Minutes of the 2013 AGM, 9th December 2013
NSWRL REFEREES’ ASSOCIATION Annual General Meeting Meeting Date…09.12.2013 Meeting opened at 6.55 p.m by the Chairman Michael Stone who welcomed all present and declared the meeting open.. A minutes silence was observed in memory of those who passed away during the year. Barry Cripps, .Jack Bradley, Ken Gray, Ernie Tinsley, Angus McGilvray, Vincent McGuinness, Lyle Buckley ATTENDANCE : As per attendance sheets: 51 present ( 4 members in two categories) 22 Life Members, 9 Active Members, 4 Non Active Members, 17 Delegates, 1 Honorary Member, 1 Junior Member, 1 Visitor APOLOGIES: Ross Picard, Peter Fitton, Peter Filmer, Bill Harrigan, Matt Cecchin, Glen Toland, Ross Hensley, Sean Hampstead, Graham Duffy, Bernard Sutton, Jack O’ Sullivan, Brendan Lucas, Scot Murray, Jack Danzey, Robert Culkin, Barry Cross, David Abood , Jon Stone, John Connor, Brett Davies, Andrew Zapantis, Acceptance of Apologies. Moved B.Gately, Seconded B.Ruttle . Carried MINUTES: Moved B.Gately, , Seconded B.Barry that the Minutes of the 2012 Annual General Meeting be confirmed and adopted. Carried BUSINESS ARISING: i) Misprint in the 2012 Annual Report. Minutes adopted were for the 2011 Annual General Meeting, not 2012. Has been rectified in the Official Record. ii) The election of Patrons took place at the March General Meeting in 2013 having been overlooked at the 2012 Annual General Meeting. I.McCall and J.O’ Sullivan were elected to the positions. iii) The nomination of Internal Auditors was also overlooked at the meeting. Election took place at the March General Meeting, 2013 where P.Filmer and S.Betts were elected to the positions. iv) Sponsorship from “The Good Guys” has increased from $ Zero to $68,000 now being available to eight District Associations. This , largely from the efforts of the Director of Finance Adoption of Business Arising. Moved B.Barry, Seconded B. Gately. Carried CORRESPONDENCE IN Items 12613-15413 were tabled resulting in the following:- 15013 Chek Huon, Honorary Auditor ‘s Statement attending to the Financial Report was read to the meeting. 15313 D.Keen explained the correspondence to the NSW Police Referees’ Association and its background. He informed the meeting that the Board had taken a decision at the Board Meeting preceding the Annual General Meeting to temporarily suspend the NSW Police Referees Association’s affiliation until it showed cause as to why it should not be wound up. CORRESPONDENCE OUT Items 13114- 13130 were tabled. No discussion. Acceptance of Correspondence . Moved M.Lewis , Seconded S.Clapson Carried. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT. In the Annual Report. One matter that has arisen since was that Ben Cummins was awarded International referee of the Year for the second year in a row. The Chairman congratulated all four representatives, B.Cummins, A.Klein, S.Hayne and G.Atkins on being selected and participating in the World Cup. Carried by acclamation. Adoption of the Report. Moved I.McCall, Seconded P.Ryan Carried ANNUAL REPORT Chairman called on G.McCallum to move the adoption of the Report. Greg spoke on the clarity of the Report, its inclusiveness, the lack of Appendices as in 2012 and the feeling of a settled year with new directions that it conveyed. He congratulated Michael Stone on the leadership he gave to the Association to bring it back on track and also congratulated Tony De Las Heras on the manner in which he carried out his duties as Director of Coaching and Development with particular emphasis on the hours he injected into the Sydney City Club Competition .He congratulated hose involved in preparation of the Annual Report, particularly James Vella, Frank .Leonard and George Jankowksi and expressed the opinion that it was one of the best yet produced. The Chairman called upon C.James to second the adoption. Chris said it was an honour to be invited to second the adoption. He said he was a proud member of the Association , a dream he developed as an adolescent when watching Rugby League and the referees involved at the time. Chris said it is now an honour to be associated with those former Graded referees. He said he felt that in 2012 the Association had lost its way but, under the leadership of M.Stone the ship had been righted. He said he felt the 106th Annual report to be a fantastic, positive document. He said he was also very pleased to support the comments made by G.McCallum who has been a great servant to the game and thanked him for that. ADOPTION OF ANNUAL REPORT. Moved G.McCallum, seconded C.James. Carried. FINANCIAL REPORT The Chairman called on Bryan Gilchrist to move the adoption of the Financial Report. Bryan said that 2013 had been a season of great change with a reduction of 63% in the funding available to the Association due to the change in the management of Referee Coaching & Development implemented by the NSWRL towards the end of 2012. This was a massive cut. The second change was the manner of presentation of the Financial Statement. Because of the 63% cut in finding the Association moved from a Tier 1 to a Tier 2 Association under the 2009 Incorporated Associations Act that requires far less detail than in the previous two years. The $21,000 loss was due , largely, to the 8% cut in funding by the NRL. It s of concern and will be addressed. At the same time, while the loss was incurred, the current bank balance is $63,000 and this compares with $45,000 at the same time in 2012. As one very involved with a District Affiliate Bryan said he recognised the 3% increase in Grants to Associations made in 2013 , the largest increase for a number of years and supports which major focus of the NSWRLRAInc., the Coaching and Development of referees. Bryan thanked J.Oliveira for his untiring efforts and support for District Associations saying he has the interest of their members at heart. Bryan also thanked S.Betts and P.Filmer for their work as Internal Auditors. The Chairman called on M.Dunn to second the adoption of the Report. Max said it was a credit to the Director of Finance and the Board that the Association was able to get through 2013. S.Betts asked J.Oliveira where the extra $2000 had come from under “Grants”. It was explained that it was a donation secured for the Association from the Anzac Club, Marrickville by P.Cooley. . Adoption of the Report. Moved B.Gilchrist, Seconded M.Dunn.. Carried ELECTION OF OFFICE BEARERS All positions declared vacant. D.Wintin nominated by B.Gately as Returning Officer, Seconded G.McCallum. Carried. PATRONS I.McCall, J.O Sullivan.Nominated and declared elected. 1. Chairman . Mr Paul Simpkins Elected unopposed. 2. Executive Officer. Mr Frank Leonard. Elected unopposed. 3. Director of Finance. Mr Jimmy Oliveira . Elected unopposed. . 4. Director of Member Services. Mr Luke Bugden. Elected unopposed. 5. Director of Referee Development. Mr Greg McCallum. Elected unopposed. 6. Director of Affiliate Liaison. Mr Doug Keen. Elected unopposed. .. 7. Director of Marketing and Communication. Mr George Jankowski. Elected unopposed. 8. The outgoing Chairman, Michael Stone declared the Chairmanship of the meeting was now in the hands of the newly elected Chairman, Paul Simpkins. P.Simpkins acknowledged the contributions made by previous Chairmen and said he was proud to be the Association’s Chairman. He said that Rugby League and refereeing was changing and given the anticipated structural change the timing of his election was appropriate. He said his goal was to bring people together and the return of some who had walked away from the Association. He said that the Association needs to be relevant. 2012 had been spoken about during the meeting. “ There is always an elephant in the room and in my attempt to bring people back referees have to learn to like each other more .The Association’s goals will be what I try to convey to the Board and the membership….friendship, unity, utilization of skills and to guide, mentor and assess referees throughout their careers. I want to try to bring the older boys back and set them as role models to the younger referees. Support is a key and common purpose.” BOARD RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 2013 1. Moved B.Barry, seconded B.Beveridge That member’s subscriptions shall be ten dollars ($10.00) or two dollars ($2.00) for a pensioner. Carried. 2. Moved B.Gately, seconded M.Dunn . That Affiliated Associations shall pay an Affiliation Subscription of twenty dollars. ($20.00). Carried 3. Moved D.Spagarino, seconded D.Wintin .That in 2014 the Association will hold four (4) General Meetings commencing at 6.30p.m at Sports House, Homebush. Carried. LIFE MEMBERSHIP D.Wintin, B.Gately, B.Gilchrist and S.Betts were appointed scrutineers. The Chairman stated that five nominations were received for Life Membership at the General Meeting held on the 2nd September, 2013 ; S.Clark, P.Digby,. T.Kelly, D.Jay and B.Lynch.. The Board recommended at its September Meeting that the nominations of Steve Clark and Brett Lynch go forward to the Annual General Meeting for consideration by the members present. A Secret Ballot was conducted as per the Constitution and Steve Cark and Brett Lynch were both awarded Life Membership having attained 75% of the vote of the 50 members present eligible to vote. Each addressed the meeting thanking those who supported their nominations for the honour of joining an elite group. I.McCall moved Ballot Papers be destroyed . Seconded M.Dunn. Carried. NOMINATION OF INTERNAL AUDITORS ( Not completed. Overlooked) REPORTS William Drury ( CRLRA Chairman) congratulated P.Simpkins on his election to Chairman and M.Stone on the leadership provided during 2013. He said that there had been changes to the Executive of the CRLRA where he replaced Graeme Tirnbull and Kevin Rayment had replaced Kevin Riolo. A Strategic Management Plan had been developed early in 2013 and this provided the blue print for the go forward in 2013. The major aim is to develop referees so that they can proceed through the recognized pathways. He said he looked forward to working with the new Board of the NSWRLRA Inc. in 2014. Dennis Spagarino ( Chairman of the ARLRA). Dennis congratulated P.Simpkins on his election to Chairman. He said that 2013 had been a difficult year for the ARLRA which received no funding and survived the best way it could. Still attempting to establish a position where the ARLRA could contribute to the game in the future, but awaiting an announcement on a restructure. Meeting with T.Greenberg on the 12th December attempting to ensure that referees are represented at the highest level of the game. He said there was a need for support to ensure that referees had a voice in the future of the game. B.Cummins ( International Referee of the Year, 2012-13). Ben , recently returned from the World Cup in Great Britain, made a comparison between the game there and in Australia. He said there is more money in the game in Australia and the style of football played is more open with less emphasis on defence. He said that players are very relaxed with the media whereas, in Australia , they tend to be very guarded and this led to great enjoyment of the trip. He said that one of his personal goals in 2013 was to be in the World Cup Squad and he highly recommended that any of the Graded referees should consider a trip to referee over there. HONORARY ASSOCIATE MEMBER FOR LIFE The Chairman stated that L.Bugden had moved at the Board Meeting of the 2nd November that Mr Geoff Carr, retiring CEO of the NSWRL be considered for the award of Honorary Associate Member for Life of the Association. L.Bugden was called upon to support the nomination and it was seconded by Ziggy Adamski-Przeklasa. A Secret Ballot was conducted resulting in Geoff Carr attaining 75% of the votes required. B.Gately moved that Ballot Papers be destroyed, seconded B.Ruttle. Carried. PRESENTATIONS Presentations of Pewter Mugs were made to :- Z.Adamski-Przeklasa for the National U/18 Championships Final. S.Clark. Video Referee for State of Origin 2012 and 2013. B.Cummins. State of Origin Games 1, 2 and 3 Referee, 2012 State of Origin Game 3 , Referee, 2013. N.Smith. NSW Cup v Qld. State Cup. Touch Judge. P.Simpkins. State of Origin Video referee , Game 2. 2102. ANNOUNCEMENTS B.Barry awarded the George and Amy Hansen Trophy at the Presentation Evening. D,Luttringer awarded the Les Matthews Trophy at the NSWRL Volunteers of the Year Awards Evening. Two Cricket matches to be played at Blacktown on the 4th January: NRL Squad v Blacktown; Junior Representative Squad v Graded Squad. David Vidler, Penrith referee, passed away in his sleep leaving a young family including three children. Donation of $250 made by the Board. NSW Referees Bowls Day to be held at Leichardt Bowling Club on the 4th May, 2014. GENERAL BUSINESS Nil. Meeting closed at 8.02 p.m CHAIRMAN………………………………….
