Chartered Accountant be
appointed Auditor for the ensuing year (Proposed Peter Cassettari,
seconded Shane
Burgess) Carried.
9. Appointment
of Appeals Committee
The following nominations for the Appeals
Committee in regard to the Laws of Chess were made.
Bill
Gletsos (Proposed Shane Burgess,
seconded Robert Keast) 14 votes.
Robert
Keast (Proposed Shane Burgess,
seconded Norman Greenwood) 14 votes.
Richard
Gastineau-Hills (Proposed Peter
Cassettari, seconded Norman Greenwood) 12 votes.
Alternates -
Shane
Burgess (Proposed Tom Accola,
seconded Joshua Christensen)12 votes.
Johnny
Bolens (Proposed Brian Jones,
seconded Phil Bourke) 3 votes
Robert
Ambalong (Proposed Lorenzo
Escalante, seconded Peter Cassettari) 10 votes
Jason
Hu (Proposed Shane Burgess, seconded
Phil Bourke) 10 votes
Bill
Gletsos announced a tie between Jason
Hu and Robert Ambalong and another vote was taken which resulted in a
tie of 10
votes each. With agreement of the Meeting, a coin was tossed and Jason
Hu won
the toss.
Shane
Burgess and Jason Hu were duly
appointed Alternates for the Appeals Committee.
10.
Other Business
The Chairman called for any other business
and no-one in attendance raised any matters.
Closure
of Meeting
There being no further business,
the
Meeting was closed at 4.00pm.
Confirmed as a correct record.
…………………………………..
Dated……………………………….
Chairman
Note:
These Minutes will be required to be
approved by the Members attending the Annual General meeting to be held
in 2008.
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