Ibis Hotel, Rugby East, 8 December 2007
Present: Ian Poole (Chairman); Dan Alexander, Martin Booth, Martin Eadon, Chris Gooch, Kelvin Hoy, (Commission members); Brian
Furness (BC Cyclo-Cross Co-ordinator). Apologies: Peter Hargroves.
Finance and Administration
An updated income/expenditure sheet for the cyclo-cross programme for the current financial year was circulated, and its contents noted. It was reported that the existing printers were still keen to produce the cyclo-cross handbook again on the same basis, and this was agreed. Sales were still more than covering residual costs and therefore keeping the publication in profit.
The automation of the rankings system within the database had now been actioned, and although there were still a few bugs to iron out, the system was generally working well.
National Programme
a) Review of 2007-2008 National Events. Commissaire reports from the events to date were reviewed. It was agreed that the enforced amendment of the Abergavenny course due to the construction of speed bumps had worked well, and the revised start at Ipswich was also considered an improvement. Atrocious weather and on-going building work combined to create difficulty for the organisers at Mallory, however it was noted that in drier conditions the course used would have been too short.
The success of the Inter Area Championships at Misterton was noted, and it was agreed that pre-published criteria for gridding would be advantageous for future editions of this event. There was some discussion on the merits of moving this promotion into October, but it was agreed to retain the equivalent weekend for 2009.
Martin Booth reported on visits to the National Championship course at Sutton Park, and amendments to the course which he had proposed. He expressed some concern over the location of the double pit, which was some way short of being at the halfway point of the circuit, however it was recognised that some restrictions were in place at the venue to comply with the concerns of archaeological interests and English Nature.
It was agreed that the new pit protocols had worked well and would be extended to cover all races at the National Championships.
b) Allocation of 2008-2009 Major Events. Applications to promote National Trophy events were considered, and discussed at some length with reference to a number of factors: location, reports from previous events, standard of facilities, etc. The following dates were then proposed:
Round 1 Bicton Arena, near Exeter 5 Oct
Round 2 Chantry Park, Ipswich 26 Oct
Round 3 Mallory Park 16 Nov
Round 4 Leisure Centre, Abergavenny 14 Dec
Round 5 Venue tbc, Derby 18 Jan
An application to stage the South of England Championships at Lydiard Park, Swindon, was accepted.
International Competition Update
In the absence of Pete Hargroves, this was reviewed by Martin Eadon and Brian Furness. The World Cup events at Kalmthout and Koksijde, and the European Championships in Hittnau had been supported, and it was proposed that an Under-23 team be sent to the Boxing Day World Cup at Koksijde. However a policy of targeting lesser races for future events was also discussed. Officials for the World Championships were discussed, and it was agreed that Martin Eadon would be included as coach.
Commissaire Training
Ian Poole reported on a further regional commissaire training course which he had conducted in Stirling, and also one held by Yorkshire in Wakefield. He referred to discussions with BC Volunteer Support Officer Rob Jefferies regarding the need to incorporate a child protection module in future training courses, and also to apply CRB checks under legislation due to come into force in 2009. It was noted that a meeting would be arranged with Rob Jefferies to pursue these issues.
NB: due to time constraints, remaining items on the agenda were deferred to a short meeting on the National Championship weekend.
Supplementary Meeting: Holiday Inn Express, Lichfield
Saturday 5th January 2008
Present: Ian Poole (Chairman); Martin Booth, Martin Eadon, Peter Hargroves, Kelvin Hoy, (Commission members); Brian Furness (BC Cyclo-Cross Co-ordinator). Apologies: Dan Alexander, Chris Gooch.
Format of Annual Conference
It was confirmed that the Annual Conference would be held on Saturday 23rd February. The possibility of changing the structure of the Conference, to incorporate breakout groups/ workshops, was discussed, however it was felt that the topics to be covered, particularly the issue of event classification, were relevant to all. It was agreed that a seminar for major event promoters was needed, however given time and possible venue cost constraints it was decided to defer this to the date of the next Commission meeting.
Any Other Business
Following the allocation of National Trophy rounds at the previous meeting, a major problem had arisen over the proposed date for the Abergavenny round. After poor weather at previous promotions at the venue, the landowners would not sanction an event in the core winter months unless a considerable sum was deposited in advance for restoration of land. They would, however, permit an early season event. Having revisited the budget, it was agreed that a sixth round was feasible, and it was therefore proposed that the Abergavenny round be brought forward to 21st September, and a new venue sought to promote on 14th December. This would need to be in the centre of the country in order to maximise income and support a six round series.
