End of Season Report - 2007
22nd May 2007
Chairpersons report
I would like to start by taking the opportunity to thank the committee members for doing another great job throughout the year, especially given some of the dry mat and snow training issues that presented some significant challenges to the club throughout the season. It has actually been a busy year in the Committee where visibility of work is not always seen from the outside. I would like to thank the coaching staff for their support during the year and of course our wide range of racers and freestylers, some of who have provided some outstanding performances throughout the year. Thanks to the parents for supporting their children in training and racing during the year and to all the parents who have helped in the club, whether helping in organising and running race camps, help with raising funds or just being in the background and willing to step forward when required.
An issue raised at last years' AGM was communication and our need to provide greater information on racing to the club. At the start of the year the Committee set itself some objectives as a means of addressing some of the weaknesses that had been raised as well as a means of measuring how well we were performing on communication, racing and training. How have we done against the five objectives listed:-
>Achieve 4 bendy Poles by May 2007.
>Increase race entries/participation by 20% during the year.
>Establish an agreed process for race training well in advance of race
date.
>Assess a snow training feasibility for Juniors by November 2006.
>Develop a contingency plan for lack of snow by December 2006.
I believe we have done reasonably well apart from our first objective where no Bendy Poles were delivered. There was only one snow race this year which did not allow us to gauge increased race entries. Sheila Angus produced a handout to all racers on learning about race procedure and protocols which helped parents and racers understand the detail behind racing. Snow training for the Juniors is something the club has been working on and we hope to make further inroads next year. At the Snowsport AGM last year it was agreed that clubs needed to be part of Junior's development and they should remain attached to a club. The club has been involved in discussions with FAST on the Juniors development and I am pleased that they will become part of FAST from Summer 2007. We all worked on a contingency plan for lack of snow and this was in part successful but numbers for activities tailed off. We believe that racers want to ski on the piste. Back-up activity is marginal at that time of year, and future activity will require to be reviewed.
The club has shown a strong growth this year with membership up from 159 to 180. A breakdown of these numbers show a large rise in the Bairns up from 30 last year to 44 this year, Children 1 remain static at 18 against 19 last year with Children 2 rising to 20 against 17. We have 7 Junior 1 against 9 last year and 1 Junior 2 down 1. On the Freestyle side we have 7 members with numbers around the same as last year. In total we now have 82 adult members in the club. In fact the Committee agreed to cap training at the Lecht at 90 racers should full training have gone ahead - but that is another story!!
I would like to thank our Administrator, Anne Lyon for doing a sterling job in keeping the membership area working well, especially given the increased membership who required to be informed and communicated on our plans for dry mat and snow training. As part of our safety plan we sign-in and sign-out trainees; Anne has worked well with Sheila Angus and parent helpers to make this a success. Thanks also to Alan Lyon (the Sna Manny) who provided the club advice on prevailing weather conditions in the snow season training season.
The training convenor is one of the most pivotal and onerous roles within the club forming a link between the Committee, coaches and parents. Sheila has worked extremely hard throughout the year managing this task, not made easier by Garthdee Dry Mat failing to deliver in October and the organising of contingency activities for our racers when the snow did not arrive at the Lecht. There has been a strong link with the coaches but this could have been greater from the coaching side which would have resulted in less hands-on from the training convenor. Communication to the parents on training plans has been excellent given the increasing number of racers, and included a hand-out on getting to know details and information about racing. Some of the highlights of the year have been working with the coaches to set up the training groups, the racer development wheel and Sheila's desire to get the Aberdeen Snowsports Centre (Garthdee) up and running for dry mat race training in Aberdeen. This is a major success for the club which started in April. Sheila Angus has decided to step down as Training Convenor and on behalf of the Club I would like to thank her greatly for her valued and significant contribution over the past two years.
The Freestyle section of the club, led by Richard Woollcombe, has probably had one of the most disappointing seasons this year based on a number of issues that seemed to transpire against Richard's desire to move this area forward in the club. The failure of Garthdee to open in the timeframes indicated by the management team, the lack of snow and the coach, Euan Stobie moving on gave little chance for the new coach Andy Wilson to get the Freestylers on any hill. When there was an opportunity to compete the club has done well. Thanks to Richard for his input and patience with Garthdee.
On the racing front Dave Tilley has had little opportunity to feed into the race domain based on his past work commitments overseas and especially the lack of snow this season. Races that have been run have included a dry mat race organised for the last dry mat week at Alford before Xmas and the North East Children's race at the Lecht, which due to prevailing winds, was curtailed to one day and cancelled. Thanks to Dave for his contribution during the year.
Further a field some of our racers have performed well including Douggie Crawford, Jo Morrison and Kate Angus, while others have had a mixed set of results.
Graham Morrison has continued as Treasurer for a second year providing a clear direction on the financial situation within the club as we precariously steered our way through one of the worst seasons the club can remember due to lack of snow, but with the continued need to pay our expenses with limited income. Graham will provide more details in his report.
Organising the Winter FAST camp in Oppdal is a major activity for the club, requiring the club to provide a set of accounts to parents of racers in Scotland and to Snowsport Scotland. Graham has provided a great help on the financial front in FAST. I would also like to highlight that Graham, as one of the most experienced and long standing members of the committee, also helps and assists in many areas of the club which is appreciated by all. I would like to thank Graham for a strong contribution throughout the year.
Neil Campbell has been working on getting additional funds into the club as Sponsorship Convenor with mixed results due to a changing policy within Awards for All, an area of significant fund generation over the past few years. I will let Neil detail activities over the year. Neil has become the club Disclosure Champion and now registered to vet applications associated with our club activities. Gordon Skiers remains one of the leading clubs on coach certification which is great news as Disclosure becomes part of club processes. Neil has provided a significant contribution on such activities as the Xmas meal and Ceilidh which takes a lot of organisation and I thank him for his contribution throughout the year.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank parents and helpers within the club who are not part of the committee but none the less provide support to the club. Can I thank Susie Morrison, Ali McIntosh and Jude Tilley on FAST camps, David Culshaw for painting the Lecht Ski Lodge, Tessa Campbell on auditing clubs accounts, Alan Lyon on the weather and anybody else I may have missed that have contributed to the club.
To finish off I would like to look at a number of areas that need focus for the next year. Given the changing weather conditions we are seeing we need to adapt to these changes and I believe we can achieve this by completing a coaching strategy review and publish to the club. We also need to think about raising greater funds to support inevitable swings in weather or the club will find it difficult to survive in the longer term. We also need to work to get new parents as helpers and helpers joining the committee, given the numbers we have in the club, and as a means of looking to the future. Finally the club needs to work with the new Snowsport Scotland Chief Executive to create a working relationship as we did with Bruce Crawford, who steps down shortly. Thanks to all and I wish Gordon Skiers and Gordon Freestylers the best for 2007/08.
Brian McIntosh
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