AGM

Annual General Meeting
held on 10th September 2008

Present: Andy Donald, Camelot; Harvey McGavin, St Leonard's; Phil Johnson, Mark Parsons, Oliver Goldsmith; Sayed Fakrooden, Djaffar Ziriat, Allen Edwards; Steve Underwood, South London Schools FA; Matthew Griffin, St Mary's & LPSFL Chair; Michael Brady, various LPSFL schools; Matthew Terdre, Simon Allen, Clapham Manor; Darren Anon, Macaulay; Stephen Gale, various LPSFL schools; Worrell Gayle, Glenbrook; Graham Lane, LPSFL Treasurer; Steve Griffiths, Brian Warner, Sudbourne; Gary Cornforth, LPSFL; Laurie Heselden, South bank YFC; Arthur Williams LPSFL President; James Kennedy, London FA.

1. Apologies:

Paul Thomas, Victory & LPSFL Secretary; Sharon Hall, Walnut Tree Walk;
Dominic Hughes, Rosendale.

2. Election of Officers

President – Arthur Williams
Chair – Matthew Griffin
Treasurer – Graham Lane
Development Worker – Gary Cornforth
Secretary – Paul Thomas

All elected unopposed.

3. 2007 AGM minutes

There were no matters arising and they were proposed as an accurate record of the meeting by Steve Gale, seconded by Worrell Gayle.

4. James Kennedy - London FA on grant funding

James did a power point presentation and outlined the types of grant available and stressed that he is available to help schools complete and submit applications. Up to £9000 is available usually paid over 2/3 years, schools have to find 10% of the cost of their application. Eligible costs include level 1 & 2 FA coaching courses, hire of qualified coaches, facility hire, affiliation fees, travel expenses, publicity and promotion, recruitment events/taster days, first aid kits. Things not funded include permanent employees, purchase of mini buses, IT equipment, travel expenses to watch games, insurance, consultant or admin. costs, kit and equipment (a separate grant is available for this), end of season presentation events, overseas travel.

The junior kit scheme is for £400 worth of kit or training equipment, 2 applications may be made every 3 years if 1 is for a boys team and 1 for a girls team.

There is also a grant for fixed goalposts which will pay for 1 goal out of 2 up to 4 sets.

James is happy to answer queries and guide people through the application process and if enough schools want to apply he can arrange for a visit to Soho square one evening to do the applications on the spot. He can be contacted on james.kennedy@londonfa.com

5. Review of 2007/08

Gary reviewed the season noting that we had gone up to 33 teams in the league which had been split into three leagues of eleven. Most schools completed all or nearly all their fixtures, a small number played slightly less but all winners and runners up places were decided and the Magazine Cup once again provided an exciting and skilful end of season finale. The weather caused the loss of fixtures in January and once again the pitches at the Southwark Sports Ground were flooded from November to April. This resulted in a backlog of fixtures with the knock on effect of some schools finding it difficult to play all their games because of competing events in the summer term, eg school trips, cricket tournaments, SATS etc. All results including cup games are on the web site www.lpsfl.com as are the final league tables.

Discipline was good with no action needed by the league apart from one or two informal discussions with coaches. However it was noted that a small number of parents still tend to get over excited on the touchline and the usual target is the referee. Schools were reminded that it is their responsibility to ensure spectators behave themselves and set a good example to the children. See also the item on the FA Respect Campaign.

Gary reminded schools that it is essential that they confirm matches with their opposition at the beginning of the week and that he needs to know of any problems asap so alternative arrangements can be attempted. As usual fixtures will be posted on the website and a weekly e-mail reminder will be sent out. At the moment it is not certain how far in advance fixtures will be done as the number of teams and factors such as district games and schools other commitments disrupt fixtures and result in major fixture revisions which are a major headache.

The other issue of note remains the future of Rosendale Playing Fields. LPSFL has been assured by Lambeth that there will be no redevelopment of the site till next spring at the earliest and hopefully it will be available for use by September '09. Gary had a site meeting last week with the sports consultants engaged by Lambeth to draw up recommendations for the site and is to be involved in stakeholder consultations on behalf of LPSFL. He will e-mail any news on this issue and post information on the website.

Finally, all schools to note that this season they must complete and return in the addressed envelope provided the league application form given to them with the agenda papers at the meeting. This will provide LPSFL with all the information we require and which now very importantly needs to include some details as to pupil numbers, entitlement to free school meals etc. This information is now necessary to assist in funding bids and it will normally need to be included in any funding application we make. If there are any difficulties with schools releasing the information please assure them that LPSFL do not require individual data and we would not use any information from single schools but merely as an aggregate for all our schools. If schools are still reluctant to release such information the league Secretary who is himself a head teacher is happy to speak to your head or whoever to reassure them. For those schools not at the AGM you will be sent a copy of the form shortly to be returned to the above address. Please get them in as quickly as possible.

6. Finance

We had a closing balance of £4,320.25 which was down approx. £550 from the start of the season largely as a result of the cost of the 7 a side tournament in June the costs of which were not met fully by our grant from the Walcot and entry fees. Graham stressed that as usual the figures could be a lot worse as pitch hire costs do not fully reflect the number of games in the season. If for example we were charged for all our games at Rosendale our finances would be significantly worse. Currently we pay indirectly through paying for Gary's time at Rosendale keeping the field and pavilion clean, opening and closing and generally helping maintain the site. This season pitch hire costs at South Bank will increase but as the facilities are excellent we continue to play there.

Graham also pointed out that the Walcot Foundation have changed their grant criteria and will not be funding our 7 a side tournament in the future so we will need to explore other funding streams if it is to carry on in the same manner as for the past 12 years.

Steve Gale asked if we had approached any professional clubs re funding and pointed out that Fulham have signed a number of players from our schools. He is to speak to Gary about using his contacts to approach Fulham. Steve Underwood also has contact with Millwall.

7. League Fees

The Executive Committee felt that we are able to keep school affiliation fees at the level of last season ie £250. This was agreed unanimously by those present and Gary will therefore as usual be sending out invoices shortly. Schools should ensure these are paid promptly as we have a number of large up front expenses at the start of the season.

8. Girls Football

Gary informed the AGM that he had attended a meeting at the London FA at the end of last season arranged by Emma Barnes their South London girls football development worker. Rob Wilkinson formerly of Allen Edwards now director of coaching at the School Sports Partnership based at London Nautical School was also present as was James Kennedy. Emma and Rob are looking into setting up some form of girls football competition in Lambeth with the first step to organise a one off competition in the autumn term. Any schools which would want to enter a girls team for such an event and also be interested in regular games should let Gary know by e-mail.

9. Format of Competition

Gary advised that he intended to continue with three divisions of eleven teams. We have had some enquiries from new schools but no firm commitments so numbers remain the same. Schools need to let Gary know if they think their team will be significantly stronger or weaker this year before the fixtures are drawn up. It is envisaged that games will start on 27 September with four matches at Rosendale, four at South Bank and two at Southwark Sports. It is very important that schools inform Gary of any commitments that prevent them playing on certain dates. Unless a school has a good reason for not playing on a certain date including 27 September they will be expected to fulfil their fixtures. LPSFL will try and take account of particular problems of schools and coaches re dates, venues ko times etc but it will not always be possible to agree to changes to fixtures.

The issue of three points for a win was raised and after a vote it was agreed by a majority that we will keep to two points for a win and one for a draw although St Leonard's did voice, as last seasons draw experts the hope that we would decide to award three points for a draw.

10. South London Schools FA u11 Representative Team

Steve Underwood the Secretary of South London advised the meeting that the primary representative team had another successful season in 2007/08 winning two competitions the Finch and the Kay for London district teams and being the only team to inflict a defeat on Lewisham (twice) who were otherwise undefeated and national champions. They also as usual played in a small sided tournament in France and came back from that with a third place trophy. Steve said this was a reflection of all the good work of the schools in LPSFL and last season in particular was helped by the district team having regular training sessions which he hoped to continue. We also produced successful girls district teams with the help of Michael Brady and Steve Gale which it is hoped will continue this season.

Steve informed schools that he will be holding trials for this seasons team on Friday 19 September starting 5pm at Rosendale Playing Fields. Please make sure that all above average players are invited to attend. Playing in the district team is an honour for the players and their schools and gifted players also have the chance of playing for the Inner London County team.

Steve was thanked for his dedication and hard work over many years and which started at both primary and secondary levels well before LPSFL came into existence. It is hoped this will continue for many more years.

11. Referees - FA Respect Campaign

Arthur introduced the idea that in line with the FA's campaign we should introduce the routine of both teams before the start of a game lining up on the pitch for the referee to speak to them and check for jewellery, shin pads etc. and then shake hands with each other. There being no dissenting voices this was agreed and will be implemented from the start of our new season. Gary will inform our referees accordingly.

In line with this schools are once again asked to remember that LPSFL provides qualified referees, some of them are very young and effectively learning their trade but all, young or not so young are to be treated with respect regardless of any mistakes they may make or unpopular style of refereeing.
As has been made clear in previous seasons any displays of dissent towards referees will only have negative consequences for the school concerned which include LPSFL contacting the school head and if required expelling the offending team from our competitions. Team coaches and managers are expected to exercise control over their spectators and lead by example in not voicing or showing dissent. Dissatisfaction with any aspects of a game should be done through LPSFL officers. A complaints procedure is in place and copies of the complaint form are on the web site.

12. Fair Play Awards

As the sponsor of these awards Arthur reported that he had presented to the winning schools in assemblies and they were very well received. It was noted that this is valuable publicity for us and reflects well on all concerned. It also provides a point of interest for those heads and teachers in schools who are not particularly sports oriented. Of last seasons winners, Bonneville, Fenstanton and Glenbrook Worrell of Glenbrook said that his head had been very impressed and pleased to receive such an award which showed the school in such a positive light.

We will continue to ask referees to mark schools in every game, it is expected that all players are told about the need to play in a sporting manner and any regularly falling below acceptable standards will asked to account for their behaviour.

Gary pointed out that fair play awards are not simply consolation prizes for weaker teams, all teams should be pleased to win them and it is a fact that strong teams competing for league and cup honours have been awarded them.

13. Annual 7-a-side Tournament

The 12th event took place in the summer and as always was a thoroughly enjoyable event. However Graham had already informed the meeting that funding for future events is in some doubt as our historic funders the Walcot Educational Foundation have changed their criteria so it may be necessary to find alternative sources of finance. It had already been reported that this years tournament operated at a sizeable loss which if repeated would use up our small reserves very quickly.

In the event that the 13th tournament does go ahead it was agreed that if we have more teams wanting to enter than can be accommodated some form of ballot will be organised. Their was discussion around the numbers of teams we can include and the difficulties of increasing numbers above the 20 we usually have pointed out. Given the size of the league it seems apparent that we will never be able to have all LPSFL schools in the tournament.

14. Magazine Cup

Once again this provided a great finale to our season with the quarters, semis and final itself producing exciting, good quality football. The final was reported in the South London Press although the late date of the match meant coverage came after end of term. The league which runs the competition on behalf of South London Schools FA will endeavour to stage 1st and 2nd round ties earlier this season to avoid having to play the final rounds in July. This is even more important now as Rosendale may not be available to us in the summer term.

15. Website and web shop

Gary reminded people to look regularly for fixtures and information on the website and also about the links to lots of online shopping that the league can get some money from if people use it.

The league website is www.lpsfl.com and the online shopping website through which we get commission on purchases is www.buy.at/lpsfl links for which are on our website.

16. AOB

Refreshment sales at Rosendale
Arthur brought to everyone's attention the fact that Sally Cornforth provides this service free of charge most Saturdays at Rosendale and not only does it help towards the cost of providing referees it provides a focal point at the ground before and after games. It goes without saying that it also offers much needed refreshment to players and spectators alike. LPSFL has formerly thanked Sally who would be grateful for any offers of help from parents etc.

Football beyond primary school
Mark Parsons made the point that football in secondary schools was so hit and miss that he encouraged his players to go to local amateur clubs when leaving primary school. There are plenty of such clubs in South East London and Gary would be happy to provide details for any age of secondary school pupils wanting to join a club.

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The meeting finished at 8.00 just in time for everyone to watch a certain World Cup qualifier on the big screen in which one of that rare breed, an English gooner managed a lucky hat trick.