South Eastern Centre Motocross Combine Minutes October 1999

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE SOUTH EASTERN MOTO CROSS COMBINE HELD ON WEDNESDAY 13TH OCTOBER 1999 AT BLINDLEY HEATH ( held after the dates meeting )

PRESENT : 19 Delegates were present representing the following Clubs :- Brighton, Crawley, GEST, Greenwich, Horsham, Sidcup & Twickenham.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE : Apologies for absence were received from Mr. Dixon ( Series Recorder ) and Mrs. Simpson ( Greenwich). Mrs. Clarke reported that Mrs. Simpson had recently been in hospital and she was wished a speedy recovery.

CHAIR : Mr. Eddie Herd took the Chair.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING : Mrs. Clarke pointed out a duplication in the circulated minutes of the meeting held on 9th June 1999 under Proxy Voting, this was altered and It was proposed by Mr. Lane and seconded by Mr. Horton. Carried. Mr. Brown said with the alterations to the make up of the Management Committee the Combine might have to meet more often to take on day to day decisions.

MATTERS ARISING THEREFROM : Mrs. Slight said she would like to point out that Crawley were now up todate with their subs.

INTER CENTRE TEAM MOTO CROSS : Mr. Pringle ( Team Manager ) gave a report on the event, starting with the good news that we were victorious and displayed the winning trophy to the meeting. He said he thought the meeting was a shambles and the fact is was run by the Southern Centre ACU a disgrace. There had been no tannoy system, so that it was difficult to know what was going on, there was a delay for nearly an hour with riders waiting on the line until a paramedic turned up and then the meeting was cancelled due to the dusty conditions half way through the day. There had been no presentation ceremony for the winners, which is essential at that sort of event and no medals or trophy had been given out. He felt that the meeting should be a prestigious affair and if it could not be organised to the proper standard it should not be held at all as it made a mockery of the efforts the individuals teams had made. He felt strongly that it should be held at the end of the season when all the Championship events were over so that the better riders were all free to take part. The South Eastern Centre Team had consisted of Danny Smythe, David Campbell and Ben Taylor with Jody Smythe being the reserve who also won both of the Support Races. Mr. Herd congratulated both Mr. Pringle and the team members on their great results. He questioned why there had been 4 team members and Mr. Pringle said the regs this year had requested it, he also pointed out the format for the last race had also changed. It was suggested that the Secretary write to the ACU Moto Cross Committee with Mr. Pringle's criticisms and suggestions. Agreed.

SIDECAR MOTO CROSS GP 2000: Mr. Herd explained that the event needed underwriting to the tune of at least £10000 before the consortium could consider taking up the option of the date in the year 2000.He distributed some application forms for a 100 Club and asked for everyone's support. Mr. Brown said if the date was not taken up by the end of October the ACU would be liable for a penalty and he felt this to be morally wrong as after all it would be our money that would be going to pay the fine.

REPORT ON THE FOUR CENTRES EXPERIMENT AND NATIONAL MEMBERSHIP : Four Centres Experiment :Mr. Brown said that the experiment had now spread into 5 Centres and that a combined dates meeting was being organised by the Centre Secretary in November. National Membership: This had now been approved and the ACU were going ahead with it. Members would now only have to affiliate to the ACU once and the fee had been raised from £2 to £5 and the idea was now going from an affiliation card idea into a combined/affiliation licence. The idea being that when you joined another Club you would not be required to pay the affiliation fee again. Mrs. Clarke felt it was important that our Four Centre's Experiment does not get smothered with this scheme as it would lose that new found freedom of not having to join another Centre. Mr. Horton asked for a definition under this new idea of Closed to Club events, Mr. Brown said that would not change but that any new members to his Club who were already affiliated would not have to pay again. Mrs. Clarke said she was still unconvinced that the rise from £2 to £5 was justified, Mr. Brown explained that there was no concrete evidence to support this figure and that it was hopefully a well founded estimate. He said it would be reviewed at the end of the first year and adjusted if it had been too generous Mrs. Clarke said that following Mr. Horton's revelations with regards to refunds from the ACU re Youth Licences who only lived within their postcode area, she felt uneasy with the idea of the Centre's portion of the affiliation fees being returned by this method. She disclosed that a large majority of the Sidcup membership lived within the Eastern Centre and Mr. Batten from Twickenham also confirmed this saying he himself did not reside in the Centre. Mr. Brown was asked to bring this up at NMC and see if before the system is set up the refund could be geared to the name of the Club they belong to as opposed to the postcode where they reside.

ACU MOTO CROSS MINUTES AND ELECTIONS : Mrs. Clarke produced voting slips for the 2 vacancies on the ACU Moto Cross Committee which contained 7 nominations .The result being the Secretary was instructed to pass on our wishes to the NMC representative that the South Eastern Centre Vote should go to D. Williams and F. Dixon. ACU Moto Cross Committee Minutes :Mrs Clarke read extracts that were relevant :- Start Straights : Length of start straight should not exceed 125m to the 1st bend and a minimum length should not be less than 80m. For below Regional Restricted moto cross events only the length of the start straight may be reduced to not less than 40m, however if the start straight is between 40m and 80m the permitted number of solo riders will not be more than 20/10 sidecars. Ambulance Cover : That at National Events, where it is thought the possibility of any interruption to the running of the meeting should be minimised, at least two ambulances should be present at the commencement of the meeting in order that one will remain available if the first had to leave the site with a casualty. This means that if both ambulances have to leave the event the racing/practice will have to stop until an ambulance returns. At Regional, Local centre and Club events where a second ambulance may be available at reasonably short notice. It will suffice to commence an event with one ambulance present on site. However, this must be in the realisation that is an ambulance leaves the site with a casualty the racing/practice must stop until an ambulance returns to the event. Mrs. Clarke said that she had recently written to the ACU Moto Cross Committee for a definition of a paramedic and what should happen if the paramedic had to go to the hospital during the meeting. She had a reply referring her to the definition in the handbook and clearly stating if there was no paramedic present at any meeting it would have to be stopped. There was much discussion on this matter with the main worry about the definition of the type of medical support not being very wide. Mrs. Clarke had been advised the ACU definition related only to Ambulance paramedics and that for example their Red X used A& E nurses who were equally qualified to deal with trauma cases but did not fit this qualification. Both the Crawley and GEST Club's said this would exclude the services of their present medical people and they did not know how they would get around it, it was felt that not only would it put a heavy additional fee onto the meeting but that it might not be possible to get someone out for every meeting. It was felt this had not been introduced by the Insurers as it was not applicable to Grass Tracks which were also speed events. It was agreed that the Secretary should write to the ACU Moto Cross Committee with a copy to be sent to the Chairman of the Union explaining the Combine's fears that this new rule would not be practical under the present wording and the shear cost would force Clubs to run outside the ACU. Age/Capacity Restrictions : The question of a 15 year old competing at International level and on a 250cc machine was discussed. International Rules allow this to happen. There was some discussion on the recent accidents involving Maureen Lovett and Sue Barber both who were injured whilst carrying out official duties but both were not in paid employment. Mr. Brown confirmed that both cases had been covered by the ACU Insurance policy. Mr. Batten was concerned about Bradstock's policy of not sending out a claim form to any of the riders that a Club reports as injured, he wondered if all injured riders should be given printed instructions on how to claim , this was thought to be inappropriate in some cases when someone was in agony and awaiting to go to hospital for treatment.

ITEMS SUBMITTED FOR DISCUSSION BY THE HORSHAM & D.M.C.C. & L.C.C.: Numbers to be worn on rider's back ( especially in poor weather conditions for Centre Meetings ) : Mrs. Hayden said that after the British Qualifier had to be cancelled because the lap scorers could not read the numbers she had been giving the matter some thought and wondered if numbered bibs would be the answer. There was some general discussion with some pros and cons and in the end it was agreed to ask the riders to make sure they had a bib with them in case of need when their entry was acknowledged. Seminars for marshals training in the South Eastern Centre : It was agreed generally that the standard of marshalling could be improved within the Centre but that because the majority were volunteers it would be difficult to get them altogether for a seminar. Mrs. Clarke said she thought the ACU were going to put a National Seminar on and perhaps Chief Marshals could attend that. Most Clubs issued an instruction sheet and Mr. Brown offered to print instructions on metal marshals point markers so that the marshals had a constant reminder of the main points in front of them.

BYMX AFFILIATION : Mrs. Clarke said that she understood from the ACU that East Kent might be switching their affiliation from the BSMA this year and it was agreed to invite them to our Combine Meetings.

TACTICAL VOTING AT CENTRE BOARD MEETINGS : Mrs. Clarke reminded delegates that we had a motion on the forthcoming agenda which would need support. She expressed concern at the attitude of some of the Management Members to the recent motion approved by the Centre Board that they appeared to be veering away from democracy.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS :

Day Licences : Mr. Batten expressed concern at the ever increasing number of day licences that were being sold at meetings which put extra work on the Secretaries. It was agreed that in future all events in the South East would have an administration fee of £1 added as an enticement for the rider to take out an annual licence.

National Licences : Mr. Batten would like the home club put on licences so that Club membership cards would no longer have to be produced. It was felt that this was open to fraud, a card issued by a club guarantees his fees have been paid where it was a known fact that many riders complete their licence forms themselves. Mr. Brown pointed out that this may all change with the new National membership.

Expert Grading Points : Mr. Batten, in his position of Moto Cross Grading and Recording Officer, brought up several anomalies in the grading rules:- He queried whether there were any Expert points to be earnt in 125 only races, the rules were read and Mr. Horton disagreed with Mr. Batten's interpretation. It was agreed that we write to Val Webb the National Recorder for higher clarification. The downgrading of Experts then came under discussion with the rules being looked up again it now seems that the rules do not mean a compulsory downgrading after 2 years if no points are scored, only if the rider requests it. Mr. Batten also felt that the office at Rugby were acting solely on rider's information and agreeing to downgradings not consulting recorders. The Secretary to write and express our concern. Carry over points : The length of time was discussed and it was agreed that a Junior had to earn 15 points in the year of his licence but he could carry forward any points from the last 6 months of one year and add them to points gained during the first 6 months of a new year ( still making it a 12 month period )

BYMX Dual Licences : Mr. Horton asked for clarification on a new rules concerning 15/16 year olds and riding in both Youth and Adult events. Mr. Herd asked Mr. Horton to write direct to the BYMX Committee as the rules had been made from the Youth side and not the Adults.

DATE, TIME AND PLACE OF NEXT MEETING : It was agreed to hold the AGM on Wednesday 1st December at Blindley Heath at 7.30pm. This would be followed by a general meeting at which the Championship Rounds would be allocated. Delegates were asked to send in their requests for dates to the Co-ordinator Frank Dixon before the meeting. There being nothing further to discuss the meeting closed at 11.05 pm.