Stand Up Magazine - Issue 38 - Ulster Rugby Supporters' Club

The Annual General Meeting took place at Kingspan Stadium on Tuesday 6th June at 7.30pm. Chairman Jonathan Bill opened the meeting by welcoming the 64 attendees and introducing the committee. URSC AGM 2017 www.ursc.co

Apologies from members, sent in advance and received on the night, were recorded. The Minutes of the 2016 AGM were available to those attending and had been previously distributed to members in Stand Up in September 2016. Jonathan Bill invited the members to adopt the minutes as an accurate record of the meeting. This was

upload the magazine to a server and email a link to members for them to download for themselves. To this end, we are considering including on the membership registration form next season a check-box asking members if they wished to receive Stand Up electronically or as hard copy? The choice would then be up to the members with both options available and potential savings in printing and postage would then be dependent upon the numbers of members who opted for either. In conclusion , three proposals were put forward and voted on, with over 66% of the vote in favour of limiting any increase to no more than £2 for adult members, £1 for junior members, and £5 for family membership (i.e. fees to be set no higher than £12 adult membership, £6 junior membership and £30 family membership). The committee agreed to take this on board when considering membership fees, although it was made clear that it was by no means certain that any increase would be required. Jonathan Bill then presented his Chairman’s Report on the past year. In a disappointing season on the pitch, Jonathan thought the URSC provided a pretty decent showing off the pitch. Membership had been similar to last season, topping at 1150. Highlights of the year included the Barbecue at Dromore RFC, three “Meet the Players” nights, one “Meet the Ref ” night with David Wilkinson. We also ran 4 buses to away matches (Navan, Galway, Limerick & Dublin), only to be rewarded with 4 defeats. Thanks were expressed to the members for supporting these events in increasing numbers. Jonathan also highlighted the great fellowship and hospitality Ulster supporters had received on away trips, particularly in Bordeaux, Clermont and Exeter, and encouraged members to consider future away trips. In the Pro 12, The Treviso & Parma are also excellent destinations for travellers. Awards and presentations continued with the Club making the second contribution of £2,000 to the Ulster Women’s Performance Programme with the aim of increasing Ulster representation in the Irish Rugby World Cup squad, and the Jack Kyle Academy Bursary of £2,500 was awarded to Rob Lyttle . Player of the Month Awards (sponsored by Crystal Clear Glass Engraving) were awarded to Sean Reidy, Charles Piutau and Jacob Stockdale. The Player of the Season Award was won by Ruan Pienaar and Jonathan took the opportunity to thank long term sponsor of this award, McNeillys Jewellers for their past support, and to thank and highlight new sponsor Gardiner Brothers Jewellers for their agreement to take this forward in the future. From this season, not only does the player of the season win a superb Ernest Borel Swiss watch, but one member who votes for that player will also win a similar prize. The Player of the Season also wins a Stan Dupp Cartoon, suitably inscribed by Club President Willie John McBride – and as Jonathan pointed out, is it any wonder that the URSC award is the one that the players most want to

URSC Chairman Jonathan Bill

duly proposed by Ian Logan, seconded by Chris Simmons and passed unanimously by the meeting.

Yvonne Bell presented her Treasurer’s Report for the calendar year January to December 2016. She reported the major income and spending commitments of the year resulting in a net deficit on the year of £1544.39. Yvonne answered questions on the report including the net loss which was mainly due to one-off capital expenditures (including a new computer for the Membership Secretary). The adoption of the Treasurer’s report was proposed by Charlie Martin, seconded by Ruth Kohner and agreed by the meeting. membership. The suggestion of raising fees had been put forward by one member at the 2016 AGM and the committee had undertaken to look into the matter at the request of that meeting. Jonathan reminded members that under the Club’s constitution, the setting of fees is solely at the discretion of the Committee, so no voting motion to the AGM was required, but that the committee “shall not exceed any limit placed on it by full members voting at the Annual General Meeting” . He then presented a summary of the views of members received during the consultation period in which it was clear that the majority of members would like or accept a small or moderate increase if it was felt by the committee that this was necessary. There then followed a lively debate about what such a limit should be, and some opinions on how any extra income might be spent if that occurred. Debate included the future way in which Stand Up Magazine could (or should) be distributed, as printing and in particular postage costs are such a major part of the Club’s expenditure. It was acknowledged that not everyone is computer savvy, but that e-reading is becoming more widespread. Ken Arthur informed the meeting that we had been investigating methods of distributing the magazine electronically. This has been mooted in the past, but even now there is no easy or economical means of emailing a large attachment to a mass audience, but that it would probably be preferable to Jonathan then moved on to the results of the Membership Fees Consultation which was entered into with the

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