The New Zealand Polocrosse Board has held meetings in August, September, October, November, December of 2008, and January and February of 2009. These meetings have been held in Wellington, Wanganui, Turangi (x2) and Taupo (x2).

The 2009 Annual General Meeting of the New Zealand Polocrosse Council was held on the 27th September in Palmerston North with a conference following the AGM. Leo Mouat was elected as the new Board member upon the retirement of Lawrence Tye. Ken Malcolm and Glenda Hughes have remained as Board appointed members. The 2006 By-Laws were adopted at the AGM but these By-Laws and the New Zealand Polocrosse Council Rules are to be reviewed with any changes that may be necessary, to align these documents, being brought to a SGM or to the next AGM.

Robin Cave continues in his position of Board Chairperson and President; Raewyn Saunders-Loder remains as Secretary and has also taken on the Treasurers position upon the resignation of Tracey Kereopa. Tony Schrafft is the Board representative on the Coaching Panel and Leo Mouat is the Board representative on the Umpires Panel.

A large amount of Board time, in the meetings leading up to the AGM, was spent on interpretation of the New Zealand Polocrosse Rules, By-Laws and IPC Rules, with outside advice being sought from several agencies. Clubs have been reminded of the need to be Incorporated and the time frame for this to take place in.

Meetings held in Wellington allowed for input from both SPARC (who attended a meeting and gave a presentation on the strong relationship between SPARC and New Zealand Polocrosse), and from Equestrian Sports New Zealand, who also want to strengthen their relationship with New Zealand Polocrosse. It is important to have meetings in Wellington to enable New Zealand Polocrosse to continue to foster these relationships and it is a real boost to have the CEO of Equestrian Sports New Zealand (Jim Ellis) sitting in on New Zealand Polocrosse Board meetings. New Zealand Polocrosse’s affiliation with Equestrian Sports New Zealand has been renewed until May 2010, at a cost of $4,000.00 (plus GST) per annum.

New Zealand Polocrosse was one of only two of the smaller sports, which SPARC gives funding to, to receive an increase in their investment – this was in recognition of our 2007 – 2008 achievements. The 2008 – 2010 Strategic Plan has been completed with copies of this being sent to SPARC and to the New Zealand Polocrosse Coaching and Umpires Panels.

The Board continues to work on the writing of Policies and Procedures and Terms of References for various positions and tasks as they come to hand. This is a very intensive project and will be on going. Board members have received information of SPARC seminars that are available in two intakes over the next twelve months – with places confirmed on the “Strategic Planning – Development & Delivery” seminar and the “Performance Management in the Governance of Sport and Recreation Organisations” seminar.

A Delegates Meeting was set to be held in January 2009 but as no items for discussion were lodged with the Board this meeting did not take place. Discussion on the need , and standard of, first aid facilities being provided at carnivals took place at the AGM conference with the Board making recommendations to all Clubs and Associations that they have some form of first aid in attendance at all carnivals and that they notify local first aid suppliers (St John’s Ambulance etc) of their venue location.

The International Polocrosse Council (IPC) has advised that a meeting will be held in the United Kingdom in July 2009. It would be ideal to have New Zealand representation at this event but this will be reliant on funding being obtained.

The Umpires and Coaching panels are working well, with the assistance of an administrator in both panels. Regular reports are being received by the Board from these panels, including recommendations and suggestions. The Coaching panel has started work on the adoption of Level 2 of the Coaching Syllabus with input from Karin Stockman (Australia) who had meetings with the Coaching Panel in January 2009. The Coaching Panel, with the assistance of Tony Schrafft, has compiled a list of past, present and future tours. The Umpires Panel recommended that all helmets meeting NZ Safety Standards be tagged. Concerns re umpiring and draw committees were raised but these have been dealt with by the Board and the respective panels and Clubs involved. Due to limited interest, the 2009 Coaching Camp was not held.

Reports were received from all 2008 Junior Scholarship recipients (Le Roy Jolly, PJ Dempsey and Kyla Hill), along with reports from Team Captains, Managers and Coaches of all travelling teams. These (team) reports remain confidential to the Board and the Coaching Panel (upon permission from the writers to forward the reports to the Coaching Panel), and provide valuable feedback for future teams, coach selection etc.

The Queensland Junior Scholarship recipient and the two New South Wales Junior Scholarship recipients were in New Zealand during January, being billeted with families and taking part in the carnival at the Juniors & Intermediates competition. The Board has received expressions of interest from New Zealand junior players wishing to be selected for the scholarships to Queensland and New South Wales, the successful recipients will be named at the Sponsors Carnival on the 8th March 2009.

The Juniors & Intermediates competition was held in January 2009 and hosted in Turangi by the Tuwharetoa Club. Although wet weather put a dampener on carnival play, the Juniors & Intermediates competitions saw some close games with the only down side being the need to have a seven player team in the Intermediates competition to allow all players a chance to play. The Inter –Association Championships will be held on the 3rd & 4th April and will be hosted in Wanganui by the Wanganui- Waimarino Polocrosse Association. This year will see the running of a mixed division at the Inter –Association Championships, as per the remit submitted by Te Mata Polocrosse Club at the 2007 AGM and re-submitted at the 2008 AGM.

The Board announced Errol Gloyn as the successful applicant for the position of Coach for the Quadrangular tour, to take place in Australia in April 2009. Anne Mickell took on the position of team manager and the team was named at the Ashhurst Carnival on the 14th & 15th February 2009. Paddy Cornelius is the Coach for the Junior team travelling to Albury to play in the 2009 Multi States Junior Competition, with his wife Nicky as team manager. Rick Murray was named as the Under 21 Coach but has withdrawn from this position due to family issues.

The Board received requests from overseas players wanting to be available for selection for New Zealand teams, but as these players did not meet the stringent requirements, as set down in the By-Laws, regrettably these players were declined.

The 2011 World Cup Fundraising and Sponsorship Committee, under the guidance of Ruth Tye, continue with fundraising endeavors, with their major focus at present being the Sponsors Carnival. This year the Sponsors Carnival is being held at the National Equestrian Centre in Taupo on the 7 & 8th March 2009 and there will be a feature match which will see the visiting Queensland mixed team playing against the New Zealand Quadrangular team for the Cooper trophy. The New Zealand Development Team, which travelled to Queensland in July 2008, was unsuccessful in retaining the Cooper trophy, when they last played for it. The Board declined a request to have the carnival levy waivered at the Sponsors Carnival as these funds are used for the general running of polocrosse and this would then have an impact on the grass roots of polocrosse, which this fundraising is meant to have no impact on.

Hastings Polocrosse Club is working with the Horse of the Year Committee on arranging a carnival to be based on the polo grounds (opposite the Show Grounds) and for a feature game / demonstration to be played in the oval at the Horse of the Year Show. The Horse of the Year committee requested the use of the grounds at Flaxmere for the running of one of their events.

Some Polocrosse Board members, their spouses and guests attended the Victory In Sport Gala Dinner, held in Auckland in October 2008. This evening provided an opportunity to show case polocrosse to a different group of people and has lead to some new contacts for promotion and publicity of the sport. This evening was sponsored by Valley Farms – for which the Board is very grateful.

Several funding applications were lodged with various trusts for expenses with the website, Quadrangular tour, Sponsors carnival, brochure printing and for travel to the IPC meeting. There has been a marked downturn in successful applicants – only full funding for the brochures was obtained from Pub Charity and the Endeavour Community Trust gave $1,000.00 towards the running of the Sponsors carnival.

The Board received a carved wooden horse from Richard Koorey to be used as a trophy to be given to the owner of the best horse given to a New Zealand player at the 2009 Quadrangular Tour. Bomber Equestrian donated two trophies for the Juniors & Intermediates completion – one for Best Junior Horse & Rider Combination and one for Best Junior Player. The Board appreciates the donation of these trophies.

Thank you Robin Cave (Board Chairperson) 28th February 2009

	POLE SPECIALISTS KC SADDLERY