THE 2014/15 SIDL AGM
Minutes of the AGM held on 6th December 2014 at Lion Bar, District 1
1.
The 2014 Chairman Lee Dunton formally welcomed SIDL members to the 2013/14 Annual
General Meeting and declared the meeting open. 48 members from 16 different teams
signed the Attendance List, representing 67% of all teams and nearly a quarter of all
registered players, with 17% more members than attended the previous AGM.
2.
Minutes from the 2013/14 AGM held on 14th January 2014 were tabled by the secretary
Bob Wittenbach having previously been circulated by email to all team captains.
In a motion proposed by George Humphreys and seconded by Huck Nguyen, the minutes
were formally approved and signed by the chairman.
3.
Matters arising from the 2013/14 AGM minutes – Bob advised that Brett Nelson had
resigned from the committee on 23rd June and the committee noted its thanks for his many
years of voluntary service for the SIDL. The AGM attendees also showed their appreciation.
4.
Reports from the 2014 Committee Members:
4a
Secretary’s report – Bob advised that there had been eight formal committee meetings this
year and we had also had many online discussions during a busy year. The league had
started with 23 teams enabling us to revert to three league divisions of 7 or 8 teams, which is
the ideal number for organizing fixtures. A new team – Tequila Toros – joined in time for the
Autumn league at which point the committee decided to cap the number of teams this year
at 24, given that the calendar had already been published for the whole year. In addition to
Tequila Toros, this year also saw two other new teams – BIA and The Vinyls – all of whom
fulfilled their fixtures and therefore qualified to have their new registration bonds returned.
Bob congratulated The Vinyls for winning back-to-back championships, replicating the feat
achieved by Team Viet in 2012. He also congratulated Division 1 winners IB Team Viet and
The Tavern, who won the Autumn Division 3 title after missing out on promotion from the
Spring league by the narrowest of margins.
4b
Entertainment – Ethan King confirmed that the Year-end party had been booked and will
take place at the Windsor Hotel next Friday 12th December. This will be a full buffet after we
had had to scale the Mid-Year party down to a simple finger-foods format due to financial
constraints at the time. We also had far more people attend the mid-year party than
expected, which caused additional problems and henceforth we will be enforcing a maximum
of two tickets per registered players and venue owners. He also invited any suggestions for
next year’s mid-year party as we want to keep it a different format to the year-end buffet.
4c
Tournaments – Adrian Ramos reported on the various tournaments held during this year
and confirmed that he had visited all the venues to check their dart boards and playing
areas. Some players raised concern about the lack of space behind the oche in certain bars
and some customers walking in front of darts players just as they are about to throw. Lee
said ultimately it was up to the venue owners to try to impress on their staff the need for
safety around the darts areas during matches
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SIDL AGM Minutes 6 December 2014
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Phuong (from ACDC) asked why the finals of the Ladies Singles’ Tournament were played to
a best of 3.finish after the opening round matches had all been played best of 5. Adrian
replied that this decision had been taken due to time constraints in aiming to get all four
singles tournaments completed on the same evening at one venue. In the discussions that
followed, he conceded that it was better to have the final played to a longer format than the
earlier matches and that in future the Ladies’ tournament final will revert to best of 5.
4d
Website/Statistics – Kevin Kuruvilla said he was still having to remind some team captains
to get their results submitted by 12 noon on the Thursday following the Tuesday match but
was pleased that there had been fewer forfeits this year. Karl Conroy asked about the
players statistics and said that in the event of forfeits, the other team’s players should be
awarded average scores for tons and checks as otherwise they lose out to players able to
score points in all matches. Huck Nguyen said there should always be a difference between
points ‘earned’ and points ‘given’. Mario Jukic added that awarding a 12-0 win to the teams
whose opponents forfeit gives them a huge advantage in match differentials over other
teams if points are tied at the end of the season. Kevin replied that he can only apply the
rules as stated and that it is up to the members if they want to vote to change the rules.
4e
Media – Jeff Spijkers reported that as well as doing the designs for several posters for the
SIDL this year, he had done designs for several teams and invited any teams that did not
have a team logo to feel free to approach him for one. Our sponsor Tiger Beer had also
introduced a new logo so he will be arranging for new sponsors’ patches for team shirts.
4f
Sponsorship – Dung reported that due to managerial changes, Tiger were several months
late in paying their second half-year instalment from 2013 and did not confirm their 2014
sponsorship renewal until May. But they did commit for a full year and we are expecting to
receive the second half of this year’s sponsorship money later this month. Whilst we still
hope that Tiger will continue for 2015, we are also looking at other potential sponsor and
Dung is keen to see additional sponsors for other tournaments such as The Vietnam Open.
Glyn Evans asked why there were not enough dart boards ready for the start of the Autumn
season. Lee advised that because we did not have a confirmed sponsor for the first four
months of the year, we were compromised on when we could order new boards and came
very close to cancelling the mid-year party. When we were able to buy new boards, Lee
sent an email to all team captains, vice-captains and venues advising them to collect their
new boards – two per team – from RED Bar. However, despite the clamour from certain
teams, there were still some venues that had yet to collect their new boards. Lee added that
he committee had already ordered a further 60 new boards in readiness for next season.
Rick Horton noted that we had to send photographs from every venue each match week to
Tiger as part of their sponsorship deal. He asked whether we had copies and whether they
could be distributed to the teams. Lee affirmed that we do have all the copies and Kevin,
after consulting with Brett Nelson, said we would create an archive gallery on the website.
4g
Accountant’s report – Peter Knight distributed copies of the 2014 Financial Report and
pointed out that there were still some expenditure items to come including the Year-end
party. We brought forward VND 311,879,035 from last year and had received an additional
VND 406,850,000 income against year-to-date expenditure of VND 338,625,000.
Robert (Rab) Birss asked why we had paid VND 20 million for ads in Oi Magazine when
other local magazines would probably give us free coverage. Lee confirmed that this was
part of the agreed 2014 contract conditions with Tiger.
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SIDL AGM Minutes 6 December 2014
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Lee added that Dung had done well to secure a full-year’s sponsorship for 2014 after it had
looked very unlikely that they would renew. Unfortunately, the late payment by Tiger meant
that we had to pay a statutory fine of VND 6,800,000 for late tax payment.
In answer to a question from Kris Goetghebeur, Dung confirmed that as of today, we had
VND 359,096,000 in the bank account.
4h
Chairman’s report – Lee said this had at times been a very difficult year with several
problems which we had had to deal with and he thanked the committee for doing a great job
on the SIDL’s behalf. Nevertheless, he felt this had been a good year for darts and he was
pleased to see a stronger league with more Vietnamese players taking part.
Brian Houx asked whether the Vietnamese National Championships could be opened up to
all nationalities to become a Vietnam Open. Lee replied that we had created the National
tournament to attract more Vietnamese entrants beyond the current SIDL membership –
which we had succeeded in doing this year – and to try to boost interest in darts and to give
something back to Vietnam. .
5.
Election of officers for the 2015 Committee
At this point, Lee handed the chair over to the secretary Bob Wittenbach. Bob clarified that
the results of the votes about to take place would take formal effect from 1st January 2015.
5a
Chairman – Bob reported that we had received one nomination in advance for the position
of chairman, namely George Humphreys. George confirmed his acceptance of the
nomination and was formally proposed by Rab Birss and seconded by Jeff Spijkers.
Bob then asked Lee Dunton whether he would be standing again. Lee replied that it had
been a privilege to serve the SIDL these past five years, but that he felt it was time to pass
the baton on and therefore he would not be standing for re-election.
Bob then asked if there were any other nominations from the floor. Mario Jukic proposed
Jeff Spijkers, but Jeff replied he would prefer to stay as Media office if re-elected. Huck
Nguyen proposed Kevin Kuruvilla and this was seconded by Brett Nelson. Kevin accepted
the nomination, and with no further nominations, Bob asked each of the two candidates to
address the members present.
Kevin said he would continue the good work that had been done by Lee and he would also
ensure full accountability on finances with regular mailings of the accounts to team captains
which would hopefully alleviate criticisms in the future on such issues as availability of new
dart boards caused by the sponsorship payment delays. George praised Kevin for his work
but said that he would be completely open with members by publishing all the committee
meeting minutes as well as financial reports. He did not believe in airing dirty laundry on
social media and said he would always try to do his best and to do the ‘right thing’.
Bob then asked the members present to vote by show of hands for each candidate. By a
confirmed majority of 28 votes to 12, George Humphreys was declared and is hereby
appointed Chairman of the SIDL for the calendar year 2015.
5b
Secretary – Bob Wittenbach advised that he had enjoyed and been proud to serve as
secretary since 2010, during which time he had helped to establish a league structure with
promotion and relegation and had built up an archives to give the league greater heritage,
but pressure of work and other commitments dictated that he should step down as secretary.
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SIDL AGM Minutes 6 December 2014
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George Humphreys invited Brett Nelson to stand but he declined due to pressure of time.
George then invited Kevin Kuruvilla and after some encouragement, Kevin accepted the
nomination. Jeff Spijkers formally seconded the proposal and with no further nominations,
Kevin is hereby duly appointed Secretary for 2015.
5c
Entertainment – Bob advised that we had received one nomination in advance and this was
for Kris Goetghebeur. Kris accepted the nomination and he was formally proposed by Tran
Thai Dung and seconded by Mario Jukic. Bob then asked Ethan King whether he would
stand again for the role and he affirmed his willingness. Stephen Guess formally proposed
Ethan and the motion was seconded by Andrew (Coach) McDonnell. With no further
nominations, the members present were asked to vote for their preferred choice.
The first vote was too close to call and a second vote produced 19 votes each. At this point,
Ethan decided to withdraw his candidacy and switched his vote to Kris. Therefore, Kris
Goetghebeur was hereby duly appointed to be Entertainment officer for 2015.
5d
Media – Jeff Spijkers indicated his willingness to stand again. In a motion formally proposed
by Bob Wittenbach and seconded by Lee Dunton, and with no other nominations, Jeff is
hereby reappointed Media officer for 2015 by unanimous vote.
5e
Sponsorship – Tran Thai Dung confirmed that he was willing to stand again. In a motion
proposed by Kris Goetghebeur and seconded by Ethan King, and with no other nominations
received, Dung is hereby reappointed Sponsorship officer for 2015 by unanimous vote.
5f
Accountant – Peter Knight stated he would not be standing again. Carl Owen proposed
that Chad Young be nominated, which Chad accepted. The motion was seconded by Peter
Knight and Chad Young is hereby appointed Accountant for 2015 by unanimous vote.
5g
Tournaments – Adrian Ramos stated he was stepping down so Bob invited nominations
from the floor. Karl Conroy proposed Rab Birss and this was seconded by Sam Dawson.
Mario Jukic proposed Rick Horton and this was seconded by Ethan King. Both candidates
accepted their nominations and the vote was put to the members present. By a majority
vote of 22 to 13, Rick Horton is hereby appointed to be Tournament officer for 2015.
5h
Website and Statistics – The only nomination received was for Kevin Kuruvilla, proposed
by Cuong Le. Brett Nelson seconded the proposal, advising that whilst he would continue to
maintain the SIDL website platform, he does not have the time to serve on the committee.
Kevin agreed to accept the nomination and is hereby reappointed by unanimous vote.
5i
Rab Birss proposed that a sub-committee be set up comprised of non-executive members to
review the SIDL Rules & regulations in fine detail and to report back with recommendations
to the executive committee before the beginning of the new league season. Mario Jukic
seconded Rab’s proposal and George Humphreys accepted the idea and called for 4 or 5
volunteers to serve on the sub-committee. The following five members put their names
forward and are hereby appointed to sit on the Rules & Regulations sub-committee:
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Rab Birss
Lee Dunton
Ryan Gear
Patrick Hoy
Mario Jukic
At this point, the meeting closed for a 10-minutes break.
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SIDL AGM Minutes 6 December 2014
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Formal handover of the chair to the duly elected 2015 chairman
George Humphreys reconvened the meeting and proposed a vote of thanks to the 2014
executive committee members, which was duly given.
7.
Proposed league structure and tournaments for 2015
David Riches asked whether we could organize a darts cricket tournament. Rab Birss noted
that with presumably nearly three months until the start of the new league season (after Tet)
now was a good time to organize something a little different, such as a cricket tournament.
George said that Game On would be organizing blind-draw tournaments on Tuesdays and
he knew that other venues will also organize tournaments during the winter break. Rab
agreed many venues would be holding regular darts events, but said it would be good to
have an SIDL-sponsored tournament during this break.
Adrian Ramos asked about the Vietnam National Championships and Rick Horton answered
that they would be looking to hold this during January.
Kris Goetghebeur suggested having a ladder tournament running through the whole year,
whereby players would be able to challenge anyone up to five places above them. This
would be a different ranking tournament to the divisional player standings introduced this
year by Brett. George said the committee will discuss all these ideas at the first meeting of
the new committee.
8.
Rules and regulations
Having earlier established a Rules & Regulations sub-committee, George asked that they
meet before December 31st and then have a second meeting to refine their collected
recommendations for the executive committee to ratify before the start of the new season.
Included within the rules would be the Scorer’s Etiquette adopted at last year’s AGM.
Rick asked all members to forward any suggestions they may have to Rab.
There being no further business, the chairman thanked everyone for attending and declared
the 2014/15 AGM closed at 9.40pm.