South Eastern Centre Motocross Combine Minutes October 1998

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE SOUTH EASTERN MOTO CROSS COMBINE HELD ON WEDNESDAY 14TH OCTOBER 1998, AFTER THE MOTO CROSS DATES MEETING AT BLINDLEY HEATH.

PRESENT : 21 Delegates representing the following clubs signed the appearance book : Brighton, Crawley, GEST, Greenwich, Horsham, Sidcup and Twickenham, also the Chairman and Secretary.

CHAIR : Mr. Eddie Herd took the Chair.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE : Mr. Wood was taking the minutes at the Grass Track Dates meeting and would not be able to attend.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING : It was proposed Mrs. Simpson and seconded Mr. Lane that the minutes of the previous meeting on 1st July 1998 be adopted. Carried.

MATTERS ARISING THEREFROM : Seminar Date : Mrs. Clarke said that she had heard nothing further from the Centre about setting a date for a Seminar for new Clerks of the Courses and she felt we should now press them for a date as, with the new season coming Clubs had to get licenced Officials to be able to run their meetings. Mr. Dixon said the Management Committee had discussed the matter because for the bulk of the licenced Officials will find their present licences will expire at the end of 1998.Mr. Herd asked Mr. Clarke if he would be willing to run a course, Mr. Clarke agreed and it was decided to fix a date for the Seminar on 6th January.The Secretary was instructed to write to the Centre Secretary.She was also reminded to make sure we inform the South Midland Centre if they wished to attend as well.Mr. Herd added that in future there would have to be a short piece on environmental matters and the Secretary was instructed to write to Colin Boniface, who was the Centre Environmental Officer asking him to deliver a short ditty to the students. Additional Class : There was a progress report on the experiences of Clubs so far, Mrs. Clarke said that at a recent Sidcup Meeting they had applied it to the Twin Shock Class and everything had gone smoothly with everyone being accommodated with the amount of rides they wanted. Mr. Slight said the demand from the Four Stroke boys seemed to have died down this year. Bank Account : Mrs. Clarke, in her position as Treasurer , reported that the Bank Account was now up and running and that we could pay in as well as draw out!

RAISING THE PROFILE OF THE CENTRE CHAMPIONSHIPS : Mrs. Clarke produced a proof programme cover in full colour which Mr. Wood had submitted together with some faxes of possible uses of the logo.This was circulated amongst the members and the matter was left for the moment and to be placed on the agenda after everyone had had a chance to study the items. There was some discussion on the merits of dropping a score from the Championship Results with some diverse views being expressed from too little rounds to too much.

REPORT ON THE FOUR CENTRES' MEETING Mr. Brown said the other 3 Centres all seemed suspicious of our motives, the South Midland seemed the most in favour, the Eastern Centre not answering anyone's requests and the Southern Centre turning anyone down if it clashed with a meeting in their Centre. He understood from NMC level that the National membership scheme idea seemed to be floundering but that they are watching us closely to see how we get on and that we have their full support. Mr. Clarke said that at a recent Sidcup meeting out of 158 entries , 23 were out of Centre so it seemed to be catching on with the riders and was popular. Mrs. Clarke said that she would like to propose we adopt a very radical idea to help the scheme on its way. This year, by the time we had started the scheme, most riders had either joined a club or renewed their membership in more than one Centre, so the benefit to them would not have been felt. Now is the time of year for renewals and she felt that we should enclose a letter outlining the scheme and urging out of Centre members that they need not re join if they did not want to. There was some discussion as to the wording of the letter and whether it should also be sent to the other Centres but in the end it was agreed that Mrs. Clarke and Mr. Brown concoct a proforma letter that everyone could use, this would be done with some urgency bearing in mind the time of year and that renewals were nearly upon us. Mr. Herd outlined how the other Centres set their dates, apparently the South Midland do the same as us with a meeting of Clubs, the Southern split their Centre into 2 regions with alternative dates and the Eastern arbitrarily grant dates whether it is convenient to the Clubs or not! Mrs. Clarke felt that we would have to move on soon with the problem of gazette circulation for the other CENTRES and Mr. Brown said he could see a time when there would be a 4 Centres Gazette with each Centre having their own sub editor and section. Mr. Horton from GEST said he felt something could also be done to help day members paying the ACU twice, Mr. Brown suggested he opened his Closed to Club meetings on a standard RR permit. Mrs.Clarke stressed again the need for standardized Club membership cards and checking at all meetings to make sure riders did indeed belong to a club.

INTERCENTRE TEAM MOTO CROSS REPORT : Mrs. Clarke said MR Pringle, the Team Manager had been very pleased with the teams 3rd place performance.He had been unhappy with the organization of the Irish Schoolboy Club experiencing some strange things like the appearance of a wild card team which did not represent a Centre but a manufacturer!He felt the idea of the Moto Cross des Nations idea had worked but was not keen to keep up the link with the Schoolboys. Mrs. Clarke said Sidcup endorsed this saying we should go back to having 2 separate meetings, one for the Adults and one for the Youths.Mr. Les Batten proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Pringle for once again coming in the Top 3.

CENTRE CHAMPIONSHIP LOGO : The logo having been circulated was discussed at some length, it was felt to be on the right tracks but needing different colours to make it stand out more. It was agreed to regulations in the gazette should have something all around the edge of the page to make it stand out from other regulations.The costs were another factor with not everyone using Mr. Wood to print their programmes and it was felt Mr. Wood should be present to answer more questions. The Secretary was instructed to invite him to our next meeting.

ACU MOTO CROSS COMMITTEE MINUTES : Mrs. Clarke had copies of the June and August meetings and brought to the attention of the meeting changes for next year to the Standing Regulations for Moto Cross. SR26 Foul, Unfair or Dangerous Driving , a change of meaning from the Clerk of the Course will exclude to may exclude and Medical Services , it is no longer possible to use another vehicle instead of an ambulance at a meeting. Mr. Brown was not happy with the change of emphasis in SR26 saying it could make the Clerk of the Course's job more difficult.

SELECTION OF 2 NOMINEES FOR THE VACANCIES ON THE ACU MOTO CROSS COMMITTEE : Delegates had been circulated with the details of the 7 nominees : R. Collins, N. Fisk, Mrs. B. Moors, D. Nicoll. J.E. Webb, D. Williams and J. Willis. Mrs. Slight of the Crawley Club said she would have liked more notice to discuss things with her Committee, Mrs. Clarke said she had only been told of the matter over the phone the previous Monday by Mr. Herd and thought something should have come sooner via the Centre Secretary if the new idea of delegating all things relating to the discipline to the Combine was to work. Sidcup proposed Dave Williams, Crawley Dave Nicoll and Twickenham Nik Fisk. Both Mr. Clarke and Mr. Batten were worried about Dave Nicoll's lack of local expertise in moto cross, granting that he had a lot of experience at FIM level but not at Centre level. A vote was then taken and it was agreed that the SE Centre would endorse Dave Williams and Nik Fisk.

MOTO CROSS FORUM SATURDAY DECEMBER 12TH Mr. Herd said that under the new ACU constitution it must hold an open forum once a year, he urged everyone to attend the forum at Rugby be they a Club or a rider.

MOTION FROM THE BRIGHTON CLUB : Once the SE Centre Championship Calendar has been published, any date changes or additional dates will not be allowed to count towards the Championships. Mr. Brown explained this followed on from the complaint from David Williams when a Greenwich Championship meeting was moved this year.There was some discussion and the motion was seconded by Mr. Clarke from the Sidcup Club. Carried.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS : Mr. Batten said not only did we have problems with race meetings clashing but that most Clubs held their annual dinner and dances in February and he would like to give notice that Twickenham's would be on February 27th. Greenwich and Crawley will be clashing on 6th February with Sidcup on the 20th. Mr. Horton said he had heard rumours of a new insurer for next year and was there any information. Mr. Herd said the brokers were changing from Bowring to Bradstocks but not the insurers. They had agreed to keep the rate the same for the next 3 years but with increased benefits.Cover would also include to and from events or meetings for officials, cover whilst preparing a meeting even if the permit has not been issued, pit crews would be indemnified against 3rd party incidents they cause but not covered under the general policy. This could be available but would have to be arranged separately. They would also quote to cover Club equipment, we would also be able to build up a low claims bonus and the way commission was paid would be much quicker and would be 3% of the monthly bottom line figure.

DATE, TIME AND PLACE OF NEXT MEETING : It was proposed Mr. Brown and seconded Mr. Dixon that we hold the AGM and the next meeting on Wednesday 2nd December at 7.30 pm at Blindley Heath. Mrs. Clarke asked for all items for the agenda to be sent in straight away and MR Dixon would require the individual Club's choices for Centre Championship rounds by that meeting. Mr. Clarke asked the Clubs to consider whether they would run a Twin Shock Class so that we could get a Twin Shock class going in the Centre, he felt it would add to numbers at meetings. There being nothing further to discuss the meeting closed at 10.40 pm.