A disciplinary tribunal comprising Peter Newens, Peter Lake and Nigel Mansell met on 17 March to consider a complaint concerning the conduct of Rachid Hannache at the inter regional championships. The tribunal has decided to bar Rachid Hannache from representing the association for 1 year from the date of the incident

Nord Maritime have confirmed 16 August as the date for the annual inter region competition. The event will be held at Lordswood and it was agreed that Lordswood be asked to provide lunch at a cost of £6 per head.

The Association Funds stand at:-

Main Fund	5,696
Junior Fund	1,341
KPA Winter League	196
Total	£ 7,232

The Association’s membership totals 640 of which 14 are juniors. There are 39 affiliated clubs including 2 new ones, Sherwood Oak and the George & Dragon

The feedback from participants had this year been much more positive. Most participants praised the efficiency and slickness of the organisation and welcomed the introduction of timed games and the seeding process. Most contributors to the feedback supported the idea of spreading the competition over 2 days. It was agreed that David Baxter be asked to do a feasibility study for a competition top be held over 2 days with a doubles competition running alongside the later stages of the main competition. It was agreed that Sam Smith & Dave Littley be thanked for supporting the event with the burger van / bar respectively.

The first Junior Academy is due to take place in Tovil on 10 May. With regard to the top to be given to participating juniors, research among the juniors indicates that they would prefer to have a long sleeved top with a zip up front. Martyn Fribbens & Ron Yates will obtain suitable quotes and make the final choice of top.

In order to attract more teams to compete in the qualifiers it was agreed that a special competition be held on 13 September which would be open to all teams taking part in the qualifying series but who did not qualify for Brean. The new Swiss system format of the qualifiers should prove to be more attractive to players because everyone would be guaranteed 6 games, there would be no league of death and no leagues of 3. Furthermore there ought to be less delay between games. As with previous years it was agreed that the winner of the first qualifier and the top 3 teams overall would be awarded travel grants of £150 each to enable them to compete in overseas competitions.

The National Umpire, John Thatcher, has volunteered to run an umpiring course and exam in Kent in November and it was agreed that this should be taken up.

Cuckmere Valley are to lose their present playing venue and are interested to know if anyone can help them in finding an alternative venue and / or in providing financial assistance to help them construct new facilities.

The junior triples championships which were to be held on 6 April had had to be cancelled because of the heavy snow in the morning. It will now take place on Saturday 26 April.

The format for the North Sea Competition will be a squad comprising 1 junior, 1 espoir, 1 ladies and 1 senior team. The world junior championships are due to take place in Maastricht in mid August. It is hoped to hold the ladies World Championships in October in China but if that is not possible the venue will be Tunisia or France. The senior world championships will take place in Dakar Senegal in November.

New volunteers are required to act as directors of Petanque Promotions Ltd because the existing directors are too old to be able to hire a van to take its products to venues

The Home Nations Competition is due to take place in Princes Park, Dartford on 16 August. The cost of the venue is £600 + VAT. This will have to be met as far as possible from ticket sales and advertising revenue from the programme. The organisers will need help from the committee on the day and in actively selling tickets etc.