HDBBL AGM 2023

[iang]

The AGM will be on Tuesday 6th June 2023 8.30pm in the Gordon Ruff room at the Roffey Club.

It's widely known that there's strong indications that Roffey Club Y won't enter a team for the new Season, also Windmill Crawley are even more in doubt with the passing of Steve King. This would drop the League from 5 teams to 3 which isn't viable, even if one of the 2 teams did enter for the new season it would not be possible to run with 4 teams.



The AGM will follow the usual format with a proposal from the Committee to Dissolve the League with a vote taken, if approved in accordance with the rules an EGM will be called with a provisional date set for 27th June.



Any rule change proposals should be received by 16/5/23 (only applicable if the League continues)

Please print copies of the documents to bring along to the meeting.

Please make every effort to attend this very important meeting.



Ian Giffen.

League Secretary.

[tommo III]

At the AGM tonight the vote was indeed made in favour of dissolving the Horsham League. A sad moment.
All teams had at least one representative present and the vote was unanimous.
There will now be an EGM on Tuesday 27th June for the purpose of discussion of disposal of assets. 

[bigtj]

That is very bad and sad news another nail in the coffin.

[iang]

Hi All.

Thanks to all that attended the AGM last night, every team was represented.

Sadly I have to announce that the result of the vote on the dissolution of the league was unanimous. A good discussion took place on possible options, but the loss of two teams would leave us with the three remaining teams which isn't viable.

So after nearly 74 years the league will fold.


I have no words for how I feel right now.



The next step will be the EGM on Tuesday 27th June to discuss the disposal of assets, further details to follow


Ian.

[Q]

That really is a shock, I seem to remember that we still had 2 divisions when I left in 2007, really sad to see this.

[johnslee]

Hi all 
Unbelievably sad evening Tuesday at Horsham Agm  never thought the league would end like that. I know it is a sign of the times in parts of our
Bar billiards community but still a shock after 70 odd years. This was the first league I started playing in many years ago as a young teenager 
At its height through the 70s I can remember 40 to 50 teams with a team in most pubs in town. Playing league  interleague and county also on
Horsham committee in various roles. The decision was made sadly as Ian and Graham have said but better than drawing out the inevitable. 

[Sir Chancelot]

Jun 8, 2023 13:31:25 GMT johnslee said:

Hi all 
Unbelievably sad evening Tuesday at Horsham Agm  never thought the league would end like that. I know it is a sign of the times in parts of our
Bar billiards community but still a shock after 70 odd years. This was the first league I started playing in many years ago as a young teenager 
At its height through the 70s I can remember 40 to 50 teams with a team in most pubs in town. Playing league  interleague and county also on
Horsham committee in various roles. The decision was made sadly as Ian and Graham have said but better than drawing out the inevitable. 

Try a singles league. It works I can promise you. Seems strange at first, but the only way forward to keep the game alive.

[tommo III]

Jun 9, 2023 6:01:06 GMT Sir Chancelot said:

Try a singles league. It works I can promise you. Seems strange at first, but the only way forward to keep the game alive.

I was at the meeting, and the decision to fold wasn't taken lightly.
Other options to try and keep going were discussed, singles a la Guernsey being one of them and 3-a-side playing twice a la Witney was another. The consensus was that the team 5-a-side format was always preferred as it provided better atmosphere (and bar takings!)

Whilst a singles league has obviously worked for Guernsey, you had no other option - it was that or hang the cue up. Slightly different here as there are other leagues in the vicinity, so former Horsham league players have the opportunity of simply switching nights.

It is sad as stated, I started out at around the same time as John, and as he said nearly every pub in Horsham had a bar billiards table. The tears from my eye are partly from recalling those Friday and Saturday night pub crawls, calling at all those venues !

[BB Warrior]

Sad to hear that the Horsham League is folding, after so many years and a proud history.

Hopefully, the players that wanted to continue playing will be able to find alternative leagues/nights to enable them to do that as I am sure that we all want our game to continue to be played.

[Sir Chancelot]

I can assure you Tommo that the Guernsey singles league evenings have a great atmosphere and the bar takings are more than enough to keep the landlords happy. A lot of us have a bar lunch before play commences also. It is not simply one player versus another at a single venue on a random night. We mix First Division with Second Division players at the same venue, double break games, so there are usually 10 or 12 players every league night. We all look out for each other and although very competitive individually in each division, we are all a part of Team Guernsey. It is a concept that some people can not simply get their heads around, and it could work for any league suffering a decline in numbers/tables.

[tommo III]

Sounds like you have it all buttoned down, Stormin', and it was not my intention to 'dis' your organisation.

On the mainland though it's very much a case of 'horses for courses', and there are examples of Leagues run purely on Singles which work well for them.

In the case of our Local Leagues, playing for a team counts for a lot and for many players (me included) this is the main consideration. But the leagues also run separate competitions anyway (over the years we have had Mens Singles, Ladies Singles, Mens Pairs, Ladies Pairs, Mixed Doubles, Landlords, Lower Division Singles, Senior Singles, Under30s, Triples and Masters)

These are well supported in some leagues, but our local ones have tended towards a dwindling entry in recent years - the competitions seemingly only favoured by the same stalwarts.

For many, next season will simply mean giving up one night's playing, and to our ageing clientele this could well come as a welcome relief. 

tommo

[Sir Chancelot]

Jun 10, 2023 23:18:40 GMT tommo III said:

Sounds like you have it all buttoned down, Stormin', and it was not my intention to 'dis' your organisation.

tommo

Hear what you are saying Tommo. But most singles/other knockouts mean if you lose you are out. We play singles against each and every player in our division and at the end of the season achieve a league position, as if we were playing for a team. Team spirits abound and many new friendships are being forged.

[iang]

I will give a brief update on Last night's meeting.

The meeting was well attended with all teams represented, a proposal & vote was taken on distribution of League Funds with a number of options.

Clive Thompson reminded the meeting of a previous commitment to raise money for Charity, the committee also proposed that the AEBBA truck fund is a worthy cause as the tables are used by all leagues across the country thus promoting the continuation of playing Bar Billiards.

A vote was taken and the result was unanimous for a 4 way split between

AEBBA

St Catherines Hospice

Guide Dogs for the Blind

British Heart Foundation.



The perpetual Trophies were sorted into 3 categories

Silver, metal non silver and wooden shields etc

a rough valuation was sought on the 4 silver trophies, with the non silver items only having a scrap value. It was agreed that donations will be accepted by those wishing to retain them.

Most of the Trophies found homes to either Sponsors, the current holders or multiple winners of the event.



Finally in his opening Graham Sparksman gave thanks to all previous committee members & players and made a presentation of a crystal bowl & inscribed plinth to Ian Giffen in recognition for his years of service to the League. This took me totally by surprise but is much appreciated.

[tommo III]

Jun 28, 2023 12:12:03 GMT iang said:

Finally in his opening Graham Sparksman gave thanks to all previous committee members & players and made a presentation of a crystal bowl & inscribed plinth to Ian Giffen in recognition for his years of service to the League. This took me totally by surprise but is much appreciated.

A good meeting, albeit one of a sad nature. My first season in HDBBL was 1967/68 when Charlie Cordery twisted my arm to play.

The decision on the four worthy causes was unanimous.

An opportunity exists for two of the Competitions (which have sponsors) to live on under separate auspices, more of that later.

The retiring committee handled the dissolution exercise as required by League Rule 5a with a high degree of competence, and Ian (seen with it in this pic) is very deserving of his memento in respect of 23 years as Fixtures Secretary:

[tommo III]

Jun 28, 2023 13:46:11 GMT tommo III said:

An opportunity exists for two of the Competitions (which have sponsors) to live on under separate auspices, more of that later.

It's a goer!
Having acquired from the League the perpetual trophies for the Horsham Masters and the King and Barnes Open Doubles on behalf of original sponsors (West Sussex County Times and Hall and Woodhouse respectively) arrangements have been made tonight for the following:

Sat 30th Sep 2023 at the Inn on the Green, Ockley - Horsham League swansong, the STEVE KING MEMORIAL MASTERS

Sun 1st Oct 2023 at the Inn on the Green, Ockley - Billingshurst League curtain-raiser, the KING & BARNES OPEN DOUBLES

Please see separate threads for details.

[iang]

I am pleased to let you know that finally we have been able to distribute the final balance of the funds as per the wishes & vote taken at the EGM. They were split equally between the three charities and the AEBBA.



Cheques have been sent to

St Catherines Hospice

British Heart Foundation

Guide Dogs for the Blind

AEBBA (Truck fund)



Also the best performance Trophy has been engraved and presented to Danielle King at the Steve King Memorial Masters day held recently.