NWT BADMINTON ASSOCIATION |
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ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING NWT BADMINTON ASSOCIATION MINUTES 29 SEPTEMBER, 2007
Present Jim Umpherson – President – Yellowknife Theresa Fehrmann – Secretary/Treasurer – Yellowknife Ron Graf – Vice President, Officials – Yellowknife Julie Jeffery – Yellowknife Kelly Webster – Hay River - Participated via speaker phone as per Bylaw 22.4 Rob Meckling – Sport North – Yellowknife
Opening Remarks Jim welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Approval of Agenda MOVED by Ron and SECONDED by Jim to accept the agenda as is. CARRIED.
Roll Call and Voting Hay River qualified for one vote and Yellowknife qualified for two votes. Three executive members were present.
Minutes of Last Meeting MOVED by Ron and SECONDED by Theresa to accept the minutes of the 2006 AGM. CARRIED.
Business Arising From Minutes The need for further information on NAIG was brought up. This will be addressed by Rob as part of his report as the Sport North representative.
Sport North Representative Rob Meckling gave an update from Sport North. He first spoke about the Excel program, saying that it is going very well. Badminton was coached and managed well at the games this year, and the venue was done well, and the tournament was run well. Because of this, badminton will not take a back seat for venues at the 2008 Arctic Winter Games. Sport North is going to be completely overhauling Excel NT, in that they will demand earlier identification of coaches and athletes, and will have more input on the coaching. Physical testing is deemed by Sport North to be highly important, and the testing tools and procedures started by summer employee Chris Bennington will continue to be used, and will be modified and made more sport specific by Linda Ruptash who has taken over Chris’s role. Sport North will take responsibility for this testing, in terms of management and finances, and annual testing will be implemented in the new year. Rob specified that this testing is only physical, and not technical. It will be good experience for athletes, and will help to prepare the athletes for their final selection camp. The changes to Excel NT will first be seen in the second year application, and this will be discussed at the Sport Forum in November. Sport North is trying to find more money for the Excel pot. Rob then spoke about coaching. The NCCP transition is a confusing and difficult one, but on the bright side, any extra coaching development is good for the coaches, and therefore for the athletes. There will be a course provided by Sport North next weekend, and in early February CBET Part B will be provided, as well as perhaps another course in the spring. Rob encouraged badminton to develop a Level 3 coach soon.
Rob then spoke on other items. Sport North has moved into their new building, on the third floor. There is a boardroom there for our free use. The Arctic Winter Games regional selection deadline is October 15th. The regional registration deadline has been extended to October 15th if vacancies still exist. The deadline to pay the fees for territorial team selection will be at a later date. The concern was raised that communication has not been good from Sport North and the regional coordinators about the deadline date and late entries. There is a concern that currently the badminton numbers are not high in the regions with a special concern for the Deh Cho region since there has been a problem with the school in Fort Resolution and badminton is not currently active there. However, Rob indicated that the regional coordinators should be able to provide a list of athletes for us. Sport North will be selecting the site for the Territorial trials in the next week or two.
Rob then addressed NAIG. The next NAIG will be in Cowichan, BC, in August, 2008. The first letters of intent came in June, and Rob does not think anyone from badminton received one. Kelly has some very keen players in Hay River who would like to go to NAIG, and so Rob is going to check the letters of intent and will try to get some badminton athletes in. There is a cap on the number of athletes able to participate, and the NWT will likely meet the cap.
Member Reports Kelly reported for Hay River. The High School Championships included representatives from three communities: Hay River, Inuvik, and Yellowknife. It would be good for Inuvik to receive some player development. Kelly would like to have more communities involved in these championships. Hay River also put on a coaching clinic, for Level 1, and a player development clinic for 8 kids. Badminton is alive and thriving in Hay River.
Jim reported for the Yellowknife badminton club. There were over 40 juniors, and 15 to 20 adults. It was a good season, especially for the juniors who had an increase in the number of younger kids. This was the last year for Laurel Graf and Nicole Chatel to run the junior club, and it has now been taken over by Julie Jeffery. The Yellowknife badminton club thanks Laurel and Nicole for their many years running the Yellowknife Junior Badminton Club.
Jim heard that in Fort Resolution there is a problem with the school, and no after-hours play is allowed. Therefore there is currently no badminton in Fort Resolution. This illustrates how important the facilities are for sport.
Jim heard that Holman has an active club. The representatives from Holman at the 2007 NWT Winter Games were keen badminton players.
President’s Report Please see attached report by Jim. MOVED by Jim and SECONDED by Ron to accept the President’s Report. CARRIED.
Secretary-Treasurer’s Report Please see attached report by Theresa. MOVED by Theresa and SECONDED by Ron to accept the Secretary-Treasurer’s Report. CARRIED.
Vice-President, Officials Development Report Please see attached report by Ron. MOVED by Ron and SECONDED by Jim to accept the Vice-President, Officials Report. CARRIED.
Vice-President, Coaches Development Report This position has been vacant, and so there is no separate report available. See President’s report.
Vice-President, Player Development Report This position has been vacant, and so there is no separate report available. See President’s report.
Vice-President, Competition Report This position has been vacant, and so there is no separate report available. See President’s report.
Sport Development Officer Report Jim reported that the Sport Development Officer position is currently vacant. We have not yet received our third year funding from Badminton Canada for this program, and Badminton Canada seem to be having administration difficulties. When we receive our funding and recruit a new Officer, it was suggested that important areas that this position could address are fundraising and developing a badminton circuit.
Recruiting Volunteers – Developing Coaches Recruiting volunteers continues to be a challenge. Jim suggested that we could put on a Level 1 technical course for teachers in YZF to help strengthen our connection to schools. There has not been much administrative support from Sport North to help strengthen this connection. However, there is now a Yellowknife Middle School Tournament, High School Tournament, and the Territorial High School Tournament in Hay River, which shows some strong ties to the schools. It was suggested that we need to make sure Hay River gets enough support to ensure its continued success. It was also suggested that we should start an open tournament in Yellowknife to attract players from outside the NWT.
2008 AWG The only concern with our facility is the pole holes and poles, which currently need to be fixed for the games. Jeff Bell will be our referee for the games. Cathy MacAskill will likely be available to help as well. Claire is our chair for the games, and we must ensure that she gets full support. We must be sure to communicate well directly with the contingents. We would like to recruit as many volunteers as possible for badminton.
Long and Short Term Planning See attached long term plan.
Online Accountabilities and 2006/2007 Workplan The accountability/application to Sport North for funding will be due October 1st. Previous technical difficulties with the on-line program were improved this year. Jim and Theresa will finish the application, with Kelly and Ron submitting some of the final accountabilities.
Election of Officers for Ensuing Year By acclamation, the following individuals will form the Executive:
§ President Jim Umpherson § Secretary-Treasurer Theresa Fehrmann § Vice President, Competition Julie Jeffery § Past President Michael Muller
The following positions are vacant:
§ Vice President, Player Development § Vice President, Coaches Development § Vice President, Officials Development
New Business It was noted that the Territorials will be held in Yellowknife from February 22nd to 24th. A level 2 technical clinic is scheduled in Yellowknife for November 24th and 25th. We are hoping to bring Calvin Holoboff to Yellowknife or Hay River to provide the new Level 2 technical training.
Ron and Laurel would like to buy a trophy for badminton in the Graf name, possibly to be used for the juveniles. Jim also has two old trophies that could be resurrected this year, as it is their 25th anniversary. This is Ron Graf’s last year on the Executive of the NWT Badminton Association. Also, Laurel Graf announced this past year that she would no longer be actively coaching. The NWT Badminton Association is very grateful for Ron and Laurel’s many years supporting badminton in the NWT.
MOVED by Julie and SECONDED by Theresa to adjourn the meeting. CARRIED. |