|
|
George Heriot’s FP Curling Club (Founded 2010)
A group of members and friends at the 2017 Summer Barbecue George Heriot’s FP Curling Club (Founded 2010) Honorary Secretary’s Report for Season 2023-24 Introduction Whilst the Club has had to work hard in recent years to raise complete rinks, there comes a time when that work becomes more of a chore than a pleasure. This is particularly true when all the hard work is not reflected by success on the rink and this season’s results with only one win in the FP League and a complete whitewash in the Half Century simply underlines the problems that the club faces. Sadly, the amendment to the Constitution, allowing members to nominate for Playing membership curlers who do not meet the original requirements for membership failed to deliver any new Playing members and with the School offering little hope as a source of recruits, the future looks grim The Club continues to bask in the reflected glow of Bruce Mouat’s achievements and his record which is so well illustrated in the Club website leaves little doubt that he is currently the outstanding sportsman educated at George Heriot’s School. Membership Season 2023-24 saw the death of former President of the Club, Ian Brockie , who had been diagnosed as suffering from dementia Other members who retired as playing members in 2023-24 were Jamieson Walker, Harry Chapman and Bryan Chatham, leaving the club short of front end players. The Club was reduced to 15 playing members, of whom only 9 turned out for the Club during the season, with 1 of these 9 playing only once for the Club.
Season’s Results Our thanks go to George Edington (FP League), Tim Price (Half Century) and I (Other Matches) for selecting and organising our rinks in these matches. Played Won Lost Peeled FP League 6 1 5 0 Half Century 8 0 8 0 Other Matches 3 2 1 0 All Matches 17 3 14 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FP League Having now finished in last place in each of the last two years, it would appear that the players who had contributed so strongly to the Club’s success in the early years of the FP League were no longer able to carry the Club. George Edington has reported that he had to regularly send out reminders before being able to field complete rinks and, for the second year running, it was necessary for the Club to invoke the rule that allowed players to play in both matches, provided they played in the lead position. The ‘Broom’ was won by Edinburgh Accies for the first time and this represents a tremendous achievement for a club that, only a few seasons ago, had to withdraw from the League. Half Century League .Having occupied the lower reaches of the league table in recent years , it was no surprise that our players should do so again this season. Tim Price and Willie McLeish shared the responsibility of skipping the rink with support from George Edington,, Jack Aitken, Douglas Goddard, and Malcolm Wright. Sadly, an administrative oversight deprived the Club of the services of Keith Walker who ‘signed’ for another team. Watsonian Challenge Rosebowl The winner of the Ian Brown Rose Bowl is determined by the outcome of matches between the two clubs in the FP League. Watsonians regained the trophy by winning both matches by scores of 8-7 and 8-4. Wilson Heatlie Memorial Trophies Our rink of Willie McLeish, Tim Price , Douglas Goddard and Tina Howell failed to retain the trophy losing by 7-2 to Boswall Curling Club The second Wilson Heatlie trophy is played for between Heriot’s FP and Stewarts Melville with the winner being determined by the outcome of the two matches in the FP League. Stewarts Melville retained the trophy with wins of 11-4 and 9-6. Other Matches The Club was fortunate to be drawn against Dalkeith in the 1ST Round of the KGIV cup as they were clearly suffering from a shortage of numbers. Our rink of Dave Munro, Tim Price, Douglas Goddard and Jack Aitken registered the Club’s first win of the season by 11 -1. The 2nd round saw Heriot’s drawn to play old rivals Boswall who duly demonstrated that their win in the earlier Wilson Heatlie match was no fluke by knocking out Heriot’s by 7-6 Both the School and FP curling clubs were delighted to continue the tradition of an annual fixture. This year’s game was a one rink match with the FPs invited to provide help from other members to those pupils not playing in the match. Sadly ,the club could not attract any members to turn out to help. The FP Rink proved too strong for the School, winning by 10-1. As is customary the FPs treated the pupils to food and liquid refreshments after the match and the Club is indebted to President Malcolm Wright who paid the bill.. Summer Social Activity The Club decided not to organise a summer social activity this year but did decide to accept Jack Aitken’s offer to conduct a tour of the Dean village next season. Committee Meetings The Committee met once during the year and discussed other issues by email. My thanks on behalf of the members go to them all for their time and contributions. Club Website Thanks are due to Past President Eric Begbie who, although no longer curling , acts as webmaster for the Club’s website and has been meticulous in recording the outcome of match results. Farewell After 14 years service as Honorary Secretary I have decided not to continue next season. I have enjoyed the journey from establishing the club in 2010, through the successful years in the FP League but the recent years have taken its toll and i am no longer able to devote the energy that I had in earlier years and I cannot see a way through the problems that face the club.
Douglas J Goddard Honorary Secretary 29 March 2024
|
