Thanks to everyone for coming along tonight to our
AGM.
I would like to begin this report by thanking
everyone who has given up their time voluntarily to help the Club over
the past year. First and foremost I would thank all of the Committee for
their support during the past twelve months. Most of the members are
again nominated to continue in the next 12 months and this will help us
to continue in the right direction. I would take this opportunity to
particularly thank those members who have decided to step down from the
committee, John Sharkey and Lorraine Hutton. The Club is most grateful
to them for their contribution in the past 12 months. John’s
contribution as team manager for the Men’s Cross Country and Road
Running section has been superb and we will sorely miss his enthusiasm.
I do not usually single out individual members for special praise as it
is very much a team effort. However, I hope that the other committee
members will not object to me specifically thanking both Wynne and Hazel
for their efforts. They have both put in a huge amount of time for the
Club in the past year to great effect.
I must also thank all the other people who volunteer
to help the Club in so many ways, coaches, officials, team managers,
parents etc. Without their help the Club could not continue, so a big
thank you not just from me as President and Chair but from everyone
connected with the Club, particularly the athletes.
I would like to start my report on the year by
reflecting on the many successes during the year both individually and
for some of our teams. Here I would wish to thank Colin Hunt for looking
after the statistics for the Club:-
I had anticipated that 2009 would be a tough year for
our Track & Field teams for Senior Men and Womens Southern League
following promotions in 2008. It is a credit to the Team Managers and
the athletes that we successfully managed to avoid relegation and to
consolidate in the respective leagues. We hope for further consolidation
this year. There were numerous club records broken and these have been
recorded on the Club website which has been kept up to date during the
year by Chris Hopkins. We are grateful to him for keeping the site
updated so regularly. In the younger age groups, our new composite teams
with Poole Runners had mixed success. Whilst it was still a struggle to
make huge headway in the Junior League, the Young Athletes team was a
great success, comprehensively winning their league and gaining
promotion.
We have just had another successful season at Cross
Country. In the Hampshire League, our Men’s Team managed to break with
the recent tradition of following promotion to Division 1 with
relegation to Division 2! The team performed extremely well to finish
second behind Aldershot & Farnham and leaving a strong Winchester team
trailing behind them. We were also fairly well represented in other age
groups with some very encouraging performances from our younger runners.
On the Road, BAC continued to make its mark both
locally and nationally In the Dorset League, the Men’s Team ran out
comfortable winners, clinching the title with several races to go. BAC
runners dominated the individual awards with a string of winners in
Men’s & Ladies and various age categories. The 2010 season has started
in much the same way with victory in all the races so far. The team has
continued to have many other successes in Open Races throughout the
South. In particular, the team, led by Steve Way, were comfortable
winners of the recent Bath Half Marathon, which is one of the stronger
races for those building up for the London Marathon. We wish Steve and
the team good luck in the London Marathon on 25th April and
look forward to seeing some more personal bests and a strong team
performance.
At the recent British Universities Indoor
Championships at Birmingham, several of our athletes performed with
distinction. Sven Knipphals won gold in the 200m with a Championship
Best Performance of 21.22 secs and also won silver in the 100m with 6.92
secs. Other silver medal winners were Brad Pickup (Long Jump – 7.28m)
and Matt Sloane (High Jump 2.00m).
It is worth mentioning here that the performances of
BAC individuals and teams are continuing to be noticed both at County
and Area Level. Experience has shown that success breeds success and
there is good reason, therefore, to remain optimistic for the future of
the Club.
During the past year, we succeeded in our objective
of achieving Clubmark status and we will be looking at ways that might
help to open up possible avenues of funding. I must thank Robin James
for his great efforts in ensuring our application for Clubmark was
successful. Part of that process included a much needed update of our
aging Constitution and this matter will be discussed later on the Agenda
for tonight’s meeting. Our Wednesday night Development Sessions continue
to be very well supported and my thanks go to all those concerned. I
mentioned last year that we are living in difficult times with the
current economic climate impacting on all of our lives. Later in this
meeting, we will be discussing potential changes at the Local Authority
which will impact on the management of the excellent facility here at
Kings Park. We face another challenging year ahead but I am confident
that the Nominated Committee Members, if elected, have the enthusiasm,
drive and ambition to remain focussed and lead the Club forward. We will
continue to be looking for as many people as possible to help the Club
and would welcome anyone able to give a little of their time. Just let
one of the members know that you wish to help and we will try to find
something to suit you.
Once again, many thanks to all of you for coming
along tonight.
Dave Parsons
President & Chair
