Committee minutes 24th April 2024

Wimbledon Windmilers Management Committee Minutes

Date:  Thursday 24th April 2024

Start time: 19.30

Finish time: 21:27

Venue: Wimbledon Village Club

Attendees

  • Claire Morgan (CM) President & Membership Rep
  • John Gorst (JG) Chair
  • Anne Davies (AD) Secretary
  • Dieter Schlegel (DS) Treasurer
  • Shirley Twist (ST) Welfare Officer
  • Simon Wright (SR) Men’s Team Captain
  • Ella Waddingham (EW) Women’s Team Captain
  • Bernadette Maher (BM) Women’s Team Captain
  • Sally Bovill (SB) Membership Rep
  • Duncan Newbury (DN) Events Rep
  • Diane Carter (DC) Coaching Rep
  • Andy Tan (AT) Multisport Rep
  • Lindsay Doy (LD) Multisport Rep
  • Isabel Gwyther (IG) Multisport Rep
  • Kate Carter (KC) Comms Rep
  • Hannah Carr (HC) Social Rep
  • Caroline Ferrari (CFe) General Member

Apologies

  • Peter McCloskey (PM) Coaching Rep
  • Mia Lockner (ML) Comms Rep
  • Richard Cohen (RC) Welfare Officer & Men’s Team Captain
  • Sally Windle (SW) Events Rep
  • Jack Derges (JD) General Member
  1. Minutes
    1. The minutes of last meeting were approved: Yes 14, No 0, Abstain 2 (17 committee members present, though only 2 of 3 Multisport reps have a vote, making the total number of votes 16)
  2. Welfare, Health & Safety – no issues reported     
  3. Coaching             
    1. DC described the proposal to reduce Saturday track hours and add a Wednesday evening track session by sharing with Ful-on Tri
    1. AT noted that the new track session will clash with the Wednesday swim session, though swimmers can still use the Saturday track session
    1. VOTE: Do you agreed to reduce Saturday track hours from 2.5 to 1.5 hours, reducing cost from £100.52 to £60.31 per session, and to participate in a sub-letting arrangement with Ful-on Tri (with idverde’s written permission) to add a 1-hour session on Wednesday evening at a cost of £30 per session? Yes 16, No 0, Abstain 0
    1. ACTION: DC/PM to report on attendance levels for the new track arrangements after 3 months of operation (to be reviewed at the July committee meeting)
  • Kit          
    • DC reported that two designs for a coach T-shirt design are in preparation (pending circulation to the committee for approval in advance of production)
    • DC reported that a black waterproof coach jacket has been identified and asked the committee to consider a partial club subsidy of the cost
    • ACTION: DC to communicate the cost of the coach jacket and to propose a club budget towards partial club subsidy
    • HC explained that, pending a quality check, Scimitar is the likely supplier for technical training kit (ie standard items to which the club logo is applied)
    • VOTE: Do you approve a budget of £300 towards the purchase of Scimitar samples of the casual kit items approved at the last committee meeting, redeemable if we proceed to order? Yes 16, No 0, Abstain 0
    • ACTION: All committee to send requests for additional technical training kit to HC
    • AD requested a decision to define the parameters around the use of the shortened club name ‘Windmilers’ when representing the club. Given that we encourage members to wear club kit at MABAC events, where EA-registered kit is not a requirement, should we specify that members should wear race kit so that we are more easily recognisable in consistent kit in club colours red/black/white, or can members now also wear the new casual ‘Windmilers’ kit in different colours and designs when we compete as a club? AD felt that we should encourage members to wear race kit where possible in competition, however the consensus was that this was unnecessary.
  • Membership update to take into account renewals picture
    • CM reported 339 members have renewed to date. 38 members have let us know they won’t renew. Therefore we are waiting to hear from 201 members (this includes a few people whose family membership has been paid, but need to pay their own EA registration). Our baseline for renewal was 572 (at the end of 2023). Separately, for 2024 we have 29 new members, most of them (23) applied during the January to March window and paid alongside the renewals. Renewal rates are in line with previous years, if not slightly ahead, for this time of year.
  • Policies & risk assessments – Decision Guidelines               
    • BM summarised the purpose of the Decision Guidelines as a simple set of tests to help the committee to identify when a matter is of strategic importance and hence needs whole-committee consideration and potentially also a member consultation.
    • VOTE: Do you approve the Decision Guidelines: Yes 16, No 0, Abstain 0
  • Multisport
    • AT proposed to add an external Level-2 swim coach to Monday’s swim sessions, the cost being covered by an increase in the attendee fee so that it remains self-funded. The reason is that with 6 qualified coaches and each session requiring 2 coaches, the coaching frequency is too high. At £40 per week for an external coach, the fee for 20 attendees per week would need to increase by £2 plus the associated online booking fee.
    • LD proposed that the club pays for the external coach for Monday swimming. CFe and DN supported this.
    • If the club pays for the external Level 2 Tri Coach, AT commented that multisport reps are anticipating that the price per swim for each member will remain affordable, between £5-6 per swim per member.
    • DN commented that it is important how the Monday session is presented to members, since as well as providing a recovery session it can also act as a bridge into triathlon.
    • EW questioned whether an external Level-2 coach is necessary for a recovery session.
    • KC & EW suggested the club pays for a term at £40/week then review to decide whether to continue.
    • VOTE: Do you agree to a budget of £400 towards a 10-week trial with a Level-2 swim coach at £40 per week? Yes 16, No 0, Abstain 0
    • ACTION: Multisport Representatives to obtain evidence of the required qualifications before the external Level-2 coach may start to coach for the club
    • ACTION: Multisport Representatives to report to the committee, before the next swim term starts, on the impact on attendance rates with the new Level-2 swim coach trial. Committee to decide on whether to continue club funding of the external coach.
  • Race events
    • 3-mile handicap: the first event of the year will take place on 30th April, with Sally Windle as race director, with support from those experienced in managing the event – Ralph, Colin, Jenny and Jeff. Duncan is focusing on promotion of the event and will shadow and support Sally at the event. With Coaching Rep Diane, a 5 minute warm up will be held before each race.
    • Duncan is focusing on promotion of the 3-mile handicap and has worked with Kate to set up a YouTube channel, available for future content as needed. Good engagement so far (200+ people have watched). The 3-MH has also been listed as a Strava event, with c.30 confirmed to date.
    • The Beer mile is planned for Friday 5th July
    • The Windmile-on-the Common is proposed for Friday 21st June (tbc)
    • Suggested Grand Prix prizes included a sweatshirt for overall winners, plus caps for age group winners. A perpetual shield for the overall winners was also suggested. The Events Reps will prepare a prize proposal.
    • The volunteers log will continue to be maintained by Colin Harris over the next year, since it helps with the Grand Prix scoring.
  • Comms
    • JG demonstrated the live demonstration site for the new club website, showing the home page and three example second level pages. Committee members provided feedback towards finalisation of the pages.

If you wish to exercise your right to be forgotten please click here

Privacy Policy