CHESHIRE COUNTY ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

Minutes of the meeting held at Moss Farm, Northwich on Monday 21st March 2011

Present: Bill Smith; Bob Lynch; Alan Parsons; Vicky Huyton; Marian Allen; Peter Allen; John Driscoll; Alan Morris; Mike Cutler; Adrian Thiemicke; Andy Garnett

1. Apologies: Brian Warren; Mike Lamb; Joe Shellhorn; Eddie Gore

2.Minutes of the meeting held on 19.1.11. 
	Accepted after the following changes were made:
	9b) The Farndon 10k has been cancelled.

3.Matters arising from the meeting on 19.1.11 and the AGM.
	Any issues are dealt with below.

4.Correspondence:
	None.

5.Financial Matters;
		Current a/c:		     £248.07
		Deposit a/c:		     £131.16
		Building society a/c:	£11,357.78
		Total:			£11,737.01	
Mike Gledhill has agreed to audit the accounts for last year, and the books are currently with him.
The treasurer is looking at setting up internet access to the account to allow him to see online payments into the account (eg from online entries to our championships).
It was agreed that from now on athletes will pay £10 towards the cost of a county vest (which cost the county £15). 

6.Officials’ Report;
A level 2 course is taking place at Macclesfield on Saturday.
Funding is available through the Cheshire Network, but applications must still be made through Tina Beresford (England Athletics) in the first instance.
Two officials from Cheshire – Cath McGrath and Bob Lynch - attended a starter’s 
course at Sports City.
It is understood that UKA are buying a supply of starting pistols (to replace those that were collected and destroyed after being declared illegal), and will be supplying at least two to each county, to be loaned to suitable recipients. 
 
7.Coaching Report;
	Nothing to report.
   
8.County Championships and Inter-County Championships
a)   CAU Cross Country (5th March 2011, Cofton Park, Birmingham)
An issue cropped up with regard to Cheshire county vests, as some youngsters were wearing Cheshire Schools vests, which do not have the yellow trim around the arms and neck (apparently due to an error by the Schools) – which led to the threat of disqualification for some of the teams. It was agreed that on entry forms team managers should quote the county colours as “black with yellow trim”, which allows us to optionally have “Cheshire” lettering and/or the wheatsheaf badge. In addition, team managers are to ensure that all athletes are wearing suitable vests when competing for the county.
On the strength of her performance at this event, Stevie Stockton (Vale Royal) was selected for the GB senior womens team for the World Cross Country Championships.   
b)   Cheshire Fell Race (6th March 2011, Congleton)
	Medal winners are on the Cheshire website
c)   CAU Fell Race Champs (28th May 2011, Scotland)
	Details have been emailed to the Cheshire Fell Race team manager, Tony Hulme
d)   Cheshire T&F (14th /15th May 2011 at Stretford) (joint with Greater Manchester)
A sub-committee is liaising with Greater Manchester over the arrangements. 
It was agreed to ask that details of the forthcoming Inter Counties events (see below) are put in the event programme.
e)   Cheshire Track Relays (9th July, Ellesmere Port)
An offer was received from West Cheshire AC to host the event, and has been 
accepted.
         Action: John Driscoll to advise WCAC
f)   CAU 10 mile RR Champs (22nd May, Llandudno)
Adrian Thiemicke will select the county teams for this event (men and women, 4 to run, 3 to score) from those eligible runners who have entered the event. The county agreed to pay £20 to each team member to cover their entry fee and some travel expenses.
g)   CAU T&F (seniors only) (29th / 30th May 2011, Bedford)
Adrian Thiemicke will be team manager for this event. 
He will also attend the AGM – held at the end of the first day’s competition – on behalf of the county.
h)   Northern Inter Counties T&F (youngsters only) (Saturday 30th July, Leigh)
The above date is correct, but apparently technical officials have been asked if they are available on Sunday 31st July.
Two people from West Cheshire AC – Debbie Baker and Brian Stoakley - have volunteered to be team managers for this event.
i)	 Multi-events champs (senior) (28th / 29th August, Sports City) 
The date and venue were noted. 
j)    Multi-event champs (youngsters) (Sunday 11th September, Macclesfield)
            The date and venue were noted.
k)   Cheshire Road Relays (incorporated in North West Road relays) (Saturday 17th         
                                                                                                             September, Sefton Park)
                 The date and venue were noted.
l)   Cheshire Cross Country 2012 (Sat 7th January 2012, Winsford)
A verbal offer was received from Vale Royal AC to host the event, and has been accepted.
	Action: Alan Parsons to advise VRAC

9. Road Race Matters
	a)   The Chester Marathon is to be the sole Cheshire Road Race Champs in 2011.
		Action: Adrian Thiemicke to advise the race organiser, and the clubs.
	b)   UKA are considering introducing a scheme whereby the referee at every road 
race will do  a full licence scrutiny, similar to the ones currently done by BARR. 
A pilot scheme is to start soon in the North West (and North East). All Cheshire race organisers have been advised by the county CLO, but it is believed that endurance officials (ie those who can act as referees) have not yet been advised.
c)   All RRGP clubs have been emailed by the GP co-ordinator with regard to preserving the remaining funds by only giving prizes to individuals and not clubs. All replies were in favour. However, one reply indicated that there is a possibility of some sponsorship, so no decision will be made until more is known about that.
At one stage it was thought possible that some funds might be available from England Athletics, but it now appears that this is not the case.
d)   Cheshire West and Chester Safety Advisory Group have recently come into existence. Some of their decisions are adversely affecting existing races in that area, and two races have since been cancelled as a direct result, due to the race organisers being unable to afford the cost of implementing the recommendations of the SAG. The county CLO and a representative from UKA are due to meet with the SAG next week to discuss the issues. 
	
10.  England Athletics/NW Region/Northern Athletics/ Matters:
	The Northern Road Relays – seniors and youngsters – will be held at Birchwood on 
Saturday 24th September.

11   Any Other Business:
a)   The Cheshire Handbook and parts of the website are out of date.
	Action: John Driscoll to prepare an updated draft of the Handbook.
Action: Adrian Thiemicke to contact the webmaster asking him to remove 
the webpage containing an old list of technical officials.  

12.  Next meeting:
The next meeting will be in June at Moss Farm, immediately prior to the Network 
meeting. The exact date will be advised nearer the time.
Action: Vicky Huyton to advise the secretary of the date of the meeting when 
  known

     
AFJ Thiemicke,    Secretary, 22.3.11.