NSW ROGAINING ASSOCIATION

Minutes of the AGM held Sunday 24th February 2001 at the Metrogaine, Freshwater High School, Curl Curl, Sydney

Present: Approximately 120 members of the NSWRA

Meeting opened at 4.00pm

1.	Motion to adopt the minutes of the 2000 Annual General Meeting

Proposed:  Julian Ledger	Seconded:  Ted Booth		CARRIED

2.	President’s Report

The President, Sue Clarke, spoke briefly to her report which had been circulated prior to the meeting. She referred to the six events NSWRA had successfully run during the year, the very many people who had volunteered their time, effort and talents to make the events a success and the Committee members who had worked hard to bring it all together. She particularly noted the successful running of the Australian Rogaining Championships. She urged members to continue to support  their Association particularly by volunteering and of course the great program of events lined up for the future. She noted that this was her second year as President and that she would not be standing for that role again but did wish to continue to play a role on the Committee.

Sue Clarke also tabled the Treasurer’s Report including the abridged Financial Statements for the Year Ended December 31 2000. Copies were circulated to the meeting. The Treasurer, Tony Maloney, was on hand to answer any questions. It was noted that there had an improved surplus of $4010 made and the Committee aimed to continue to ensure a surplus and build up reserves.

3.	Motion that the President’s Report and the Accounts incorporating the 2000 Financial Statements as approved by the Committee and tabled at the meeting be adopted

Proposed:  Tony Maloney		Seconded:  Richard Sage	CARRIED

4.	Election of Office Bearers for 2001

The following were elected on to the Committee for 2001

	President				Richard Sage
	Vice President				Alan Mansfield
	Secretary				Sue Clarke
	Treasurer				Tony Maloney
	Newsletter Editors			Andy Mein
	Event Manager				Mike Hotchkis
	Membership Sec/Volunteer Coordinator	Andrew and Belinda Pope
	Promotions Officer/Public Officer		Julian Ledger
	Equipment Officer			Graeme Cooper
	ARA Representative			Mike Hotchkis
	Webmasters				Stephen Castle and Rhonda Monahan
Committee Members			Nihal Danis
						Daniel Marlay
						Paul Batten
				
5.	General Business

There was no other business raised and the meeting closed at 4.15pm

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President’s Report 2002 AGM
2001 – The Year in Review

2001 was a strong year for the NSWRA.  A full calendar of events was supported and participation was healthy.  The Association has been able to consolidate on work undertaken in previous years, to show significant results, including our largest ever event and highest membership.  However, we face uncertain times.  September 11 has impacted on Rogaining and our insurances are set to rise.  We also face increasing challenges in our ability to access suitable land and, within our Association, the ability to generate the continuous stream of volunteers needed to maintain our activities.

The 2001 event calendar was diverse and memorable not only for the range of courses, but importantly the kindness shown to us by the weather.  Our first event, the Pelicans Roost Metrogaine was urban Northern Beaches with icecreams and hot bitumen.  The Wolgan Wander by contrast was rugged sandstone country on the Newnes Plateau.  The 2001 Paddy Pallin was memorable for its stunning views, perfect weather and 690 entrants; a record number for any NSW event, but also raising important issues for debate such as appropriate limits on the size of such events and the pressures from landowners on the availability of locations for courses.  The bush fire emergency over the Christmas-New Year period has serious implications for course options in the immediate future.

The 2001 Lake Macquarie event was memorable for the Hash House location, again for the perfect weather, and for some of us, the challenge of Rogaining during a hazard reduction burn-off.  In late October, the NSW Championships “Back to Bungonia” was held on the margins of the Shoalhaven River, adjacent to a previous event course. This is a practise that is likely to recur; the revisiting of areas previously recognised as good Rogaining territory.  Like most resources in this new millennium, good Rogaining territory is a limited commodity.  We need make the best use of what is available to us, and we need to take care of that resource to ensure its long-term viability and our continuing access to it.

2001 finished with a warm and social Socialgaine on the shores of Lake Macquarie. Rounding out a year of challenging and diverse events, the Socialgaine again brought members together in a relaxed and enjoyable environment.

Continuing our practice of recognising significant contributions to the sport of Rogaining, and to keep alive the memory of one who was formative in the develoment of Rogaining in NSW, the Warwick Marsden Award was presented at the Paddy Pallin Event to Stephen Castle for his efforts over many years including newsletter editor and currently as webmaster.

The NSW Champs also saw a renewed interest in Rogaining by university students. Our sport has enjoyed popularity with tertiary students in the past, however this did drop off in recent years.  The Eastern Australian University Championships – open to all NSW and ACT universities was run within the NSW Champs event.  The NSWRA contributed trophies for each of the 3 classes; Mens, Womens and Mixed.  This year, at the Australian Rogaining Championships in the ACT, the University Challenge will be Australia-wide. It is important that these traditional sources of support for the sport are retained, something which requires continual nurturing. The pastime of university student is increasingly transient and the networks between the Association and the universities must be regularly recreated as students become graduates and move on in life.

2001 saw the introduction of rolling membership.  In fact those of you here today will have shared in this new system, which is intended to retain more of the irregular and infrequent participants at our events, and to spread the renewal workload more evenly throughout the year.  It is pleasing to be able to say that 2001 has seen a significant rise in membership and that we ended the year with a record 1070 members, up from 865 the year before.  New entry and membership forms have also been introduced, and will be further fine-tuned throughout this year.  The Association’s web site is under continuous development and is capable of taking on-line entries and membership.

A strong volunteer support base is critical to the continued vitality and energy of the NSWRA.  The demand for assistance in organising each event, preparing each newsletter as well as the on-going administrative requirements of the organisation is relentless and cannot be carried by a few.  Active membership requires each of us to accept a responsibility to contribute on a regular basis.  Fortunately, the opportunities are diverse and the skills required generally modest.  

I would like to conclude these comments by saying that we have had a good year in 2001and we can look forward to another strong year in 2002. 

Thanks very much.