Club chairman John Carty welcomed everyone to the club AGM on Monday evening, and congratulated them on another successful year for the club. The Tour of Ards was popular, well marshalled and safe, club finances were healthy, the club runs were going well, and the Tour of Strangford was a cracking day out as well as raising over £4000 for Sands NI and Wayne Garrett.
John thanked all those who had helped out during the year, including the club run leaders, marshals, time keepers, tea ladies, and the committee.
Secretary Gareth Murray then gave us some of the details behind John’s report – highlights included a new record membership of 150 and a two year sponsorship deal with Chain Reaction Cycles that helped support some of our club open events. The Tour of Ards was particularly popular, and we had a top class winner in Roger Aiken. The Town Centre races in June were also popular with over 100 entries. As always, we are indebted to the PSNI for their support in running these events. Desi proposed that the club make a donation to the PSNI benevolent fund and this was supported by the meeting.
There were two routes in the Tour of Strangford this year, and this proved popular with riders. Great sponsorship from local businesses meant that all entry fees could go towards the nominated good causes.
Club races continued to be popular, with the number of entries up slightly compared to last year. Richard Topping and Chris Lappin also won senior open events and the young Rocket boys are doing us proud in underage events.
Club Treasurer Conn Russell also presented a positive report. There was a slight deficit over the year, which reflected the difficulty in attracting event sponsors, but the committee had actively chosen to support our main open events. Conn proposed to keep club fees at £15 for adults, £5 for underage and £1 for non-cycling supporters, and also keep club race fees at £2 for seniors, 50p for underage and £3 for visitors. Members were encourage to pay their club membership promptly so as not to delay their licence application (and related insurance cover). Conn thanked auditor Richard Hanna and Linda Hutchinson for her help with grant applications.
There was some discussion about the CRC sponsorship, and their recent rationalisation following the deal with Wiggle. Dany voiced concern for those being made redundant. Conn has been in regular touch with CRC, and they have assured him that they are keen to continue with their sponsorship and have a number of events lined up for club members. Conn highlighted the benefits to the club, and the meeting agreed that that the deal should continue.
Billy Kirk (right) with the three other people who compiled Recycled Memories: May Farrar, Isabel Woods, and Rab Collins. Also in the picture are Pat McQuaid and Dame Mary Peters. Thanks to Ulster Cycling News, 2010, for the photo.
Next up was the election of officer bearers. Billy Kirk stood down as president for personal reasons after many years in the role. Billy has been a member of the club since the early days in the 1940s, and has had a huge impact. He was a multiple Irish and Northern Irish champion in the 1950s, and was also the driving force behind the Champion of Champions 25 (featuring Boardman and Obree) and the book “Recycled Memories”. He always had time to encourage and advise fellow riders. We’d like to thank Billy for all his work over the years, and to assure him he will always be welcome at club events. Don’t be a stranger!
The position of President was left open, and the new committee will look at this.
The Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer were all re-elected, along with David McNally (Child Protection Officer). Aimee Gourley, Gavin McBride, Christine Devenny and Judith Spence stood down, and the meeting thanked them for their work – much of it unseen behind the scenes. Darren Colville and Bernard McCloskey were re-elected to the Committee, and will be joined by Barry Mitchell, Gordon McEwen and Alan Devenny. We wish them well. No PRO was identified.
Richard Hanna will continue as auditor, and Darren, Bernard, Paul Robinson and Gavin McBride will continue as time keepers. Gavin will also continue to do the club kit orders.
The biggest debates of the night were around some proposed changes to the club constitution. The now infamous “paragraph 6.3” stated that any rider aged 16 or under should be accompanied by a parent. The debate essentially reflected the club’s desire to protect the child and the ride captains.
Robin Haughan was just 13 years old when he cycled 4000 miles across America.
Ards CC has had many notable performances by underage riders over the years, including the legendary Lennie Kirk’s victory in the Red Hand Trophy (a top Senior race) at the tender age of 16, and the 5 Ards CC riders (aged 13-16) who broke several unofficial world records while riding 4000 miles across America in 1980. It’s hard to imagine any of this happening with a parent tagging along… How do we give our young riders these sort of opportunities to develop and discover their potential, while recognising today’s more protective (and defensive) environment?
After a lengthy discussion, the meeting decided to add the words “..except for designated youth events” to paragraph 6.3. This was intended to give the newly formed Youth Sub-Committee some space to organise events where under 16s could take part without their parents (although parental support is always welcome).
There was also debate around the definition and rights of non-cycling members and honorary members, and the committee will draft an update for this. Finally, a proposal to make the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer posts last for 3 years (to help promote stability) was rejected by the meeting as unnecessarily restrictive.
A couple of items were covered under “any other business” –
- Final report of the night was presented by David McNally from the underage sub-committee. Although only formed in August, they had already organised a successful family run to Ciclovia in October, and are planning youth club runs, and a more extensive calendar of youth events next year.
- It was agreed that the new club logo, used on the club gazebo this year, should also be used on club clothing in the future.
The chairman thanked everyone for coming, and for the lively discussion.