EFA
Chairman's Report 2001-2002
This has been a year of somewhat mixed fortunes. Sadly Philip Curtis, the Chairman of the Charitable Trust died in March, the construction of the courts at Westway has been delayed by many months, but on a happier note an inaugural EFA dinner was held in May, which was a considerable success and the EFA and the Rugby Fives Association have set up the Fives Forum.
Philip Curtis
It is fitting that I should start by touching on the death of Philip Curtis. As most of you know, Philip, who was chairman of the Charitable Trust, died in March. It is hard to think of anyone, who has contributed more than he did to Eton Fives in the last fifty years. He sat on the EFA committee for more than fifty years, which is certainly unique, joining it just after the War, serving as Secretary, Treasurer, Vice-President and President and with encouragement from Richard Black set up the Charitable Trust. He was, of course, a Kinnaird winner partnered by Jimmy Biggs. His obituary appears elsewhere in this Report, but I would just like to add a personal note. Although I had known Philip on and off for over fifty years, I got to know him well when I became Chairman of the EFA six years ago. No one gave me more encouragement and help in my early years as Chairman than Philip. I will miss him sorely. I know that all members of the EFA would wish to join me in sending our condolences to Marijke and his family.
Westway
Last year when I was writing the Annual Report, I had envisaged that in this year's Report I would be able to tell you what a success the first year of Westway had been. But sadly as you all know, there have been major problems in the building of the courts and the wall surfaces were rightly deemed to be unsatisfactory. This is not the place to go into the whys and wherefores of why this should have been so and why it should have taken so long to sort it out. But on a more encouraging note I am writing this report at the end of July having just seen the courts at Westway. The new rendering of the walls has not been quite finished but looks very promising and I am optimistic that we are going to have good courts. Anthony Wagg and I have recently had meetings with Westway about how we will work together and I am delighted to report that there is considerable unanimity between us about what has to be done.
In the meantime, as members know, the EFA, anticipating that the courts would be ready last October, put Mark Marriott into Westway as our Fives coach. While Mark naturally had a somewhat frustrating time as the courts could not be used, he has written an excellent report on his five months there. This appears in the report on Westway later in this Annual Report and, if you are interested in what I feel may well be the way ahead for Fives, I would very much encourage you to read what he has to say.
Despite the frustrations many of us have experienced over the delays at Westway, we should draw considerable confidence and enthusiasm from Mark's report. There is a great deal for us to be excited about at Westway. Mark appears to have established that there could be considerable interest in Fives amongst the local schools he approached as well as enthusiasm for it amongst the staff at Westway, including most importantly their tennis pro's.
Westway itself goes from strength to strength. 'Time Out' in its 'Sport, Health and Fitness' annual guide, recently nominated Westway as the 'most community aware facility' in London. We are very fortunate that Westway decided to include Fives as a part of their major development plan. I am quite clear that we could not find a better base from which to test the appeal of Fives to a wider audience.
It now looks as if the courts should be in use by the time you read this report in October. In the meantime, if all goes well the EFA is planning to have another coach, Mark Herring, in place by then.
EFA Dinner
After discussing it for a number of years at board meetings the board decided to hold an inaugural EFA dinner. Ed Taylor volunteered to organise it and Mark Williams offered us the facilities of the Masters' mess at Eton. I kept my fingers crossed; it is always difficult to gauge what the success of a new event is likely to be. The dinner took place at the beginning of May. Fifty-five of us, including quite a few partners sat down to an excellent evening at Eton.
I am delighted to say that it was a greater success than I had envisaged. One of the encouraging signs was that all ages were represented. Mark Williams presented the trophies, which had been won at the EFA competitions during the year. For some time, we have lacked an event, which could be a focal point for Eton Fives; I think this dinner has filled that gap and I am pleased to report that it is planned to make this into an annual event. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ed Taylor and Mark Williams for all they did to make it such a success.
Fives Forum
As I have reported for a number of years, the EFA and the Rugby Fives Association have been forming closer ties. Increasingly we are finding that there is a considerable amount we can learn from each other. At the end of last year, the governing bodies of the two associations decided to form a joint body, which we have named the 'Fives Forum'. Three members from each association sit on this Forum, which meets twice a year. I should stress that this Forum has no jurisdiction over either association. But it means that there is now a formal forum where we can discuss the administration of our relevant games. For instance, the EFA has recently learnt a considerable amount about the building of Fives courts from the renovation work, which has been carried out to the Rugby fives courts at Alleyn's. The front walls there have been reconstituted to a finish, which is very nearly as smooth as that on the walls at Eton. It is this finish which we now hope will be achieved at Westway.
Report on Funding
James Toop spent two months at Westway. As the courts were not in use, he used these months to research and produce a report on the possible means of funding Fives, This is an excellent report on which James should be congratulated. The EFA board and the Charitable Trustees will be discussing the implications of this report and how some of the recommendations can be put in motion.
Schools & Courts
I am delighted to report that Oakham School, where Alex Aldous has recently arrived to take on the responsibility for Fives, have spent a considerable sum of money on renovating their courts. They plan to be playing their Fives seriously this winter. At the same time, there are signs that Uppingham may soon be back playing.
At Stowe, it now looks as if it may be another year before the existing courts are pulled down. In the meantime, the school and its old boys are planning to build new courts. The Charitable Trust has promised a considerable donation towards these courts.
At Eton, a 16th court is currently being built. I am particularly interested to see how this will turn out because it is making use of the finish - Armourcoat - used in the Real Tennis courts, which have been built in the last ten years. It will certainly produce very smooth shiny walls. It is a process with which the Real Tennis players are delighted.
Some progress, albeit slow, appears to being made at Cambridge, towards the building of the new courts. It appears that planning permission has been granted for the whole of the development. The University has now set up a funding-raising body to raise the considerable sum of money required for the whole development.
Competitions & Tournaments
The Kinnaird was won this year by Robin Mason and Tom Dunbar, who beat Eddie Wass and Jamie Halstead. I know that I wasn't the only person, who was delighted to see Robin Mason receiving the cup once again. He proved an admirable mentor to Tom Dunbar, who was playing in his first Kinnaird final. It is to be noted that there are now two Kinnaird winners currently in residence at Oxford - James Toop and Tom Dunbar. Is this a record for a university?
I should like to make special mention of the London tournament, which was somewhat on its knees a few years ago, when the EFA asked Howard Wiseman to take over the responsibility of running it. Last December's entry was about 120 and virtually every leading player entered plus a good entry from the Zurich club. It is now a thriving tournament. Congratulations to Howard for having made it such a success.
This year was very much the year of the Old Olavians. They deservedly won the League and the Alan Barber Cup.
I am delighted to report that the match-management scheme, which was pioneered two years ago, appears to have come of age and is currently being used by two or three teams. If you are having problems in getting sides out, it would be well worth your while having a word to Mike Fenn about the system.
HSBC Schools Championships
The Schools Championships were held this year at Shrewsbury, who as always provided a hospitable and well-organised venue for these Championships. A special word of thanks goes to Mark Lascelles on whom so much of the work for making the arrangements at Shrewsbury falls. His enthusiasm and coaching skills were well rewarded when his senior pair reached the finals, where they were beaten by Highgate.
There were in fact five pairs between whom there was not much difference. Highgate, Shrewsbury, Eton, Berkhamsted and Harrow. In the end, I suspect it was the greater experience of Alick Varma of Highgate, which was the deciding factor. There was a memorable semi-final between Shrewsbury and Eton, which went to 14 all in the 5th game; Eton, having had two or three match points, lost.
Alick Varma and Oliver Rodwell became only the third pair in the history of the Championships to have won the Open, Under 16 and Under 14 competitions and Highgate deservedly had an outstanding Championships also winning the three other major competitions, the Under 16, Under 14 and Under 12. Congratulations to all their coaching staff led by Brian Matthews, Peter Knowles and Tony Brunner.
The Championships were once again sponsored by HSBC to whom the EFA are very indebted for their continuous support. As always HSBC hosted an excellent dinner for the masters-in-charge of Fives.
A great many masters-in-charge and a number of other volunteers put an enormous amount of work into these Championships, but as always the moving spirit and energiser is Mark Williams. This is an excellent opportunity to thank Mark for his untiring efforts.
Eton Fives Charitable Trust
Following on Philip Curtis' untimely death, Rodney Knight was appointed chairman of the Trustees. This is a very welcome appointment; Rodney was, of course, Secretary of the EFA for ten years throughout the 80's and so brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of Fives players and the game to the Trust.
The EFA is, as always, extremely indebted to the Trust for all the support they give us. As I said last year there is no way we could have entered into our commitments to Westway without their support.
The Board
I am delighted to report that Dale Vargas was elected President of the EFA at last year's AGM.
I would now like to turn to my own position. I have been Chairman for seven years and as I look at the list of previous Chairmen I note this is as long as any previous Chairman since Alan Barber. I am now 74 and the best management practice seems to indicate that five or six years is about the right length of time for a CEO. So the time has come for my retirement.
The board have agreed to nominate as my successor Richard Barber, but this in fact will not come into effect until next year's AGM. Richard has just retired as Commercial Director of Corus (formerly British Steel) and wishes to have a year off before taking on any further responsibilities. Which explains why I am standing for re-election as Chairman at this year's AGM. Having last been re-elected four years ago, I have to stand again this year if I am to continue for another year as the board have asked me to do. I assure you that I don't intend to do more than one year!
I very much hope you will welcome the board's proposal to nominate Richard as Chairman at the 2003 AGM with as much enthusiasm as I do. Richard, who is Alan Barber's nephew, will bring to the EFA many outstanding qualities, extensive and varied business experience, together with a great love and knowledge of the game. He also comes from one of the clubs, the Old Salopians, which has been consistently one of backbones of the EFA.
I very firmly believe that the EFA needs the level of business experience Richard has acquired. Increasingly, I have found that with projects such as Westway, we are entering into in a considerably more complicated world and I am sure such projects are going to grow.
At last year's AGM, Jamie Fleming and Teresa Dunbar were elected to the board. It was a special pleasure to welcome Teresa, as I think she is the first woman to sit on the board or committee of the EFA.
Once again I should like to thank the directors for all the work they do on behalf of the EFA. As always Mike Fenn, Martin Powell and Derek Whitehead have carried the vast majority of the administrative burden of the association and I know that you will all join me in thanking them for all they do. They are not going to carry on doing it all for ever. If you or anyone you know would be willing to share some of this administrative burden, do please let Mike Fenn or me know. We do need some more help.
I should particularly like to thank Anthony Wagg for all the work he has done at Westway. He has liaised tirelessly with the Sports Centre during the frustrating months when nothing much seemed to be happening and held my hand firmly in my more depressed moments.
Anthony, Mark Williams and Ken Hughes all retire from the board at this year's AGM because they have served their four-year term. They have all contributed greatly to the EFA and I hope will continue to do so. I am delighted that Anthony Walters, from the committed Fives family, and Alex Illingworth are being nominated as a new directors for election at this year's AGM.
M.D.C.Chairman's Report 2001-2002 by Michael Constantinidi
Finalised 13th September 2002
efa@etonfives.co.uk