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2023 AGM Update summary

By Roger Nichols on 8th February 2023 in Committee Meetings, Newsletter

For those who couldn’t make the recent 2023 Annual general Meeting here is a summary of all of the key points discussed and agreed at the very well attended meeting held at the Croft bar on Monday 23rd January.

League entrance fees will increase for 2023 from £40 to £45 per team with up to 15 players registered per team. ( This effectively represents the same cost as pre Covid years when the team registration was £30 plus £1 per registered player)
The existing Committee were re-elected with the very welcome additions of Paul Stone and Anton Wooloff both agreeing to return to the Committee. They are very welcome!!
A new (re-instated) position of Honorary President was proposed and agreed of and a suitable incumbent will be nominated and appointed by the Committee
The discussion over start times for matches was interesting but the proposal to compromise on our long established start time of 8.30 and the 2022 amended start time of 8 pm led to an agreement that the 2023 preferred start time will be 8.15 pm
Competitions other than the 8’s will again be held on Sundays as in 2022, but with the 3’s, 4’s and 5’s to be held on one day and the Pairs, Singles, Captains and Secretaries being held on a later date. full details and dates to follow.
The season will kick off on Wednesday 3rd of May with the first round of the 8’s and the league proper will start on the following Wednesday, the 10th.
The online registration of match cards which worked very well in 2022 will be retained.
The option (in the lower section/s) of playing with a minimum of 6 players per side will be retained as an option for 2023 season
Registration Night will take place on Monday March 20th at Abingdon Conservative Club for both the league and the Team 8’s Competition. Details will be on the website with registration forms soon
The entry date and for the remaining Competition’s will be agreed and confirmed later.
An effort will be made to recruit and attract more teams and players of all ages and gender for 2023 to enable us to increase our numbers above the 48 teams entered in 2022. We need to focus on both former and new pubs and clubs throughout the area and the benefits of having 16+ people spending money in their bar every Wednesday or every other Wednesday for 18 weeks of the Summer.
Thames Cables have kindly agreed to continue as League sponsors for 2023 and have asked that their sponsorship should include some increased focus (and benefits) on the lower sections.
It was proposed that we seek to build on the history of our Association first documented by our founder the late Basil Collins who documented the first 30 years of the Association. So we are seeking a volunteer(s)

I think that’s about it. It was a very well attended (19 teams represented) meeting with good discussion on a range of topics that impact our game and all of the teams and people who play it.

Wishing all Abingdon & District teams a Happy, Healthy and successful 2023

By Roger Nichols on 29th December 2022 in Newsletter

Well another year is almost over and it is has been a year when many of us have got back in the routine of a Summer of Aunt Sally.

48 teams entered the League in 2022 making it a successful season for the league after an absence of 2 years due to Covid restrictions.

We can now all look forward to the Summer of 2023 and hope we can continue, not only to welcome back all of the teams that played last Summer, but also look to recruit more teams to get us back near to our pre Covid entries of 60 teams.

The first step on the journey to Summer 2023 will take place on Monday January 29th when we hold our 2023 Annual General Meeting at Abingdon United FC starting at 8pm, hopefully representatives from all teams old and new will be represented and an Agenda will be published ahead of the meeting.

If anyone has any issues to raise please feel free to raise them in advance or at the meeting, any proposed rule changes will be discussed at the meeting, but if you would like to submit any proposed changes, preferably at least 7 days prior to the actual meeting. Any proposed rule changes from the Committee will be included with the agenda.

We know there are some lessons to learn from the previous 62 seasons and particularly from 1 or 2 of those changes introduced in 2022 which were designed to get us “back in the game”.

Mentioning the Committee brings me to our lack of numbers. Last year we functioned with only 4 Committee members, we survived, but it was hard work so a few new willing volunteers would be enthusiastically welcomed! It really isn’t too onerous either in terms of effort or time and it will take pressure of the 4 existing members assuming of course they all elect to stand again and are re-elected!

So the Committee would like to wish all teams, players, supporters and our many long suffering partners the very best of health and happiness for 2023 and look forward to welcoming you back in May for our 63rd year!

The 2022 Season Finale & Presentation Night

By Roger Nichols on 8th November 2022 in Newsletter, Summer League Reports

The Abingdon & District 2022 Aunt Sally season reached it’s conclusion last Friday with a very well attended Presentation Night held at Abingdon United FC. The highlight of the evening was the semi-finals and finals of both the Pairs and Singles Competitions which set the scene for what was to follow, the awarding of all of the league and team and individual competitions Trophies that had been competed for throughout the Summer. Amongst other things the evening provided a memorable and emotional finale with the last throws of the 2022 season in the Singles final. More of that later.

The evening started with the pairs, in the first of the two semis Ian Brook and Steve Enock from Croft Nomads were pitted against Geoff Lee and Stuart Wilson from Berinsfield Social Club who, on the night, were just a little more consistent and proceeded through to the final where they were facing Barry Townsend and Phil Adams from the Plum Pudding who had taken down the father and son pairing of Leigh and Brian Clapton from Abingdon United in the other semi-final. Brian was a late replacement for Scott Humphries who unfortunately had to miss the night due to work commitments.

Then it was time for the Singles semi-final’s featuring 2 previous Champions in Dave Butler and Barry Parker.

The first semi saw a battle of the “Daves” with Dave Sapey overcoming Dave Butler in a tight encounter.

The second semi-final was between Paul Barrett and the legend that is Barry Parker, who because of health problems, had only managed a handful of games through the season, but was clearly determined to compete in spite of his ongoing health issues. And compete he did, defeating his Abingdon United teammate to advance to the final.

So the singles final was to be a battle of old “Abingdonians” Dave of Abingdon Royal British Legion against Barry of Abingdon United.

Before then though was the Pairs final and that ended in a comprehensive win for the Plum Pudding pair in 2 straight legs chasing Geoff and Stuart’s sets of 5 dolls in each leg Barry Townsend contributed 11 dolls, a magnificent 6 in the first and followed that with a leg equalling 5 dolls in the second! This meant that the contribution from Phil Adams was not necessary in the first leg and then Phil was only required to throw 2 sticks in the second leg (he missed with his first surprisingly), but the title was theirs with 12 dolls scored from 14 sticks thrown!

So, to the Final with Dave Sapey making his first appearance against one of the legends of Aunt Sally and former world champion Barry Parker who has more than a little experience of playing in Finals having made well over a dozen appearances in individual competitions in his career and even more in team competition finals and as a key “anchor” for several league winning teams over many years.

The final produced drama and emotion, but not the high scoring that both players are more than capable of. In the first leg Dave was only able to hit 1 doll and Barry passed that with his 4th stick to win the first leg. The second leg was tighter. Dave setting hit 3 and Barry matched that, so it was down to 3 sticks apiece to decide the leg. Dave’s 1 doll was not enough with Barry equalling that , so it was 1 stick apiece………….both missed so back to 6 sticks to decide the second leg and Dave again set and it was 2 dolls so Barry needed 3 to win the final and he duly obliged with a stick to spare. The reception Barry received was the one he deserved as a true champion, an example to all who play the game at whatever level.

It was then on to the presentation of the Trophies all presented by our Chairman Reg Couch and there was a really good turnout from teams representing both winners and runners up of each of the 6 sections, the top doll scorers in each section, the various competitions and of the newly named Founders and Legends Trophy which was won by Derek Fletcher of Steventon Sports Club aptly at Steventon Sports.

The evening ended with a grand raffle with most of the prizes generously donated by members, teams or pubs (including AllSports who provide our trophies) who are members of the league in 2022. Thanks to a few who helped the evening run almost smoothly including our master of ceremonies, Paul Stone, to Ellen our photographer who took over 60 snaps throughout the night (these will be online in a couple of days –ed: ONLINE NOW), to our callers and “sticker uppers” namely Terry Downes, Ken Fisher, Dave Davies and Bob Duff, our “groundsman and caretaker” Brian Clapton who spent 3 hours helping to set up the room in the morning when he probably wanted to be “having a lie down” to prepare for his appearance later in the day and a very special thank you to Mick Samways who stepped in to oversee our raffle sales to ensure that we recovered all our costs of the evening through the raffle sales (Mick once a shopkeeper, always a shopkeeper!)

A full list of all of winners and runners up for the season will be on the website soon, all that remains is for me to close with a big thank you to all, who despite all of the challenges, made the 2022 season as successful as we could have hoped for back in the early part of the year!

And don’t forget the AGM in January 2023!

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