This is my first Report as Chairman of Blackburn Centurions and it covers the year ending with our AGM today November 15^th 2007. As I sat down to write the Report it quickly became apparent what a busy, challenging and ultimately successful year it has been.

I think it would be fair to say that I was a reluctant volunteer for the position and only agreed to accept the post on the basis that (for family reasons) I would only be prepared to work within the confines of the Club. This has been the case and the only exceptions to this have been the Swim 21 reaccreditation and our attempts to find a new Head Coach (more of which later). I have not represented the Club at the many events to which I/we have been invited and will continue with this policy throughout 2008. The AGM will therefore have to decide whether to ratify this understanding or resolve some other method of representation.

2007 has seen the Club say farewell to a number of long serving and popular members who have found that other challenges have to be met in their lives. I would like to pay tribute to and thank on behalf of the Club Philip Corner, Janette Corner, Malcolm Sumner and Peter Haworth in particular for their work over many years. In addition I would wish all the best to our other members who have left during the same period and at the same time welcome the many new members who have joined us throughout the year. Whilst we have lost a number of committed and well qualified Coaches during the year, it has been very encouraging to see the significant number of young level 1 Teachers who have qualified in that period, many of whom now put significant time into the Club both on and off poolside. In concluding this part of the Report I would like to thank all our Committee and volunteer helpers for their work and support and, of course, our Coaches and Teachers for the hundreds of hours of unpaid time and effort that they give freely to us. Without you all there would be no Club.

The year began with a number of significant issues which needed to be addressed. A review of the Financial Accounts revealed that I needed to authorise an adjustment to our previously audited balances and after a thorough review that was done (thanks go to Cath Undrell). Provision had also to be made to write off stock from the Club Shop. This lead me to engage the services of Podium Sports for the Club and they now provide all non logo’d stock on a sale or return basis at very competitive prices (thanks go to Duncan Harris, Sue Hargreaves and Helen Chadwick). After discussions with the Pool owners we incurred an increase in Pool costs of 5% and this was covered by increases in swimming fees across all training groups. Membership of the Club remained reasonably stable during the course of the year. As the Audit demonstrates we are now in a healthy financial state.

We had to apply for reaccreditation against our Swim 21 approvals but before this could be done we were required to follow new ASA guidelines which demanded that we update our Constitution. This was completed after much effort (thanks go to Malcolm Sumner and Peter King) and the revised Constitution was accepted and authorised by the ASA and will be formally adopted by the Club at the AGM. We were then able to rework and submit the Swim 21 application with the help of Pauline Pick from Swim Northwest. It successfully passed both Regional and National ASA Committees and we were one of the first Clubs in the UK to be reaccredited (thanks go to Philip Corner), which was and is a tremendous achievement and one of which we can all be proud.

Whilst all this was going on I decided that our Welcome Pack for new members needed to be updated and more information included. This turned out to be a significant task which on a number of occasions I wished I had never started, but eventually it was completed and the new pack was given our to all members (not just our new starters) and seems to have been a success (thanks go to Sue Hargreaves, Vicky Hargreaves and Sophie Fletcher).

Also in the first quarter of 2007 we needed to find a replacement for our Head Coach and Community Coach. In discussions with our Partners BwD Unitary Authority we agreed to pursue the appointment of a salaried Head Coach who would also act as the Community Coach. Unfortunately this has been ongoing since March and we are now about to advertise the position for a second time which will hopefully produce the right result for us all. It has proved without any doubt to be the most frustrating task that I have undertaken on behalf of the Club. There have been delays outside of our control and at one point the Coaches Committee produced a Plan B, which would have involved recruiting our own part time Head Coach, and this may still be an option that we would pursue.

The second quarter involved the Club managing in partnership with the Schools Sports Partnership the Blackburn Primary Schools Swimming Gala’s (there had not been a Primary Schools Gala in 2006 because BwD had advised that they did not have the resources available).Two Semi Finals and a Final later they had proved to be a big success (we received good support from Daisyfield staff on each occasion), with many Head Teachers and families complimenting the Club for managing the “best ever” swimming gala that they could remember. Thankyou to all those who gave up their time before during and after the events (we must have worked collectively more than 200 hours) and the staff of the Schools Sports Partnership.

The second half of the year and the beginning of the new swimming season began with a well attended and apparently successful Parents evening where we outlined our plans for the months ahead and discussed topics of interest. These encompass challenges that we can meet but in many cases only with the support of our members and their families.

We have introduced changes to our competitive training lanes and our Improver Groups. At present they seem to be producing the benefits we hoped for, and we now need to review several of the other swimming groups to determine what if any improvements we can make with them.

 After many months of trying I have now obtained from the Leisure Centre Management at Shadsworth additional Pool time but presently we do not have the resource to coach on a Thursday. Allied to this is the potential to develop Athletics training with Blackburn Harriers to assist in the fitness of our competitive swimmers and the inauguration of a Biathlon Section within the Club.

By improving and adding to our training programmes we are providing as many swimmers as possible with the ability to compete for the Club. The bottom line is that not enough of our swimmers do so in our scheduled galas and they need to be encouraged to compete by all of us at every opportunity.    

We submitted our first grant application of the year in October (thanks go to Sarah Smallwood) and I am currently working with the Gallica East Squad on a joint grant application.

During the year our Website has been completely replaced and continues to have more features added almost on a monthly basis it seems. It is a superb source of information but is much more than that and I would encourage everybody to use it as it is intended to be used (thanks go to Gavin Butterworth and “Taz” Atkinson)

Finally whilst this is not supposed to be a Report about swimming I cannot end without reference to the tremendous success we have enjoyed in the Pool during 2007. Starting with some fantastic results at the North Lancs Meet in January (Thank you to Club Captains and Vice Captains Hayley Butterworth, Naomi Clarkson Ben Edwards and Matt Hargreaves) we had continued success throughout the second half of the season culminating in our best ever finish in the Microleague Final (third). For a Club of our size this was a wonderful achievement and reflects great credit on the swimmers (Thank you Microleague Captains Howard Walsh and Emily Fletcher) and Coaches Peter Haworth/Gavin Butterworth. 

I’ll conclude my Report with a special thank you to Gavin Butterworth. Gavin has been a tremendous servant to the Club for many years, but in 2007 he has in effect stepped into the breach left by the departure of our former Head Coach, and worked if its possible more hours off poolside than on. Without his support the many moments we have enjoyed this year would not have occurred. On behalf of myself and all the Club membership I would formally wish to record our sincere gratitude for his massive contribution to the Club in the last twelve months.

Paul Fletcher

BCASC Chairman

15^th November 2007