UKPA Awards Ball Hailed Big Success as AGM Draws Ever Closer

The UK Polocrosse Association hosted its annual ball at Staverton Park Hotel on the 10th of November and much merriment ensued between the 150 or so members who attended. The UKPA chose to use the same venue as they did in 2011 for the ball and it seem to pay off as the number of members attending grew and all seemed to enjoy their evening greatly. The UKPA presented its annual awards as part of the evening and there were various winners of all ages and abilities for their achievements and contributions throughout the 2012 season. The most popular win of the night was the award of the Players’ Player award to “Uncle” Pete Wherret, the UKPA stalwart. The full list of winners is below.

The UKPA has also announced its AGM date,Sunday the 2nd of December, and declared who has been nominated for the three executive positions up for election. All three open posts have only one nomination each, with Eric Jenkinson restanding as Chairman, Barry Amor (who is currently Acting CEO) standing as CEO and Anna Kimber standing as Secretary, with the incumbent Secretary Jeff Parr choosing not to stand for re election. This all suggests there will be just one truly new face on the UKPA executive next year, though it was recently rejoined by two former Executive members, as Steve Whitehouse returned as Northern Region Representative and Simon Shearing joined as Eastern Region Representative. Both posts have been vacant for the last year, with both candidates being elected at their respective regional AGMs. The duo of Simon and Steve were also announced as Open Squad Coach and Manager for 2013 recently as well.

Though the AGM won’t bring any surprises or debates between candidates in the elections, there are a number of interesting motions put forward for discussion, around such subjects as professionalism in the UKPA (specifically regarding the running of tournaments), the idea of playing single sex sections in the A grade and the composition of teams for Nationals and Inter-Regionals.

The UKPA AGM also promises an additional topic for discussion in the form of the 2011 Polocrosse World Cup Accounts. World Cup Director Iain Heaton has said he will deliver accounts to show the final financial outcome of the World Cup now that all the necessary post event matters have been dealt with.

(Editor’s note: we would like to take this opportunity to rebuff the rumours that we have taken so long to publish this story because the entire Polocrosse Extreme team has spent the last two weeks recovering from the Ball.)