Present:
P Jones, A Cantle, J Lawson, P Gertig, J Howells, I Maddison, K Wilson.
Apologies:
D Stevens, T Main
Previous Minutes:
Apologies not noted from Ian Maddison
Blyth Tri Swim Club have not entered club league or Regional Pool and need to be added to the list of clubs in the minutes.
Regional Plan:
Yearly targets run from April 1st to March 31st each year.
The targets have been set by the Regional Comminttee and are the Region’s targets not just the Regional Development Officer’s. Paul Jones took the opportunity to reiterate that he is the North East RDO and that as such the Regional Committee takes a big part in directing what work he does.
Participation: We should hit the targets for participation this year. All British Triathlon sanctioned events in the region will count towards the figures these include all children’s events and events organised by clubs in the region. The exceptions are Ripon Triathlon and Helvellyn. The schools project does not count towards the participation figures but there is a separate target in our targets.
During 2007 we need to try and encourage more people to participate in our events to maximise our potential with our existing events. Although we do need to try and encourage more race organisers in the future.
Accredited Clubs: Our target or two clubs achieving STAR and one achieving Club Mark during the 06/07 should be achieved, with several of the NE clubs almost achieving the standards already: Alnwick, NE31, Durham and One Life.
Increase Number of Members in NE Clubs: Amanda Cantle suggested that we need to encourage more people to become members of British Triathlon. Paul Jones will distribute a poster with the benefits of British Triathlon membership to race organisers and club secretaries. If more people join British Triathlon the membership fee may come down. John Howells agreed to put a page for British Triathlon membership on the website (northernpulse.org.uk).
Active Coaches: There should be a Level Two course in February / March 2007. We won’t ask for a Level One Course in Sept / Dec 2007. Unlikely to be a Level Three course in the North East as Leeds caters for the market already.
Ian Maddison asked if there was anyway we could monitor active coaches? At the moment no. However, British Triathlon will be bringing in a Licensing Scheme for coaches shortly. This will involve log books and CPD to make sure coaches are active.
Registered Volunteers: As a committee we need to encourage volunteers to fill in the form and register, either on paper or on line. Paul Jones will forward the registration form to race organisers.
Triathlon England:
At a recent meeting of the Triathlon England Committee, where most regions were represented. London and South East want proportional representation on the committee as they have more members. Progress has been made from the defeated proposal in April and a possible way forward has been found in Triathlon England Ltd and British Triathlon Federation Ltd. The Tri England committee will probably meet again towards the end of July so it can be put to the British Triathlon members at AGM.
Regional Pool of Equipment:
Going really well. Generally the equipment has been well received and found to be very practical. However, there has been a complaint from Cleveland Biketraks due to them not being on the Fence Banners. The reason they are not on is they have not contributed to the pool. It has been made clear this was a committee decision.
It was agreed to re-discuss names on equipment when the equipment needs renewing in the future. Perhaps clubs not contributing to the pool could make a donation to get their name on the equipment. Perhaps clubs could also hire parts of the pool out for a small fee if they are not in the pool, although pool clubs would get priority.
Insurance: At the races the Regional Pool is the responsibility of race organisers. Its now worth nearly £5000. The equipment is not covered by insurance at the moment outside of a race. Suggestion that we ask British Triathlon insurers if they would cover the items, Ian Maddison to also check out other possible insurers.
John Howells also suggested the purchase of a Megaphone. This was agreed.
Regional Funds:
We are due two instalments from British Triathlon of £575 (Feb 2006 and June 2006).
Subsidising Children’s Events: Due to losing one children’s event this summer Paul Jones & Amanda Cantle suggested using some of the Regional Funds to subsidise children’s events. This would enable us to keep entry fees down for children and enable race organisers to be certain their events will not make a loss.
It was agreed each children’s event will be underwritten to a value of £150. Clubs will need to submit a profit and loss sheet for their event in 2007.
Events – Permission to run events:
Amanda Cantle is told meetings with the police in October 2007, to try and understand why the Police are so keen to prevent events from taking place on the roads, and to look at ways around this.
Event Safety Code should open the way for more consistency across police forces.
Children’s Series 2007:
Need to encourage more kids to do more Multi-Sport events in the region. We need to take a hard line and encourage the children to do our events not just swimming events or running events. We need to find an incentive to get them to take part in the North East events.
Potential for NECT to become an umbrella organisation for children’s Tri in the North East.
As a region we need to improve our ability to give out the information promoting children’s events. Clubs, race organisers and the academy could give information out. It was agreed that Paul would design a postcard with information on about the children’s activities for the North East. It was also agreed to get this printed professionally in big numbers to hand out to people.
It was also proposed that we put a specific children’s page on the Northern Pulse website which could then lead to all the children’s clubs in the region not just NECT.
The Regional academy is proving to be a success along with the schools events feeding into the group.
It was also suggested the Children’s race organisers take a hard stance on closing dates for events. However, it would have to be left up to race organisers for the final decision.
IRC Selection:
Paul Jones explained that there had been some controversy regarding the selection this year. Basically came to down to a child being ill and therefore not performing to their best and may or may not have qualified. Solution was to race the child up an age-group in vacant position.
The team selected is:
Tri Star 2 Girls: Elizabeth Templeman, Katy Templeman
Tri Star 2 Boys: Fergus Roberts, Alex Tibbs
Tri Star 3 Girls: Madeline Winzer, Sally Edwards
Tri Star 3 Boys: Ryan Grant, Jack Ferguson
Youth Girls: Helen Gertig, Laura Wilson, Kimberley Larkman
Youth Boys: Matthew Jones, Thomas Ellam, Douglas Roberts
Paul Jones made it very clear that any decision for children to race lies solely with the parents.
It was decided by the committee to remove the paragraph at the bottom of the NECT website regarding commitment to the sport and extenuating circumstances with regards to the selection criteria for the National Inter Regional Championships.
Regional Dinner 2006:
Thursday 14th December at 7pm.
Quality Hotel, Boldon.
Kay Wilson will take responsibility for the tickets at the relevant time.
Any Other Business:
Paul Gertig:
IRC Kit. Each region will get £250 to spend on kit for the Inter Regional Championships.
Nirvana Travel are keen to support Triathlon in the North East. Paul Jones to put together a proposal for subsidising the kit, medals at the Regional Dinner and a small donation (£50) to each NE kids event.
Paul Gertig has also approached Edinburgh Bike Co for potential sponsorship.
Paul Jones:
Schools Project 2007:
After all the work from that went into the project during 2006 to have several schools then drop out nearer the time Paul was looking for advice from the committee. To either try and increase the number of events for 2007 or have a big event for all schools to attend, North East Schools Aquathlon Championships. Do it in term time and in school time.
To make this happen Paul will need volunteers from each club. Could have a Triathlon information fair for all the clubs to have a stand. Paul would need a commitment from clubs and volunteers.
Amanda Cantle will send a letter out to all clubs. Event might attract media attention.
Potential venue for this could be Aykley Heads.
Next Meeting:
Wednesday 11th October, 7pm at Bunny Hill Centre, Sunderland.