 |
 |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 | ||||||||||
The minutes of SOCA AGMSouthern Ontario Cricket Association Spring Meeting April 25 2004, Earl Nicholls Arena Attendees:
Absent:
Meeting was called to order at 12:10 PM. Roll call was taken and it was noted that several clubs were absent. It was noted that Rose City CC. had not responded officially but had indicated that they would not be playing in the league this year because of a lack of players. It was further noted that Detroit CC. was withdrawing from the Association pending resolution of the border crossing issue. The Secretary the read minutes of previous meeting. The President commented that the minutes were not as complete as they could have been due to the fact that the previous Secretary had quit the last meeting and he had attempted to take notes after that point. The minutes were adopted (motion Mike Nobrega). Jean-Paul Goffar raised the issue of problems crossing the border. The issue was deferred to its place on the agenda. Sam Mohan pointed out that the Mrs Joan Kay, who had been the previous Secretary for many years until ill health forced her to resign, had dedicated half her life to the league and should be recognised. The point was deferred to new business. The President gave his report, which was preceded by a moment of silence in memory of Ray Lakhan. His report outlined his goals for the Association in the current year, which included adoption of ICC rules, improving the quality of umpiring, developing the juniors program, addressing the border crossing problem, improving the match reporting process, and the establishment of a fair and effective disciplinary. Due to his absence, there was no report by the 1st Vice President. The 2nd vice president gave a brief statement which stated that he had submitted a report on his plans for the development of the junior program to the executive committee, and would await feedback from the membership on his proposed plans. The Treasurer gave her report, which included a budget based on the previous year's budget, as had been approved at the AGM. She noted that although trophies and executive travel had been budgeted at $1000 each, she did not expect the actual costs to be anywhere near those figures. She raised the issue that Windsor CC's cheque for the 2003 had bounced, and that amount was still outstanding. There was much discussion about the issue of a club playing a season for free while other clubs struggle to make their payments. The secretary suggested that whatever resolution was adopted should take the greater interest of the Association into account and not simply take action against a struggling club. The president proposed that the cheque given for the current season be accepted for the previous season and that Windsor be considered to be owing for the current season. It was discussed and agreed that Windsor should have no right of vote in that case. The president proposed that Windsor CC be given until May 7th to pay their dues. There was a discussion on what the consequences of failing to meet that deadline would be and no consensus was reached. Windsor CC indicated that there were doubts as to whether the funds could be raised in that time. The secretary pointed out that according to the constitution a levy was owed on outstanding the outstanding amount as of the Spring Meeting. It was agreed that the Executive Committee would set that amount after the meeting. The secretary then proposed that the Executive Committee draw up a payment schedule for Windsor to fulfil their financial obligations and that payment would be made by some form a guaranteed payment such as a bank draft or certified cheque. Windsor CC. agreed that was a workable solution for them and the motion was passed. A question was raised about whether Detroit CC. would be participating in the 2004 season. The President stated that he had spoken with them and their position was that they would not take part if they were forced to play their home games at a neutral venue. The President commented that the budget appeared to be very evenly balanced, only just breaking even. It was noted that there was considerable leeway given in the amounts budgeted and that actual expenditures would be far less than projected. The secretary suggested that the Association look into fund raising events and proposed that members approach potential sponsors. A member of Waterloo-Sunrise CC asked whether the Association would pay any of the costs incurred by his club playing in the John Ross Trophy, including hosting the quarterfinal. A discussion ensued which included a question of whether the CCA would cover any costs. It was agreed that Waterloo-Sunrise CC. would discuss the matter with the Executive and that it would be arranged that some financial help would be forthcoming. The Secretary gave his report, which noted that there had been problems getting contact information for the clubs. He also stated that there was a wealth of historical information in the SOCA records and suggested that someone with the time and interest could compile a history of the Association. He noted that the Association was not always following the constitution. The Public Relations Officer gave a report which noted that he had been with SOCA since 1966, served on the Executive, umpired, and played. He was happy to see new faces, and to be back with the league after an absence to help run the Association well. The statistician gave a report outlining the new format of the competition. A question was raised about whether a procedure was followed to change the format and it was noted that it was the Statistician's responsibility to set the schedule. It was asked whether there was a backup plan if some of the teams listed did not play, to which the response was that would have to be dealt with if it happened. Isiah Argunen raised a point of rained out matches, and problems that could occur if one zone experienced significantly more rain than the other. After much discussion it was noted that the ByLaws specifically forbid rescheduling rained out matches. It was further noted that weather conditions were beyond the control of the Association. There was general agreement with and support for new format. Isiah Argunen asked what had happened to Waterloo CC.. Swami Iyer replied that they had merged with Sunrise and the two teams had been renamed Browne (formerly Waterloo) and Rowe (formerly Sunrise). It was pointed out that the Association had not been formally notified and that a process should have been followed. It was agreed that representatives of Waterloo CC and Sunrise CC would submit a formal notice of merger to the Association. A few errors were noted on the schedule, which the Statistician agreed to rectify in the final draft. Several members raised a complaint about games scheduled on long weekends. The Statistician noted that there was little option given the number of holiday weekends from both Canada on the US. The president asked all the clubs to contact the Statistician within the next week to address any scheduling issues as best he could. The Umpiring Coordinator was out of the country and the President covered a few point in his portfolio. He advised that there would be an umpiring clinic scheduled in an attempt to make the umpiring more consistent and raise awareness of the potential changes. The secretary volunteered to send out a package to all umpires advising them of the rules and procedures. The secretary gave a brief report of the correspondence that had been received by the Association. He noted that the OCA has been ignoring his emails and phone calls and that other than a package of minutes for a November meeting and an email advising of John Ross schedule changes, there had been little communication from them. The secretary agreed to release the email and telephone numbers for the Secretary and President of the OCA. A member from Waterloo-Sunrise told the meeting that there was a CCA town hall meeting scheduled for May 7 in Toronto. It was suggested that members attend and voice their dissatisfaction with the OCA and CCA. Elections for the selection committee were held. There was a general uncertainty as to the makeup of the committee. After consultation with the constitution and the ByLaws two members were selected to supplement those specified in the articles. The selection committee was divided into a junior a senior panel.
It was agreed that the executive would draft the selection policies for the committee. The issue of the President's Trophy was discussed. The President gave some background, and there was discussion about the merits of the idea. The Secretary stated that he was dissatisfied with the fact that the amount had been levied for two seasons without any game being held and given the fact that the game was not currently on the schedule he felt it was unlikely it would be held again this year. The President proposed that the match be renamed to honour Mrs Joan Kay, and that some of the proceeds be used to procure a token of the Association's appreciation. Praveen Sharma suggested that he could arrange a touring side from India to play the match against SOCA and that he would cover the expenses. Jean-Paul Goffar moved that the trophy will become a yearly invitational event named in honour of Mrs Kay. Each participating club would be assessed a minimum amount of $50, but clubs would be encouraged to contribute more. The motion was adopted. The border crossing issue was then raised and debated at length. The President stated that last year the American teams felt that they were disadvantaged by the policy to exclude certains Canadian teams from crossing the border and that a win-win solution was needed. He proposed that the three teams most affected, Cavaliers Jr, Cambridge 2, and Sunrise Jr be allowed to have up to 5 members of the senior team in the side for games played across the border. This proposal met with general disapproval, and it was felt that it would still not allow some teams to get 11 players across the border. It was pointed out that in order to cross the border into the US, non-Canadian players had to spend $300 on a visa which they may or may not get, and even with the visa they were foten turned away. It was argued that it was simply not possible for many players, particularly those with Islamic names, to cross the border no matter how much they wanted to. The president regretfully noted that it appeared that the issue could only be resolved by giving up games in Michigan, and advised the meeting that Detroit CC. would most likely be leaving the Association in that event. The secretary moved that all games between U.S. clubs and Canadian clubs be played at neutral grounds in Canada, unless both participants agreed otherwise. The motion was adopted. Two changes to the constitution were proposed and adopted. Article 2.5 was changed to readThe rules to control the game of cricket will be the Laws of Cricket, as maintained by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), subject to amendment in the ByLaws of The Association. Article 9.1 (a) was changed to readActive members shall have a maximum of three (3) votes per registered team in good standing with the Association. One third (1/3) of an active member's votes can be proxy votes signed by the Club's Secretary. All proxy votes must be registered with the Secretary of the Association before the start of the meeting or prior to being cast. Match reporting procedures were discussed. It was proposed by the Statistician that the umpires bear the responsibility for reporting on the matches. It was generally felt that this was unworkable and agreed that the captains must bear the responsibility. It was agreed that an electronic system for submitting match reports would be developed in addition to submitting results by fax or email. A lottery was held to assign teams for the knockout tournament:
The President gave a proposal for the Disciplinary Committee which would consist of 5 members. The members would be the President, the 1st Vice President, Faisal Sultan (West), the Secretary, and a member from the East to be determined later. The mandate of the committee would be to expedite the protest and complain process and issue a recommendation to the Executive Committee within 15 days. Hartley Jordan raised a point that there were too many members of the Executive Committee already on the proposed Disciplinary Committee, and it was agreed to limit the number of Executive members to 2. It was also agreed that any committee members in a conflict of interest would be excused from the committee. The proposal was passed as amended. Praveen Sharma told the meeting that a team from India was interested in touring Ontario in July. They would require to be hosted for least 5 games, but other than food at the games would bear their own expenses. The Secretary agreed to send a letter to all member clubs asking them to provide dates that they would be willing to host the touring side. The meeting was adjourned at 4:20 PM. |
||||||||||
|
Copyright © Waterloo Sunrise Cricket Club. All Rights Reserved. |