Minutes of Committee Meeting - 15th August 2023
NORTH WEST INTERMEDIATE RUGBY UNION LEAGUES
SPONSORED BY HALBRO
Minutes of the Committee Meeting via Zoom 7pm 15th August 2023
Committee Present: Fred Swarbrick, John Powell, Paul Riordan, Peter Harrison, Peter Rhodes, Craig Hine, Tommy Hughes, Greg King and Ian Cousens
Apologies Committee: Craig Ross, Andy Thompson, Mark Ashley and Sarah Shackleton
Matter’s Arising: Following on from the AGM and the request to publish the date of the AGM earlier, it is set for 2nd July 2024 at Leigh R.U.F.C
Fixtures: All league and Cup fixtures are on the website, and these include adjustments requested by clubs since the initial posting. League games start on 2nd of September and first round of cup will be 30th September and will be league and cup double headers.
The question of concedes and postponements was raised and how they are to be handled. We need to reduce the number of postponements as they use up free weekends which could be used for weather days. Encourage teams to travel with low numbers, player sharing etc. Only the lowest team in a club may request a postponement and that is the same for the opposition, so if the opposition has a lower team, then no postponement e.g a 3rd team (lowest team in club asks for a postponement against a 2nd team who also have a 3rd team then no postponement. To accept a postponement both teams must agree and at the time of the request they must provide an agreed new date. At all-times refer to league rules 19 & 20
Rule 19: Concede by Senior team
The Senior fixture in a Club’s list MUST ALWAYS, UNLESS THE SENIOR MATCH IS NOT PLAYED FOR SOME VALID REASON, be honoured at the expense of a lower team’s fixture. Failure to do this will result in ALL teams from the offending Club losing ALL POINTS, (Winning or Losing) from their respective matches. In addition, another TWO POINTS will be deducted from all the offending Club’s teams.
Only exception to deduction of points is when a team doesn't have a scheduled fixture.
The Opposition team(s) will be awarded the winning points.
If this happens on a weekend that involves a Cup Competition, all teams from that Club winning a Cup match that day will be eliminated from the Cup Competitions and their opponents will replace them in the next round. This includes teams who had a bye that day.
Rule 20: Rearrangements
All fixtures will be decided by the League Committee.
Where matches need to be re-arranged, for whatever reason, the decision on the rearranged date must be ratified by League’s FIXTURE SECRETARY.
If a team requires a re-arrangement, they must gain the agreement of their opponents and a new date agreed. This information must be communicated immediately to their League Manager. If there are no dates available, the re-arrangement cannot take place and the fixture is expected to be played on the original date.
Weather postponed games will be rearranged by the League’s Fixtures Secretary. This will usually be the first available Saturday. Where Saturdays are no longer available to rearrange these games, the Leagues Rule Committee will discuss various options to allow the fixtures to be settled. This might involve Double Headers and Pools Panel. There is No appeal available against Pools Panel decisions.
Sponsorship: Cotton Traders have agreed to sponsor the Cup Competition, so a new sponsor is required for the Premier Division. Caldy (Andy Souter) have said that they will find a sponsor for it. There are only 2 leagues left unsponsored 2S and 3W. Again, if anyone knows of a company willing to sponsor a league can you let FS or IC know. It’s a very good package at £200.
Finance: The 2nd part of the money from the RFU has now been received. For 23/24 it is £100 per league and a potential further payment of £500 per league based on playing performance. For this extra money we need to reduce the number of concedes as these counts against us.
At this point in time only 58 Clubs had paid their league fees, meaning 37 still need to pay. League managers were requested to chase their contacts to get these clubs to pay. GK said he will keep the spreadsheet on the website up to date as to who has paid.
AOB: Kendal and Buxton are to hold the cup finals on 4th May 2024. Kendal will host 4 finals.
Dinner at Bowden on 10th May 2024 and PGH on 9th May 2025
Meeting closed at 19:40