Annual General Meeting

18^th March 2007, 15:00 start (15:50 actual start)

The Clubhouse, Shinjuku

First point of note was the rather disappointing and tardy turnout, but we hope this is due to the active schedules that many of the Gaijins have on weekends with charity events and missionary work and so on which prevented them voicing their opinion in this forum. The attendees were as follows:

Squad Members

Joffa Harris

Alaister Nimmo

Jesse Cutler

Dave Kelver

Bati

Paulo Berriozabal

Lawrence Hii

Steve Bull

Toru Kanamori

Niall Conlon

Jono Dean

Jeff Cutler

Jo Iwasaki

Shaunne Hughes

Hitoshi Chirahara

Mike Parks

Club Supporters

Kyoko Kawano

Shino Iwasaki

Hitoshi-san’s better half

Club Manager – Joffa Harris

The club collectively agreed that Joffa’s input into the club is invaluable, and as such is an irreplaceable member to the team, both on and off the pitch. He was chomping at the bit to take on the pressures and delights of manager for another year, and with a unanimous vote, was re-elected Cub Manager. We have subsequently learned however, that a telephone vote was logged 3 minutes after the final decision, voting against Joffa as Club Manager. A source tells us that the call was logged from Tarumi Harris’s (Joffa’s wife) mobile phone, though this has not yet been confirmed.

Club Captain – Alaister Nimmo

Three were nominated for the position… Jo Iwasaki, Jesse Cutler and Alaister Nimmo. Discussions were had, and although the three nominees weren’t given an opportunity to speak, a final vote saw Alaister pip the other two contestants to carry on as Captain for the 2007-2008 season.

Vice Captain – Jesse Cutler

Much deliberation on not just the nominees but whether we should have a “Back’s Captain” and a “Forward’s Captain”. We concluded that for the time being, one vice-captain sufficed, and thus we were left to choose between Shaunne Hughes, Jesse Cutler and Niall Conlon. Niall pulled out of the role, Shaunne delivered an emotional and epic speech worthy of a scene in Gladiator, and Jesse was elected. Although questions were raised about Jesse lack of vocal prowess, a valid point worth noting was that since Alaister tends to be unnecessarily loud during the games, that a bit of tranquillity might act as a balancing Yan to the captain’s Yin.

Chancellor – Steve Bull

An upstanding a highly credible member of the team, Bully has been doing a fine job as Chancellor of the club. The fiasco with the authorities regarding his money laundering operations seems to have blown over, and he is now back on straight and narrow and is a willing to give 110% to the position. He also needs Y20,000 for club fees for the year, which he has/will be collecting, conveniently before he goes on a family package holiday to the Maldives for two weeks. I understand the deposit for the travel agent is needed in the next few days, so Bully kindly reminds us that the club dues are of utmost importance.

Tour Manager – Niall Conlon

This was a topic of much debate, as although all members of the club agreed that tours are enjoyed by all and gives the club the opportunity to spread the Gaijin Love, a lack of interest has caused much angst for those organising the tours… namely Niall. Thus, a few suggestions were made

• Go to different places to keep interests high

• Invite non-Gaijin players, e.g. some players from the Shuto League teams, All France, Cru, whoever.

The conclusion was that we will go on tour only if there is sufficient interest.

Social Secretary – Niall Conlon and Steve Bull

A new position which both Niall and Steve aptly qualify. The general consensus was to use the Clubhouse in Shinjuku more often. This will include after games, rugby matches on TV (particularly with the World Cup around the corner) and the sort. Also we will be organising some BBQs in the summer to keep numbers up in training sessions.

Other topics:

Recruitment

More of an effort must be made to recruit players. We will print off flyers and pin them up in the clubhouse. Jerry mentioned that he has a poster colour printer in his office and would be happy to print off anything we might want to advertise.

Training

All team members were happy to continue using Futakoshinchi as a training ground, though it would be good if we could reserve one of the pitches… something for us to ask Takashi-san as he lives locally. Also, that as men, we train rain or shine, and on time, which is 10:45 meet, 11:00 start.

I will also start weekly runs around the palace for those eager beavers on Wednesday evenings. I will send out an email in due course.

Website

The club expresses thanks to Mauro who spends much time on the site. Everyone agrees he does a fine job and is well kept and maintained. There was talk about setting up a message board. Also talk of a calendar for dates of rugby matches and training. All sounds very positive but no-one was delegated to take control of this request. Perhaps Mauro would have some suggestions.

Emails

A plea from Bully to please be prompt in replying to emails.

Jerseys

We often have problems when it comes to washing the jerseys. The club decided that from now on, when the team list is sent out to the club for the match in the upcoming week, we will allocate a member of the team to do the laundry. If however you wish to volunteer, that is your call (for instance, you might live close to that particular match)

Articles for the website

Joffa expressed wrath at the lack of help he received in the website write-ups. Myself, Mike Parks, Dave Kelver and Steve Bull all volunteered to help.

Here ends the minutes of the Tokyo Gaijin Rugby Football Club Annual General Meeting held on the 18^th of March 2007.