Some more answers to your questions below. If the question doesn't appear quite as you submitted it, it may be that I've merged it with another question or I'm still waiting for an answer to part of a question to come back from a committee member.

Q25. We are in our second year at the Club and are generally in favour of the new management structure. If the proposals are given the green light at the EGM then the General Committee will be disbanded. Could a member of this committee enlighten us as to the functions, purpose, membership etc, so we can make an informed decision on how to vote?

A- The General Committee meets every three months. It is made up of the Executive, potentially 6 members, plus the General Committee potentially 10 members. Also invited are Officers Reporting to the General Committee, potentially 9 members, though these can’t vote. So you can have as many as 25 members present, though in reality it is always below this number, though I have known high teens. Also 5 of these positions are vacant at the moment and sometimes a member holds more than one position. Paul Kelly, for example, is Greenkeeper and Men’s Captain. The full list of members can be found here-

http://www.wellingtonbowling.club/community/wellington-bowling-club-9633/club-officers/

To see what we talk about I suggest you look at the minutes. This year’s minutes are here-

http://www.wellingtonbowling.club/community/wellington-bowling-club-9633/2020-committee-minutes/

With last years archived here-

http://www.wellingtonbowling.club/community/wellington-bowling-club-9633/2019-committee-minutes/

You will note virtually everything is covered, and if all members present have their say meetings usually last well in excess of 2 hours. By the end, most members are losing the will to live and the final few items are rarely discussed in detail.

The General Committee are fully behind the new proposal, they can see that streamlining committees into focused smaller sub-committees must be the most effective way to move the club forward.

Q26. I still think this new structure looks bloated with far too many posts. You have 27 which is ridiculous when most clubs have no more than a dozen.

Well, if you follow this link you will see North Petherton have 39 officers.

https://northpethertonbc.sportsclubwebsite.co.uk/officials/default.aspx

Admittedly they have a larger indoor section that us, but we will by no means be the largest in the area.

Williton have just over a third of the number of members we have and have 17 officers-

http://www.willitonbowlingclub.org.uk/club-officers

Watchet are a large outdoor club, but still have under 90 playing members. They have 26 officers.

http://www.watchetbowlingclub.net/

Bridgwater have 35- http://www.bridgwaterbowlingclub.co.uk/

So 27 really isn’t that bad? The idea is to share the work around more members.

Q27. I see not all posts listed on the website are included in the sub-committees. I’m thinking specifically about the county representative? And where, for example, do the club coaches sit in the hierarchy.

A- Yes, I think that’s the only one we haven’t included. That post fell under Officers Reporting to the General Committee. It will be up to the new Executive to decide where this post sits in future. No doubt they will talk to the post holder, Mike Groves, who has been doing the job since before a young Francis Drake took up the game many years ago. It could “Report to the Bowls Committee” or perhaps directly to the Exec. It’s essentially a standalone task. The constitution allows the Exec some flexibility with posts and this flexibility will be needed over the next 6 months. Any changes the Exec makes should be put to a vote at the next AGM for confirmation. Though the proposal allows the Exec to recruit some of the officers for the sub-committees without recourse to an AGM vote.

Regarding the coaches and the comment about the hierarchy it’s important to remember that we are all volunteers so there isn’t really a hierarchy as such. Under the old system the coaches didn’t report to anyone, they just got on with it as required. I guess, if ever they had a problem, they would go through the bowls sub-committee.

It’s been suggested that we use the term coordinator rather than manager. If implemented that will be something for the new Executive to decide on.