PROBLEMS in filling administrative posts in bowls was again highlighted at the Northants Bowling Federation annual general meeting held at the Parkway club.
For the second year running the county will be operating without a President as no nominations were forthcoming, and so the officers will again have to share presidential duties next year.
There is also a vacancy for the Adams Trophy team captain, and unless that is filled before the start of next year's county championship programme, which returns to normal after the pandemic, then a selection panel will have to be formed to select the team.
Fortunately, key administrative positions have been filled with Melvyn Beck (secretary and competition secretary), Les Sharp (treasurer) and Graham Agger (match secretary) all re-elected, while Dick Noble becomes the county's first chairman, Peter Brown replaces Neil Wright as safegarding officer and Cliff Watson takes over as results secretary from Barry Lawrence, who was made a life member for his major contribution to the county over many years, although he will continue as a member of the management committee.
There was also a tribute to Malcolm Squires, who has retired from county administrative duties after forty years, including two terms as President.
Club delegates supported a motion from the executive to streamline the administration which has seen the four team captains removed from the day-to-day operation and the maxiumum number of committee members reduced from ten to six.
The appointment of a chairman for the first time is aimed at bringing some continuity to the running of committee meetings, especially in the absence of a President, who has traditionally chaired meetings. In future the President will be able to concentrate solely on ceremonial duties without the additional responsibility of chairing meetings.
One other motion from the committee that earned support from the club delegates was for clubs in the future to have just one voting delegate instead of two, as it was felt that if delegates were mandated by their clubs to vote a certain way, then it was not necessary to have two votes.
In his annual report, secretary Melvyn Beck warned that unless more people came forward to assist in the running of the county, then the long-term future of the county would be under threat, adding that this apathy was not simply confined to bowls, but to other sports and organisations.
In the competition secretary's report, Melvyn Beck said that fears of a possible slump in county competition entries following the scrapping of the 2020 programme owing to the pandemic did not materialise, with total entries only being 28 down from what was received for the previous year.
He added that it would be interesting to see whether the indoor entries will be affected as a result of the loss of last winter's competitions. There were 97 entries for the 2019/20 season, a drop of six on the previous year, but forty down from the 2016/17 campaign.
Treasurer Les Sharp thanked Forterra for their continued sponsorship of the county,
FULL LIST OF OFFICERS ELECTED
President – Vacant; Chairman, Dick Noble; Secretary, Melvyn Beck; Treasurer, Les Sharp; Match secretary, Graham Agger; Competition secretary, Melvyn Beck; Results secretary, Cliff Watson; Minutes' secretary, Linda Toms; NDC representative, Melvyn Beck; Press officer, Melvyn Beck; Safeguarding officer, Peter Brown; Management committee, Mick Greaves, James Harford, Barry Lawrence; Adams captain, vacant; Newton captain, Dick Noble; Derbyshire A captain, James Harford; Derbyshire B captain, Malcolm Squires.
