Note: The minutes were taken by the Competitions Manager as the Secretary resigned minutes before the meeting.

Apologies for absence

None were received.

Minutes of last Committee Meeting

Agreed to insert on line four in the minute about Tony Mourad "support as general manager or coach."

Matters arising from last meeting

• Chris Careless was now the northern rep
• An advertisement was being put into Octopush News for a southern rep
• Martin Reed, webmaster, had updated the website
• It was agreed to set up an international committee for Octopush

Ladies Elite Coach

The chairman said that the post was vacant, since Antoine Mourad had resigned. Tony had said that he would unresign if he had the full and unconditional support of the B.O.A. Committee for whatever issues he saw fit. At a vote, the B.O.A. Committee refused to give this support on the basis that no committee member should have such support and all committee members must be governed firstly by the wishes of the membership, and secondly the wishes of the B.O.A. Committee.

It was noted that no substantiable formal complaint had been put in writing about Tony Mourad's behaviour, but he had written a letter defending his actions in Slovenia. Jane Fahy had come along to voice her support for Tony, and to state that he had not behaved inappropriately. She accepted that reservations existed in some quarters of the association about his character, but claimed that his heart was in the right place. Colin Deller called for a written procedure to govern the conduct of coaches and officials.

Neil Dixon invited the ladies elite to join in the women's masters' coaching sessions. It was agreed to re-visit this topic after details were published in Octopush News.

Pucks

Tony Mourad had written to the Chairman complaining about the Competitions Manager's decision to buy a quantity of Dutch pucks, which had been ratified unanimously at the last committee meeting. Neil Dixon said the decision was the Competitions Manager's and the committee should support this. The meeting resolved to do so.

Constitution

The Chairman reported that a paper existed from about 1996 which provided a good framework for a new constitution. A sub-committee was formed to produce recommendations to be ratified by the members at the next annual meeting, due to held in April 2000. It was agreed that the Chairman, the Treasurer, the Competitions Manager and the Development Officer would be on that sub-committee, which would be organised and chaired by Colin Deller.

Development plan

The Development Officer said this document was important to build bridges with other influential parties. Step One should be a questionnaire. The Competitions Manager had had an informal meeting with a Sports Council employee. The Chairman said such informal contacts should be encouraged.

Sports Council

The Chairman said BUSA had many links with the Sports Council. This had been made possible by Marion Wheeler's work which had enabled Sports Council recognition. The Welsh Octopush teams were now also affiliated to the Welsh Association of Sub-Aqua Clubs. This link had had no negative impact on the sport. The Chairman agreed to write to the WASAC to build bridges.

Officers Reports

• The Publications Officer intended to publish Octopush News quarterly
• The chairman lamented the fact that most of his time was spent adjudicating between people's petty, personal rows. It was little wonder that the association and therefore the sport were going nowhere fast.
• The Treasurer reported that some 50 clubs had renewed their membership, providing a £2 900 income and covering 600 players. He drew attention to a survey among members, which had called for Octopush News to be published more often, and more local tournaments to be organised
• The Competitions Manager said preparations for the Nautilus Tournament were progressing in a satisfactory manner. He appealed for more people to help with the organisation. He was also taking soundings about the regional tournament planned for early January, and was concerned that there was little interest from the members. The Chairman suggested that the Competitions Manager decide on the regional event after the Nautilus.

The meeting ended as scheduled at 4pm.

Tim Arnold, Competitions Manager and acting Secretary.