ENGLAND MASTERS SQUASH PLAYERS MEETING

This meeting is held every two years, as required by the Terms of Reference agreed at the first meeting in 2009, in order to elect the new Committee, hear a financial report and give players the opportunity to raise any matters of interest.

The meeting was held at 10.30 am on Friday 10 June 2011 at the Nottingham Squash Club, during the British Open Masters Championships. It was chaired by Martin Pearse and attended by about 20 players.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

It was agreed that the Terms of Reference should be amended in order to include a Vice-Chairman in the England Squash Masters Committee, and that, in order to maintain the current number of members, the number of ordinary members should be reduced from four to three (two of whom must be women)

ENGLAND SQUASH MASTERS COMMITTEE 2011-13

The following nominations had been received

Chairman Martin Pearse
Vice Chairman Stuart Hardy
Secretary Mike Clemson
Treasurer Steve McLoughlin
Web Site Manager Adrian Wright
Home Internationals Organiser Dave Hardern
Promotions/Sponsorship Organiser Robert Smith
Ordinary members Peter Alexander
Sam Mueller
Fran Wallis

The Committee also includes two representatives of England Squash and Racketball, currently Chris Nutley and Matt Baker

As nominations matched vacancies, no election was required, and it was agreed that the Committee be elected en bloc.

FINANCE

The current Treasurer, Stuart Hardy, reported a surplus for the year of £349 and a balance in hand of £3753. The majority of the income was the entry fees for the Regionals; expenditure covered expenses related to the Regionals, administration and website, and support for the Home Internationals. The Chairman informed the meeting of the problems related to the HI weekend in Ireland, which were being resolved. In future, the standard cost to players in the Home Internationals would be £175 plus travel.



REGIONAL TOURNAMENTS

The Chairman reported on the increasing success and popularity of the Regional tournaments, and expressed regret that, due to the heavily congested ESR fixture schedule, two of the tournaments in the coming season have to be held immediately before and after Christmas. In addition, there is some overlap with the eight Scottish Masters Regional tournaments, which are also open to all. The order of the venues has also been changed, with the first Regional now being at Pontefract. All the details are on the web site.

SEEDING OF REGIONAL DRAWS

It was proposed that seeding for the Regional tournaments should be on the same basis as that for ESR events ie that the draws for the ¾ seeds and the 5/8 seeds should be done randomly rather than placed in a specific order. This was overwhelmingly supported by those present. However, it was pointed out that the draw also has to take into account players expressed time of availability.

WEB SITE

Adrian Wright reported that the web site has been given a facelift, and he recorded thanks to Brian Brock for his assistance. Hopefully it is much improved, but there is a feedback facility for any comments. Facebook and twitter are also being considered.

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS TO MASTERS SQUASH

It had been agreed that the Committee would make three awards annually to players who had made a significant contribution to Masters squash during the year, both on and off the court. The first trophies were awarded to Mark Cowley, Eamonn Price and Fran Wallis


The meeting was then closed, with thanks to all those who attended.