Veterans League
The battle of the 'big guns' in the Veterans League Management Committee went the way of the League Secretary as he overcame an appeal from the Vice-President to reverse a result of a Julie Fuller Trophy match.
Last month (28 May) I reported on the last round of the Julie Fuller Trophy when there was some confusion about the result of the Brockholes 'A' v Thongsbridge 'C' tie. That report included notice of a heated exchange of views regarding the eligibility of one of the Thongsbridge team. This resulted in the League Secretary later amending the result on Bowlsnet to a 21-0 win for the Brockholes player.
This reversed the result of the tie and meant that the Brockholes team progressed and are shown on Bowlsnet as the team winning through to the next round. As forecasted the Thongsbridge team and in particular the League's Vice-President didn't take that reversal well and he lodged an appeal against that result at the League's Management Committee meeting yesterday (Monday 12 June).
The League Secretary added a comment to an earlier posting on this topic on the HuddWeb website on Sunday where he reinforced his position by stating that he would 'resign with immediate effect' if the Management Committee vote should go against him. Again his Comments are reproduced in full after the League Secretary's written report to the Management Committee.
In preparation for that meeting the League Secretary prepared a written report for members explaining the circumstances that had led to the conflict. I have been given a copy of the full report presented to the meeting and this is reproduced below in full. This report includes the statement that 'I will be seriously having thoughts about continuing my role as league secretary'.
League Secretary's report to the Management Committee in full
Julie Fuller Trophy for 6-Man Teams
(a) This shall consist of three pairs.
(b) Teams to consist of six players who must qualify by having played 50% of league games played prior to the start of any round of that year’s competition or with the discretion of the
Competition Secretary.
(copied from Richards email)
called you on the Thursday evening before our match asking for a dispensation to play John McDonald who hadn’t bowled for us for several seasons due to infirmity but prior to that had been a regular bowler in the 6-man team. You graciously accepted my request.
I did challenge you that it would be alright bearing in mind we were playing Brockholes and you assured me that the players would be alright with it.
On the day you turned up to watch the match at Slaithwaite and you saw one of our pairings lose 20-21 to Brockholes but John McDonald and myself won easily 21-10. That meant before the final pair went on Thongsbridge were 26 up including the aggregate.
That’s when the Brockholes players started to question why and I explained you’d given us an unqualified dispensation.
Firstly your dispensation didn’t say he had to be registered but secondly I would say he’s been registered with Thongsbridge for many years and it was a surprise to me to find that he wasn’t. We have a policy not to delete players unless they’re dead or have transferred to another club and when I checked on Bowlsnet to find he wasn’t registered in the current season I was very surprised. How could that be and who de-registered him?
under knockout competitions general
(j) Any team playing an ineligible bowler in a Knock-Out match shall be expelled from that competition for that season. Clubs and players transgressing this rule may be fined as determined by the Management Committee.
under registrations
2b) ALL CHANGES to player registrations held by the League Secretary and new registrations must be notified with name, date of birth and BCGBA membership number by the end of March each year. Clubs wishing to add new players after the start of the season may add the name, date of birth and BCGBA number on Bowlsnet. Clubs not providing ALL the relevant data may be fined £10 at the discretion of the Management Committee. Any player wishing to transfer from one club to another after the start of the season will only be allowed with the written consent of the Management Committee.
It is obvious that thongsbridge haven’t updated the registration list by the end of march since 2022 as per the above bye law. In 2022 a total of 17 registered players were removed from the registered list,john McDonald being one of them, so who updated the list for thongsbridge?
(copied from Richards email)
Notwithstanding this last challenge I would say that you didn’t say he had to be registered otherwise I could easily have ensured that he was.
Best wishes
Richard
Surely everyone knows for a bowler to play in the veterans league or any other league they have to be registered and be in possession of a bcgba number.
If the boot had been on the other foot. (eg) if brockholes (or any other team) had played an unregistered player,then brockholes (or any other team) would have been penalised.
Nowhere in the above rules does it state that the dispensation allows a team to play an unregistered player.
This non registration came to light on Friday 26th may, which is 18 days to today, no attempt has been made to re register the offending player by thongsbridge. ?.
If this result is over turned,then we will be deemed to be breaking all 3 of the above rules. And I will be seriously having thoughts about continuing my role as league secretary
As league secretary I feel I have implemented the correct actions
So I therefore leave it in the hands of the management to decide on the action (if any) to take.
The League Secretary also posted the following Comments on the HuddWeb website on Sunday 11 June:
ok, lets have some facts. thongsbridge asked for dispensation to play a bowler who had not played any qualifying league games required to meet the criteria for the round of the julie fuller. i granted them dispensation, on the day of the match it was noticed that the bowler in question was not a registered bowler for 2023.he had been deleted off thongsbridge registered list (along with 16 other bowlers at the end of 2021. what amazes me is that the thongsbridge captain thought that the dispensation also allowed him to play a non registered bowler. he also stated that he ASSUMED that the bowler was still registered.as league secretary i cant believe that this is being brought to a meeting of the mc for them to decide if i took the appropriate action. if the mc vote to reverse my decision then there will be a vacancy on the management with immediate affect.
So the League Secretary hasn't resigned neither has anyone else, so the Management Committee stumbles on and continues to choose to publicise its internal bickering. A posting yesterday on the homepage of the League's Bowlsnet system can only inflame the situation between the two officials of the League as refers directly to the circumstances surrounding this conflict and this says. *New post (monday 12TH june)
this is copied from our byelaws regarding the 50% rule for rounds of the julie fuller team k.o.
Julie Fuller Trophy for 6-Man Teams
(a) This shall consist of three pairs.
(b) Teams to consist of six players who must qualify by having played 50% of league games played prior to the start of any round of that year’s competition or with the discretion of the Competition Secretary. granting dispensation only applies to amount of league games played.it in no way allows clubs to play an unregistered bowler
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