SOUTH-WEST AGM CONFIRMED - posted 14 October 2008

The South West AGM has been confirmed for the 9 November at the Poole CSC clubroom starting at 12 noon promptly. All clubs are welcome to attend this important meeting and help shape the future of the sport in the South West. New clubs looking to enter the sport are also welcome to attend and become part of the sport fastest growing region.

ANNUAL MEETING DATE - posted 8 October 2008

The South-West League has announced that they will be holding their annual general meeting on Sunday 9 November at Poole CSC clubhouse. The start time is yet to be confirmed.

HELLINGLY PLUNGED INTO CRISIS - posted 22 July 2008

The future of Hellingly Cycle Speedway Club looks very bleak this week.  The club has only had two home fixtures all season and have no idea when their next meeting is taking place.  Club members are losing interest and with the cost of maintaining the track, the premises and BCF membership fees, the club is struggling.

Long Serving club manager George Hollebon said: "What are the powers to be (BCF Commission) doing about the state of the sport? I don’t feel they are interested in addressing the issues concerning the smaller clubs.  Their only concern is
the Premier League which is going nowhere and within the next two to three years will be in crisis.

"What are they going to do when the imports and secondary licences dry up because the smaller clubs will not be there to help them out so they will end up in the same position with nobody to race against. I know we are not the only club in the South West region that is struggling and I guess there are some other clubs elsewhere in the country with the same problems” added Hollebon.

The club who in the past has promoted at the highest level and has always survived
on home grown talent, has never let anybody down.

"Does anybody care about Hellingly?" Hollebon questioned.  "I doubt it. A lot of people within the sport will be glad to see the back of me, that old 73 year old, and my club. If anybody cares or has suggestion on what the club can do I am willing to listen.  Already two clubs have shown an interest, but there only interest at the moment is making offers to my top two riders to race for them in the Premier League in 2009" he said dejectedly.

Editor's Note
Come on cycle speedway!  Whatever are we thinking of letting this famous old club die?  Let's do what we can to help George and his small but loyal band of helpers.  There are some great people in cycle speedway, people with imagination and flair, people who care passionately about our sport.  Perhaps your club would be willing to go down to Sussex to race a challenge match, perhaps we could arrange a couple of individual events - or even a family fun day of racing.  Let's all rally round George in his hour of need! 

SWINDON PULL OUT OF SOUTH-WEST LEAGUE - posted 19 July 2008

Hot on the heels of Eaton's decision to bow out of local league racing, another club has decided to pull out of regional league racing.

A combination of rider shortage and an erractic fixture list has forced Swindon to quit the South-West regional league.

Disappointed Regional Officer Rob Absalom confirmed the news.

"It is with regret that I have to inform you that Swindon CSC have taken the difficult decision to withdraw from the SWL Division One due to rider shortage which has been exacerbated by a poor fixture list that left too many large gaps in their racing calender. With no regular racing the junior members simply found something else to do on Sundays. Thankfully, the club hasn't folded - just temporarily withdrawn from league racing.

"I have informed the BCF but support from them is not good, so I fully believe now that our region must unite and secure the future of all operating clubs in our region, including the Swindon club. Martin Glover has told me that they will support the Rosebowl and Gold cup at Exeter and also the league individual at East Newport and Newport next month.

"We must start to think what changes we can make during the winter to make our racing attractive to all age groups/abilities and all clubs with the progress of all SWL clubs being the main priority. We must elect a committee that works well together and keeps its member clubs informed of what is happening whether it be via the excellent "spokesman-online" or create our own website.

"With this in mind let us now lets now start to formulate ideas for next year" urged Absalom.

SOUTH-WEST BACK ON TRACK - posted 12 April 2008

Recent issues arising in the South West that have caused a storm of  protest were resolved in an EGM on Saturday at Horspath. It has now been  confirmed that the elected committee will remain in their posts and be joined by  Rob Absalom who will serve as Vice Chairman to the region and South West  Regional Representative on the sport's Commission.

Regional Chairman, Dave  Newman, has pledged a commitment to the South West region and will continue to  serve his post. League recorder, Brian Maunder, is to remain on the committee  which is fantastic news for the whole of the region given he has recently  suffered an unfortunate bout of illness. Brian was at the Exeter track  on Sunday for the visit of East Newport and his enigmatic  presence spurred the young Devon team such is his character. Geoff  Gamage who has shouldered a huge amount of responsibility in running the League  in recent years, remains in his dual role of secretary and  treasurer.

Stepping down from his role as South-West Regional Representative, Graham Sutton must be thanked for his valuable effort in raising the profile of the sport in  Wales and the South West of England over many years. Rob commented "Graham is  still one of the sport's gentlemen and his efforts have been huge and not  unnoticed. I can only hope that I can fill his shoes adequately and give  the region new vigour and serve its member clubs well."

EAST NEWPORT DELAY DECISION ON SOUTH-WEST FUTURE - posted 18 March 2008

East Newport were to race at Filton on Sunday but it was cancelled due to a waterlogged track which was unfortunate because senior members of the club were to discuss the clubs options of staying in the South West League or withdrawing in protest at the way it is being run.

Two years ago the club saw the last match of the season cancelled by two clubs and thus awarded themselves a point each ultimately rewarding themselves first and second place which dashed the hopes that the Welsh club could take runners up place in their first season. East Newport returned to the SWL this year in the hope that it would be run properly and that everything would be fair.
 
Club spokesman Rob Absalom said "With this fiasco of 'has the chairman resigned two weeks ago or hasn't he' and who was consulted about another individual taking the helm has made the region look poor. The club will continue racing in the league until matters can be resolved at the meeting in April at Horspath when hopefully the Committee can be organised to take the region forward in the future. The majority of the clubs operating in the region take their bread and butter racing form the region and in terms of number of operating clubs, its growth is far above any other region.

"The momentum is there and we need the right people in place to drive it forward. We need skilled administrators who can make decisions and formulate strategies for growth" he added.

EMERGENCY MEETING CALLED - posted 16 March 2008

The South-West regional committee has called an emergency general meeting at Horspath on 5 April to iron out the region's current problems.

SOUTH-WEST IN DISARRAY AS CHAIRMAN QUITS - posted 14 March 2008

The South-West region has been thrown into confusion following the reported resignation of regional chairman Dave Newman.

Although this has yet to be formally confirmed, the two remaining committee members have acted quickly to augment their committee by appointing Mike Legge as chairman.  But the move has not been universally accepted by all the region's clubs. 

The debate goes back to the annual meeting in November when Newman and Rob Absalom went head-to-head for the chairmanship, Newman just winning by one vote in the club ballot. 

There are some in the region who feel that Absalom should have been invited to take the chairman's role ahead of Legge and that the remainder of the committee have acted undemocratically.

The latest row has cast a further shadow over the region and comes on the back of what many saw as the worst ever season in 2007 when the league failed to complete all its fixtures.

Apparently no minutes of regional committee meetings have been circulated for five months.  To compound matters, on the eve of the new season, there is still doubt as to which teams will be competing in the Combination division.

SOUTH-WEST LOOK FORWARD - posted 21 January 2008

The 2007 season in the South-West is one that will be put into a locked box and forgotten as far as most clubs were concerned. Unfulfilled fixtures, fines and large gaps in the racing calendar resulted in some clubs struggling to retain riding numbers but, hopefully, that is all in the past now and 2008 is to be the year the region will grow and serve all member clubs well at junior and senior level.

This seemed to be the mandate at yesterday's 2008 fixtures meeting at Swindon. Out of eleven clubs currently operating in the region, three unfortunately failed to make it to the table, illness and personal issues being the reasons. Surprisingly two of the elected committee members were also unavailable for the meeting which left Brian Maunder, who was elected as results coordinator, and stand-in chairman for the day, Colin Sutton, to steer the meeting.

After going around the table in the packed Scout hut, all clubs were given the chance to move any meetings to more appropriate starting times or convenient dates and this section seemed to go without any hitch. Some doubt was cast over the future of the fledgling Weymouth club that was reporting pre-season problems with riders and parents not committing to the Conference League, primarily aimed at under-18 riders. With luck this can be resolved and the Weymouth Warriors will once again   take to the junior stage and build on their 2007 success.

Regional rule changes were debated and the agreed changes are:

• All non-UK passport holders are to be presumed as A grade riders unless in exceptional circumstances submitted by the parent club to the league committee justifies otherwise.
• No un-ridden matches may be awarded at the end of the season.
• Fixtures may not be cancelled due to rider shortage. If this does occur then the points will be awarded to the other team and the fixture will still need to be fulfilled but with no points at stake. Failure to complete the fixture will then result in a fine being imposed on the guilty club which will be decided upon by the committee at the next appropriate regional meeting who may discuss any mitigating circumstances.
• Rules indicating team build ups using rider gradings will be added to the official score sheet.
• Only one A grade non-UK passport rider will be permitted to race in a team unless in exceptional circumstances submitted by the parent club to the league committee justifies otherwise.
• All points scored in regional Junior League rounds count to a junior riders overall tally and the riders will drop their lowest "score" from any match prior to the Junior finals.
• No Secondary riders will be permitted to race in the region unless the committee are made aware and who may authorise it in exceptional circumstances.

Rider gradings offered no great surprises with a few top riders being moved up inthe list and only two riders having their grades reduced.

So in summary, a disappointing start to 2008 with noticeable absentees from clubs who failed to send any replacements to the meeting and the region missing its two elected principal officers but the ambition to resolve issues remains. Next step for the league is to elect a regional BCF representative and secure the presence of Weymouth Warriors in the junior section.

SOUTH-WEST PLAN FOR NEW SEASON - posted 10 January 2008