Price rises are voted in to protect county association
It took a marathon effort to get there, but the finances and management of Shropshire’s governing bowls body have a radical new look.
A joint EGM and AGM of the county association at Wem USC approved a raft of rule changes at what was the most important crown green bowls meeting of the year.
The annual player registration fee was raised from £2 to £3 with barely a whimper and club and league affiliation charges were doubled to £10 and £50 respectively in front of a packed room which made hearing for many a constant issue.
Slashing of expenditure during two Covid-hit years had reduced the county’s balances dramatically and, although treasurer Brian Kitson reported an unexpected surplus of £1,421 on last year, the finance committee felt this was the time for action.
A spokesman for the committee said: “One of the biggest problems we had in 2021 – and the same applies to 2022 – is that we have no idea how many players are going to return, which obviously has a major effect on our income.
“In 2019 we had 6,125 players registered bringing in an income of £12,250, while in 2021 we had 4,295 registered players bringing in an income of £8,590 – which left a big hole in our accounts.
“So this is why we have proposed the increases in league, club and player fees.” And finance committee chair Sean Round told delegates at the AGM: “We want to use the extra income to help our grassroots clubs in future, so please don’t tie the county executive’s hands.”
A tidying of the County Cup and Shropshire Cup rules was voted in, along with changes to slimline the county executive – with less delegates from only the major leagues – and the radical change of day and time of future county AGMs to a Saturday morning.
The meeting brought to an end a two-year reign as county president for Wency Icke, who handed the chain to Mike Potter, with Mick Jones to serve as his deputy.
Potter, nominated by the Mid Shropshire League, was president in 2015 while Jones was put forward by the Shropshire Premier League, accepting the post after the roles of the figureheads were changed earlier in the evening as part of the dozens of new rules passed.
All county officers were re-elected en-bloc with Jones, Keith Walton and Andy Smith to served as county senior selectors in 2022.
