The Barking, Havering and District Annual General Meeting reveals how this years season has panned out…

By Katie Garner

Most people consider AGM’s (Annual General Meeting) a rather boring chore, and while yes, they can be a necessary evil, I have always found them incredibly useful for sharing and gathering news. I always try to make our club AGM’s insightful, but this year, it was my turn to fumble with the paperwork while listening to a different committee. This year I attended the League AGM, on Friday 26th May, with trusty sidekick Jess – granted I had an ulterior motive (ie – getting my hands on that Mixed Division 2 Trophy…) but it was also good to hear the new motions and ideas being discussed. So much so that I even somehow volunteered myself to join the committee for the following season!

Final League Positions

I will be putting the final score sheets on here at some point, but until then, here is a brief summary of how our teams did this year and who the winners were:

  • Men’s Division 1: Won by Ramgarhia 1
  • Men’s Division 2: Won by Minster
  • Men’s Division 3: Won by Barking 1
  • Men’s Division 4: Won by Corinthians

Our Squad: Men’s Division 4: 5th out 6 positions.

  • Mixed Division 1: Won by Ramgarhia
  • Mixed Division 2: Won by US!

Our Squad: Mixed Division 2: Winners!

This means that next season, our Mixed Squad will be moving up the rankings and will be playing in the Mixed Division 1.

  • Ladies Pairs Division 1: Won by Corinthians A
  • Ladies Pairs Division 2: Won by Corinthians C

Our Squad: Ladies Pairs Division 1: 5th out of 5 positions / Ladies Pairs Division 2: 4th out of 4 positions.

  • Challenge Cup – Won by Hunters

So, at least we gave the eventual winners a good game in the second round!

Motions to be aware of…

Some new motions were discussed at the meeting, and to be honest, this is useful partly in making you acquainted with the old rules as well as informing you of the new! Please bear these in mind when arranging and dealing with matches, registration, etc as we don’t want the club penalised in any way!

  • If a club fails to turn up for a fixture without informing the other club at least 48 hours prior to the fixture, points will be deducted.
  • Ladies Pairs Division 1 will now play with feathers, to correspond with the rule that all matches in the 1st Divisions be played with feather shuttlecocks.
  • If a player is injured during play, a maximum 20 minutes time out can be taken if time permits.
  • Clubs who register additional players are given 4 weeks to pay the registration fee of £1 per person. If not, games played by that person will be forfeited.

Interesting Info and Things to Remember

  • The league was first formed back in 1943!
  • There are 11 clubs in the league. This year we had 9 Mixed Teams, 21 Mens Teams and 9 Ladies Pairs, with 10 Teams entering the Challenge Cup.
  • All teams playing in Division 1 across the Mixed, Mens and Ladies, have to play with feather shuttles. We have discussed this on Club Night as a new priority as our Mixed Team will now be playing in Division 1, so we will be purchasing feathers for match use and match practice.
  • Lower Divisions have the choice of playing with either plastics or feathers – it is the home side’s decision at the end of the day.
  • All matches must start on time. A lot of clubs commented on the struggle to get the matches done within the time limits so it is vitally important that next season, matches start promptly, so please make sure that you arrive at your venue early to have time to warm up.
  • Next season the Challenge Cup will be better organised and we will have more notice of match dates.
  • Even suggestions that 2nd Divisions also play with feathers – something the committee and various club representatives all agreed with.

Hopefully you all find this update useful and remember to try and bear in mind all of this when considering the matches, rules and regulations! We’d rather be safe than sorry!