M. Fletcher Chairman

P. Belton Treasurer

S. Brown Tournament Director

D. Lintott Tournament Secretary

J. Squires Membership Secretary

M. Day Match Secretary

P. Baxter EBU Delegate

B. Claridge Master Points Secretary

W. Ling Oxford

M. Brown Wallingford

K. Talbot Oxford

N.B. Perceval-Price Menagerie

P. Rhodes-Fisher (Secretary), L. Hayes (League Secretary), S. Claridge (Publicity Officer),

E. Alden (Oxford), A. Bryden (Abingdon), G. Nicholas (Aylesbury), J. Barlow (Frilford),

J. Cetti (Witney), J. Simpson (Oxford),

The Minutes of the previous meeting were approved, subject to the following amendments:

The addition of N.B. Perceval-Price to the attendance list.

Voting Rights wording to be altered to read

"M Day proposed that delegates be allowed to vote once only."

Publicity for the Summer League Teams of Four.

The Chairman had received the flyer with the notification for the Mens and Ladies Pairs, but none of those present could recall seeing it.

ACTION: B. Claridge to establish the circulation list.

The Chairman reported that he had received no indications of interest in a summer league.

There was some discussion of possible formats for the competition. M. Brown stated that in his view, which was supported by Abingdon and Wallingford members, the objective should be to ensure that players were seeded to ensure that the competition was between teams of a similar standard. An option of multiple teams events on fixed dates during the summer months was considered, but after discussion the following was proposed:

Divisions of approximately 6 Teams each would be created, with seeding to be attempted.

Teams of four matches of 24 boards would be arranged by the team captains between May and August.

There would be a mixture of club based teams (for which selection would be made by the clubs), and for which the composition might vary, and individual teams with a fixed membership of up to 6 players.

Participation would not be restricted to OBA/EBU members.

Publicity on this basis will be arranged for distribution to clubs, and entries and/or comments invited.

ACTION: M. Brown to draft a note for S. Claridge.

The Golfprint Heat has been arranged for 30th Jan at the Oxford Bridge Club. The closing date for entries, to be sent to M. Fletcher, is Jan 15th. (Late entries may be accepted at the discretion of the organisers).

The Chairman had nothing to report.

The Secretary had nothing to report.

The Treasurer reported an overall balance of £14,453, which is an increase over last year (before the deduction of Tollemache expenses) of £1,302. The increase is mainly due to income of £781 from the Green Point event. Building Society interest amounted to £342. The number of entries in County events was down, thus reducing income, but no changes in the County subscription for the year 2001/2002 were proposed. Nor was it proposed to alter the Tuesday night table money, (subject to there being no increase in capitation from the Oxford Club) or entry fees for competitions. It was noted that this action might result in a small loss being made in the next financial year.

The main items to be reported were:

1) The purchase of additional boards and playing cards at £107

2) Engraving trophies, some of which had fallen substantially into arrears, at a cost of £281. Paul thanked Lynne Hayes for her not inconsiderable efforts in organising this. To avoid this in future Paul suggested a reminder that the winners were responsible for engraving, (costs to be reimbursed by the County), to appear in the brochure, with a mention at the AGM.

3) Lynne had also arranged for all the trophies to be valued for insurance purposes, see below. The cost for this was £68.

4) The honours board was updated at a cost of £78.

5) A donation of £50 was made to the Juniper Ward at the Horton Hospital in Eric Bowtell’s memory.

The Tournament Director had nothing to report.

The Tournament Secretary had nothing to report other than the County Pairs format later in the agenda.

The League Secretary’s report was read by the Chairman.

The Wessex League was running relatively smoothly. Dates for rearranged matches between Thame B and Oxford F, and Witney A and B were awaited. It was noted that matches between teams in the same club should be arranged to take place before Christmas.

The President’s Cup is on schedule and was at the round 2 stage. Matches in this round are due to be played before January 31st.

As requested some Chester Cup matches had been played before Christmas. Team captains will be requested to confirm that the matches to be played in January had been arranged.

There had been problems in both the President’s Cup and the Chester Cup getting dates agreed, and it may be necessary to tighten the bylaws to ensure that if dates are offered the opposing team must respond within a certain time, e.g. 10 days.

The Competition Bylaws are now on the Internet.

The Membership Secretary had nothing to report.

The Match Secretary reported that the A Team were in 7th position in the Dawes League. The B Team were leading in the Porter, 8 points ahead of their nearest rival with two matches to go.

Invitation events were well supported, although no successes were evident; all had been enjoyed.

Beck Cup invitations are to be sent this weekend.

The County Captain is to stand down at the end of this Dawes season, and a new captain is to be appointed by the Selection Committee by March 3rd. There was some discussion about the timing of this, and it was suggested that in view of the fact that the members of the selection committee are elected at the AGM, logically the Captain should be appointed after this. However it was agreed that it was more important to organise Captaincy to coincide with the Dawes League season.

The Chairman recorded his thanks to Nick Smith the retiring Captain for all the hard work that he had put in during his term of office.

The County Practice night scheduled for Jan 17th had been cancelled. Marian was discussing possible changes to the format with Sandra Landy.

There was no report from the Publicity Officer.

The Master Points Secretary reported that the Master Points were up to date.

The EBU Delegate reported that much of the last meeting had been taken up by the the retirement of Peter Stocken.

EBU members were still being encouraged to lobby their MPs about recognising Bridge as a sport, in the mind games category.

After a spell where the number of entries had reduced the semi-final round had been removed. However there has been an increase in the current year, and a proposal to include a semi-final round if the number of entries exceeds 85 pairs was carried.

Further discussion took place concerning heats containing players who did not wish to be considered for qualification for the next round. It was agreed that heat directors should attempt to split the movement if it is practical to ensure that those wishing to qualify are in a single group.

The Chairman reminded delegates that the Camrose Match, England v Northern Ireland was to take place at the Oxford Moat House on February 26th /27th. Offers to help on the two days are welcomed, and all are encouraged to attend in support of the two teams (free of charge).

The trophies are valued in total at £4,990. Individually they range in value from £20 to £675. 11 of the trophies are silver. As the trophies are not held in OBA premises the minimum inurance premium would be £500 plus £25 tax, which is deemed to be unacceptable. Consequently it is proposed that trophy holders are expected to provide insurance cover through their own home insurance. If this is not possible the trophy or trophies will be kept for safe keeping by committee members.

The OBA web site and linked sites are providing a very useful source of information. Unfortunately this is thought to be available to a minority of members. At the time the web site was introduced volunteers were requested from each of the clubs to take prints from the site to be displayed on club nights. The Chairman was not aware of anyone doing this in any of the clubs, but thanks to all contributors, and the efforts of Richard Lonsdale the site was a spectacular success, and was worthy of a wider audience. If necessary web enabled users could seek advice, preferably via e-mail to Richard, richlons@globalnet.co.uk and the County would be prepared to reimburse any costs.

Clarification was sought over the term ‘higher ranking’ which appears in the Bylaws Section 5 item (v), and referred to in item (vi). The Tournament sub-committee were requested to propose a definition which must allow for there being more than one team from the same club in the same division.

Delegates were requested to ensure that forthcoming County events were publicised.

13th Feb: University Swiss Teams

26/27th Feb: Camrose

2nd April: Wallingford Open Swiss Teams

9th July: Harwell Cup.

The sad news of Eric’s death is recorded as a matter of record. More eloquent obituaries have appeared in the press which in past times contained his own articles.

The committee are to consider a suitable way of honouring his memory.

Thurday 13th April 2000

There being no other business the meeting closed at 9.35 p.m.