Jean Christian Evrard from Dunkirk has agreed to discuss the proposed Masterclass with Ken Buchan at the Detling competition.

Peter Newens has agreed to chair a disciplinary tribunal to hear a complaint concerning the conduct of a member of the regional squad at the inter regional championships.

The dates for future meetings were agreed as follows:-

Committee Meetings

Thursday 17 April	8.00 p.m.	Gravesend
Thursday 5 June	8.00 p.m.	Lordswood
Thursday 24 July	8.00 p.m.	Hartley
Thursday 11 September	8.00 p.m.	Gravesend
Thursday 6 November	8.00 p.m.	Lordswood
Thursday 4 December	8.00 p.m.	Hartley
AGM
Thursday 20 November	8.00 p.m.	Gravesend

A draft playing calendar was agreed subject to some alteration and amendment (see “KPA playing calendar” under “playing in Kent page”). This year the 1st Regional qualifier will take place on the May Day bank holiday on Monday 4th May in order to avoid a clash with the 1st EPA Triples qualifier.

The Association Funds stand at:-

Main Fund	4,867
Junior Fund	351
KPA Winter League	300
Ab Fab Entry Monies	1,036
Total	£ 7,232

Martyn Fribbens had carried out a consultation exercise and had found that most junior players were the children of existing adult members. Juniors prefer to engage in junior only activities either in the early evening or Saturday mornings. It was agreed that the KPA will run a series of junior sessions on Saturday mornings in the summer season. The sessions will include some coaching followed by a mêlée competition. The sessions will be held on:-

Saturday 10 May	Tovil
Saturday 14 June	The Villager
Saturday 12 July	Hartley
Saturday 9 August	The George
Saturday 13 September	Lordswood

As an added incentive for juniors to attend it was agreed that all juniors attending the sessions will be given a Kent Pétanque Polo shirt. A budget of £250 was agreed for the purchase of suitable polo shirts. Research had shown that espoirs would prefer their own training and competition. It was agreed that espoirs will be offered advanced coaching sessions at the same times and venues as the junior sessions.

71 entries have so far been received. Countries to be represented were Denmark, France, Belgium, Holland, Scotland, Wales and England. The probable income was estimated at £4,600 including £1,500 sponsorship from Ab Fab and the likely expenditure was estimated at £4,395 including £500 for the hire of the venue and a prize fund of £2,471. 4 patio heaters will be hired to provide warm spots in the arena and 2 cabinet heaters will be borrowed from Hartley to heat the interiors of the marquees. Registration for the preliminary round will finish at 8.15 a.m. with play starting at 9.00 a.m. Registration for the gold competition will finish at 10.15 with play starting at 10.30 a.m. Teams knocked out in the preliminary round will be provided with free breakfast as they will have to sit out the next round. The gold competition will be seeded and pre drawn. Peter Turner will act as the competition umpire.

The committee discussed the issue of how the cost of Brean Sands should be met. At present the cost of the accommodation at Brean Sands exceeds the income from the regional qualifiers by about £1,000. The possibility of charging participants at Brean Sands for part of the costs was considered. Efforts should also be made to maximise the attendance at the regional qualifiers and to minimise the loss of team kit. It was agreed that the committee will discuss these issues further at the next meeting.

The National Umpire, John Thatcher, had provided two dates on which he and Mike Pegg would be available to run an umpire exam in Kent in January and February but neither of these dates was possible. He will be asked to submit alternative dates.