Today, Monday 16th August 2021, we hosted our Annual General Meeting via Zoom. From the last 12 months, here are the highlights and the people we’re incredibly proud of for making Riga a success even when we lacked a competitive season ?. #GoRiga
The full PDF of the annual report is here.
Highlights of the 2020-2021 season:
- In September 2020 we were awarded the Volleyball England Club of the Year award. Full story about that in here.
- We have successfully started, grown and continued a coached programme for juniors, with the help of Alex Smith, Clare Francis and Jon Chetham, plus our volunteers who gave up their time to support these sessions.
- Our men’s team manager Chris has been appointed as a team leader for Team England beach volleyball team for the Commonwealth Games 2022
- Our junior Polly has made it to the U18 England National team
- Our Club Secretary Jules/Iulia has been a runner up for Volleyball England’s Volunteer of the Year Award 2021
- We were successful in getting over £1,600 from the Sport England Return to Play fund
- Our Club Treasurer Clare was shortlisted for BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY) Unsung Hero Award in recognition of all she does.
- We’ve run very successful outdoor recreational sessions which have attracted new people to our club and raised awareness of Riga
Your newly appointed 2021/22 committee
- Chairperson: Mim Anderson
- Treasurer: Clare Francis
- Secretary: Iulia Protesaru
- Men Team Manager: Chris Jones
- Women 1 Team Manager: Sophie Zillmann
- Women 2 Team Manager: Francesca Damiani
- Recreational Session Manager: Declan Perry (Welcome Dec!)
- Club and Junior Development Officer: Jon Chetham (Welcome Jon!)
- Events Manager: Stefania Moro (Welcome Stef!)
President’s Award:
The nominees:
This year’s nominees earned their stripes through continuous commitment to the club, going above and beyond and being amazing examples of the power our volunteers have ?
They all deserve to be mentioned too, alongside a few of the nominations members of our club have submitted:
Netti – “For coming back into the sport after a break to help the next generation! She helped out at every single junior session on a Saturday and even got her knee pads back in action when numbers required it ? “
Jon Chetham – “For his passion and commitment as a coach across all teams, especially the junior development team, and his achievement to promote the women’s first team after so many years in Division 2.”
Jon Chetham – “For stepping up and taking on the junior beginners with such good grace and humour throughout to help more kids learn the sport and grow our Club ? “
Clare Francis – “For a million things: being our go-to person in general, being our go-to for covid, always on the ball, always proactive, taking on the Junior advanced session for 3 months, bang on in the middle of Saturdays, continuing to somehow find even more ways to be a useful, resourceful and energized human being who can power us forward. Thank you Clare”
Clare Francis – “She kept us all updated with the latest guidelines from Volleyball England and made sure that we were following the right procedures, even during these challenging times.”
“All involved in delivering the first introduction to volleyball post lockdown, particularly Clare Frances.
For being so brilliant at making it happen, making it exciting and getting my son hooked! For all the hard work arranging the festival, then having it rained out. And finally for constantly sharing great info above and beyond- such as the Olympics link. Thank you.”
“Clare and Jules, for keep the club going in the Corona times.”
The winner: Clare Francis
For her incredible dedication to the club, nearly 20 years of service, being our sense check when we desperately needed a compass, expert at pretty much everything, always someone to look up to, forever leading by example, supporting every single committee member and just a wonderful committee colleague, the winner of the 2021 President’s Award is Clare Francis. Congratulations Clare, 100000% deserved. Thank you for everything.
Your questions answered:
A few of our members submitted questions for the committee to address at the AGM. Here’s what we said.
1) When the evenings get shorter the outdoor sessions move back to Sunday afternoons?
For the duration of August we will continue with the outdoor sessions on Wednesday evenings only. As of 6th of September, we will move the sessions back indoors, at Bablake School in Coventry, on Monday evenings, 8-10PM. These sessions will be bookable in advance, via the website, on a weekly basis.
2) Will the indoor recreational sessions continue at Bablake on Monday evenings?
Yes, the recreational session will move indoors as of 6th of September, on Monday evenings 8-10PM like they always have been.
3) Will tests be required for the matches? Will we be asked to show that we have been vaccinated?
The current guidance from Volleyball England (VE) does not include a requirement for the players to show proof of vaccination. Our club has taken the measures we thought would be appropriate to keep everyone safe, in accordance with the VE guidance, UK Gov guidance, and our members’ answers based on the surveys around COVID safety we ran a few weeks ago.
Big thank yous:
- To all our volunteers who supported our junior sessions so far, and especially Netty for the commitment to helping the junior sessions
- To coach Nick who this year stepped down from his position but who steered our Women’s 2 team through winning the West Midlands League a few years ago, and later through Division 3 NVL, through finishing in 4th position during the last season we played
- To Alex Smith for bringing our club development plans so far
- To John Boughton who so very kindly audited our accounts and supported our club for many, many years
- To Zofia for stepping up to coach our Division 3 women’s team
- To Marta for coaching our Men’s team
- To Jon for the many, many years of coaching our Women’s 1 team and now the beginner juniors
- To Clare for the nearly 20 years of service to Riga and especially for taking a leap into coaching our advanced juniors
Thank you and welcome to all the new volunteers who have come onboard this new season! There’s always room for more if you’re looking for another way to use your favourite skills ? and be supported by a very dedicated committee team.
Here’s to an amazing 2021/22 season ? #GoRiga