Scottish Scrabble Committee

		Scottish Scrabble® Committee
Home News League and SILK Scottish Clubs Calendar ABSP Ratings Winners		The current committee of the SSA comprises Amy Byrne (President), Simon Gillam (Secretary), Ross Mackenzie (Treasurer), Margaret Armstrong, Marion Keatings, Neil Scott and Kate Surtees. The minutes of the most recent committee meeting appear below, together with important decisions from previous meetings.

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18 May 2008 Back to top		Present: Margaret Armstrong, Amy Byrne, Simon Gillam, Marion Keatings, Ross Mackenzie, Neil Scott, Kate Surtees 1. Minutes of previous meeting and matters arising A) Alan Sinclair has agreed to bring the website up-to-date soon. B) Amy and Ross took over production of the SSA newsletter, producing issues for November and May. In the absence of any other offers, they are willing to produce the next issue for November. C) Marion has agreed to take over running the Scottish Round Robin in August. 2. Treasurer's report A) In January Ross had circulated a brief summary of 2007 income and expenditure. The only comment was on the large surplus for the Round Robin, which arose because the bill from Dewars was less than expected. It was agreed to try to avoid a similarly large surplus for the event in 2008. B) Ross had taken out club insurance for SSA, which will cover all events under its auspices. 3. Four Nations Ross circulated proposals for Scotland hosting the Four Nations team event in Glasgow on 25-26 October. His proposals for venue, timetable and costs were agreed, and it was agreed that SSA would contribute up to £200 to the running of the event. Amy will present the agreed proposals to the ABSP later in May, then invitations will be sent to the other countries. Ross will make the booking, take entries and deal with correspondence. The event should be notified to WESPA for international rating. Whichever of Ross, Amy and Simon fail to make the team will be available to run the event. 4. SILK and League A) Marion reported that the new individual SILK event was progressing well. She offered to host the East region playoff at a date to be agreed. Simon offered to host the final, which is scheduled for 18-19 October. B) Marion reported that the league was also running OK, with 7 teams. 5. Any other business A) It was agreed that those running 5-game one-day events should be encouraged to consider increasing the number of games. B) The next committee meeting will be at the Edinburgh tournament in early October.
13 May 2007 Back to top		British Team Tournament / Home Internationals - Scottish Qualification : Team selection will be based on ratings at 31 August. Participants must be resident in Scotland for the 12 months prior to 31 August (Scottish-born non-residents are not eligible) and they must have played at least 40 ABSP-rated games in that year, of which at least 30 must have been played in Scotland. It was agreed to offer £50 SSA funding towards the costs of each team member, for each year when the event is not in Scotland (as had been done for 2005 but not 2006).
13 August 2006 Back to top		World Scrabble Championship - Scottish Qualification : It was agreed that Scottish qualification by residence should be brought into line with UK and England, to be one complete year of residence preceding the year of qualification, instead of two complete years preceding the year of qualification.
30 November 2003 Back to top		Scottish Team Expenses : It was agreed that, in future, the SSA will not provide expenses for Scottish teams playing in UK events.
10 November 2002 Back to top		British Team Tournament : Neil Scott proposed that we organise a team tournament between Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales. [This has now taken place three times, Scotland winning the first two.]
Inaugural meeting 18 November 2001 Back to top		Function : It was agreed that the SSA would take over the organisation of the Scottish Championships, the Scottish League and the Scottish Masters. World Scrabble Championships : Qualification criteria for Scottish representatives were agreed. The highest rated player(s) on 1 January of the year of a WSC will be selected, provided (1) they were born in Scotland or have lived in Scotland continuously for at least two and half years prior to 1 July of the year of the WSC, (2) they have played a minimum of 60 ABSP-rated games in the year prior to the year of the WSC (of which 30 must have been played in Scotland), and (3) they have played a minimum of 30 rated games in the second half of the year prior to the year of the WSC (of which 15 must have been played in Scotland). Scottish Masters : Qualification criteria for invitation were agreed. The top 12 rated players on 1 January prior to the Masters will be invited, provided (1) they have lived in Scotland during the second half of the previous year, and (2) they have played a minimum of 40 ABSP-rated games in the previous year (of which 30 must have been played in Scotland).