Committee minutes 4th June 2023

Wimbledon Windmilers Management Committee Minutes

Date:  Sunday 4th June 2023

Start time: 18.00

Finish time: 19:34

Venue: Online

Attendees

  • Claire Morgan (CM) President
  • Anne Davies (AD) Secretary
  • Simon Wright (SR) Men’s Team Captain
  • Richard Cohen (RC) Men’s Team Captain
  • Ella Waddingham (EW) Women’s Team Captain
  • Bernadette Maher (BM) Women’s Team Captain
  • Claire Morgan (CM) Membership Rep
  • Sally Bovill (SB) Membership Rep
  • Diane Carter (DC), Coaching Rep
  • Andy Tan (Multi-sport Rep)
  • Kate Carter (KC) Comms Rep
  • Hannah Carr (HC) Social Rep
  • Chris Fox (CF) Kit Representative (guest)

Apologies

  • Kate Dancer (KD) Treasurer
  • Claire Boynton (CB) Welfare Officer
  • Colin Harris (CH) Events Rep

Minutes

  • An extraordinary committee meeting was held to approve the new kit design, select the supplier, and agree the next steps
  • Images of the proposed new 2023 kit design:

DESIGN CRITERIA             

  1. CF summarised the feedback from the prototype vests and T-shirts worn in recent races, and explained that both suppliers provided an improvement in comfort compared with PB Teamwear and there were no significant differences in comfort between Scimitar and New Balance. The Scimitar fabric made from recycled materials provides a higher quality than the standard quality fabric. The standard quality Scimitar fabric was not tested but has been described elsewhere as ‘too hot’ and noted that the fit is different, and it will not be used for Windmilers kit.
  1. Comfort
    • It was confirmed that member trials of the prototype kit from two suppliers in recent races reported the prototypes to be comfortable & wicking while racing
  2. Fit
    • The kit needs to fit multiple body types. Must have a comfortable neck, not too high. Sleeves and arm holes not too tight. As seamless as possible. The prototypes were, by necessity, tested on a small number of people and therefore did not include all sizes.
    • DC asked for reassurance that the new kit will be suitable for a wide range of sizes and body shapes. CF explained that the prototypes were of standard fit but multiple fit options are available, such as racerback and crop top, in addition to standard loose fit vests and T-shirts.
    • BM suggested that we state the kit dimensions on our website. KC suggested pictures of people wearing different sizes
  3. Representative of the club’s identity
    • Our requirement was to have a modern kit style that makes members feel proud to be a member of the club and which will promote the club to new members. It must have appropriate location of blocks of colour, particularly red, since this is what makes the Windmilers kit recognisable from the front, plus appropriate location of striped areas. The prototypes had a white line above the red block containing the Wimbledon Windmilers club name, and this white line will be moved underneath the red block for the final design. CF explained that there is an option to include a solid block of colour on the sides by including an air vent – members can select this option according to preference
  4. Recognisable
    1. We required that the new kit easily distinguishes the club from other clubs at a distance. The club name needs to be easily read by spectators when the wearer is racing with a race number. It was agreed that this has been achieved with the new design
    1. The feedback on the change to upper case lettering for the club name (matching the club logo) was positive
  1. Versatile
    • We required the kit design to allow space for runner name & race number, which it does
    • JG suggested that the ‘show & tell’ should take place after we have selected a supplier
  2. VOTE: Do you approve the proposed kit design? Yes x 12, No x 0, Abstain x 0

SUPPLIER CRITERIA         

  1. Price
    • It was noted that the different suppliers, New Balance, Scimitar, and our current supplier PB Teamwear are not materially different in price. The list price of the vest varies from £23-£25.20 including VAT. The T-shirt price varies from £26.50-£27.60 including VAT
  2. Bulk order discount
    • Bulk order prices are significantly lower, depending on the quantity ordered, though they must be ordered offline and stored by the club
    • New balance offers a £500 credit towards training kit if we place an initial bulk order offline.
    • KC commented that clubs tend to take advantage of bulk ordering when available, managing storage themselves
    • EW asked whether it is practical to hold stock of all available kit sizes, to ensure that there is no discrimination against those with the less frequently ordered sizes. CF confirmed that current kit storage capacity allows this.
  3. Revenue share with supplier
    • PB Teamwear gives a 10% revenue share for online sales at list price. Scimitar and New Balance do not offer a revenue share on list price purchases but they do offer a bulk discount.
  1. Ordering process
    • Scimitar orders are made online directly by the members. New Balance orders are made via the club, since the club would order quarterly, with the Kit Representative managing storage and distribution and Comms making regular messaging around kit ordering
  2. Can the supplier also provide training & cycling kit? Flags & tents?
    • Yes. KC commented that anecdotally, the quality of Scimitar’s training kit is lower than New Balance
  3. Premium quality alternative in same design
    • In the future there may be an option for members to order a very high-quality version of club racing kit from Soar. CF will obtain further details.
  4. Second kit for summer
    • In the future there may be an option for members to order a lighter coloured version of club kit for the summer. This would be non-registered kit and could not be worn at events where registered kit is required.
  5. Supplier
    • BM commented that having selected one supplier does not restrict us to a single supplier
  6. VOTE: Do you vote in favour of Scimitar as the supplier for the club’s new race kit? Yes x 11, No x 1, Abstain x 0, the vote being contingent on no further issues being raised when the committee sees samples of the new kit at the next committee meeting, including samples of Scimitar’s other styles available

ACTION: AD to liaise with CF to ensure that samples are made available at the 19th June committee meeting

NEXT STEPS       

  1. Prototypes ‘show & tell’

ACTION: CF to retrieve the prototypes from the testers and liaise with the relevant committee members to make the new kit samples available to be shown to members at the Parkland Relays and 3-mile Handicap

ACTION: KC to inform members that they can see the new kit at the Parkland Relays and 3-mile Handicap

  1. Vest included in membership package
    • To be discussed at the next committee meeting
  2. Registered with EA

ACTION: CF to proceed with registering the new kit with EA

  1. Club comms

ACTION: KC to proceed with comms as per action from 20 March 2023 – CF to Share the overall kit plan with the committee and communicate the plan with the wider club via the Comms team so that members are aware of the forthcoming changes

  1. Launch party
    • There is a 6-week lead time for the kit, making the end of August 3-Mile handicap party an ideal opportunity to celebrate the new club kit. To be discussed at the next committee meeting

Next committee meeting: Mon 19th June 19:30 Wimbledon Village Club

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