Council Report 1985-1986

Published in the 1986-1987 Handbook.

This report has been compiled from the report given to the 1986 AGM by the Officers of the Association.

Once again the affairs of the Association have been administered by Management Committee and it is intended that this arrangement will continue for the forthcoming season.

Winter League entries consisted of 1 division of 12 teams and 7 divisions of 11 teams. League champions from 84/85 Electricity A not only retained the Division 1 trophy but also succeeded in winning the Shepherd Trophy for the second successive year beating Shepherds B in a very close fought final.

Winners of the Machell Trophy were Railway I who beat Coneysthorpe in a very good match.

The York Closed Championships were again sponsored by Northern Investment Management Company Ltd of Harrogate. Thanks to our retiring President Malcolm Hall. Entries for the championships were about the same as last year and a new event, a hard-bat singles championship proved extremely popular.

The Bagshaw Trophy entry was disappointingly low but produced a terrific finals night. The eventual winner was Chris Radford of Civil Service who beat Brian Walton of the Railway Institute 31-27 in the third game.

The Charity Pairs competition also had a very low entry with only 50 players out of approximately 300 registered taking part. The trophy was won by Jonathan Wooldridge and Richard Crowther who beat Keith Bojas and Lisa Clifford in a very entertaining match.

In Yorkshire League there were no sides promoted this year and unfortunately York 3, newly promoted last year, were relegated this year. The Veterans 2 side also found the going too tough in their first year in Division One and must play in Division Two next year.

The Sunday coaching sessions continue to attract enough young players to fill the eleven available tables but once more help from experienced players has been sadly lacking. A North Yorkshire Advanced Training Centre run by a 2 star coach has now been set up in York giving eight local youngsters a chance of further coaching and this has proved most beneficial.

The Annual Dinner Dance was held at New Earswick Folk Hall. Attendance was down on last year but for those who supported the event it proved to be a most entertaining evening.

The Treasurer reported a loss for the year and accordingly fees for next year have been increased.

At the end of the season Malcolm Hall retired and we welcome Bill Dodd as our new President. Also new as an Officer is Mike Sadler who took over during last season as Yorkshire League Secretary.

Sally Russell

General Secretary