Sports club AGM agenda: notice, voting and minutes

A sports club AGM agenda is the backbone of the meeting where the board accounts for the year and the members decide. This article gives you the structure that works in any club, with templates for the notice, the agenda and the minutes. The exact rules are in your constitution and in the law of your country, and those always come first.

What is an annual general meeting?

In a club, the members are in charge. The board runs day-to-day business, but the members appoint that board, approve the accounts, set the membership fees and decide on the constitution. They do that at the annual general meeting, usually shortened to AGM. In nearly every club that meeting happens at least once a year, plus whenever the board or a group of members thinks a special meeting is needed.

What exactly is required differs by country and by club: how often you meet, how much time there is between the notice and the meeting, who has a vote and what majority a decision needs. That is in your constitution (or bylaws), and the law of your country may set minimum requirements. Read them before you pick a date. This article describes the structure that works almost everywhere within those rules.

At a volleyball club the annual meeting usually falls after the season, when last year's figures are in and the plans for the new season are ready. How the meeting fits into the whole club year is in the annual planning of a club.

Preparation: from date to notice

Send the notice the way your constitution prescribes, usually in writing; email is fine if your constitution and the law of your country allow it. A message in the group chat is not a notice. It disappears under the other messages, not every member is in the group, and afterwards you can't show who received it. Why the group chat falls short for this kind of message is in why the WhatsApp group gets stuck.

A notice in five paragraphs, to fill in:

1. The board invites all members to the annual general meeting on [day and date] at [time] at [venue, or online via the link below].
2. The agenda includes the annual report, the financial report for the past season, the budget and the membership fees for next season, and the election of [position]. The full agenda is below.
3. The papers are available from [date] at [location]. You can email questions about the figures to the treasurer in advance.
4. If you want to stand for the board or submit a proposal, let the secretary know before [date].
5. Voting rights are held by [as set out in the constitution, for example all members aged 16 and over, and one parent for younger members]. If you can't attend, you can [if the constitution allows it] appoint another member as your proxy in writing.

The agenda: this is almost always on it

1. Opening and approval of the agenda.
2. Minutes of the previous meeting. The members approve them or ask for a correction.
3. Announcements and correspondence.
4. Annual report. Members, teams, results, volunteers and activities; how to put it together is in the annual report of a sports club.
5. Financial report. The treasurer explains income, expenses and reserves.
6. Report of the audit committee. Usually two members outside the board have checked the books; in some countries or at larger clubs an external auditor does that. The board then asks the meeting to approve its financial management; in some countries this is called granting discharge.
7. Appointment of the new audit committee.
8. Budget and membership fees for the new season. How to back up the fees is in calculating volleyball membership fees.
9. Board elections. Who steps down, who stands for re-election and who is a new candidate. Which positions there are is in board positions in a club.
10. Proposals from the board or members. For example a change to the club rules, a new policy plan or an investment.
11. Any other business.
12. Close.

Put everything that needs a decision on the agenda in advance. Many constitutions don't allow the meeting to decide on a subject that was not in the notice, and a decision made that way can be challenged later.

Voting and decisions at the AGM

Have everyone sign an attendance list at the door, with the proxies attached. Then you know how many voting members are present, and you need that if your constitution requires a minimum number of members present (a quorum) for certain decisions. The majority is usually as follows, but your constitution decides:

On matters you usually vote by show of hands. On people a written, secret ballot is common, so nobody feels watched. Agree how blank and invalid votes count, and have two members outside the board count the votes. The chair announces the result straight away, for example: "The proposal is carried with 34 votes for, 3 against and 2 abstentions." A meeting held online or partly online is only possible if your constitution and the law of your country allow it, and if you can verify who is voting.

AGM minutes: what goes in them

Minutes are not a record of the discussion but proof of the decisions. A template that works:

• Heading: name of the club, date, venue, start and end time, chair and minute-taker.
• Present: the number of voting members, the number of proxies, the board members, and who sent apologies.
• Per agenda item: a summary of two or three sentences, the decision word for word as it was taken, and the vote with for, against and abstentions.
• Action points: what needs to happen, who does it and by when.
• Any other business and close.

Put a list of decisions at the top, so nobody has to read the whole text to know what was decided. Send the draft to the board within a few weeks and then to the members; the next meeting approves it. If a new board member has been elected, report that to the register where your club is registered, if the law of your country requires it.

How to get more members to the meeting

• Keep it short. An hour and a half is enough. People who know it will be over by ten are more likely to come.
• Put the interesting items first. The fees and the plans for next season draw more members than the minutes.
• Link it to something fun. An end-of-season party, honoring the championship teams or food and drinks afterwards.
• Involve the parents. At a club with a lot of youth players, the parents often hold the votes; invite them separately.

Preparing the AGM with Koach Club

Koach doesn't run votes, keep an attendance list or manage your membership records, and the official notice has to reach every voting member. Use the address list from your membership records for that. For the rest of the preparation, Koach Club helps in two places.

With Email in the club dashboard you send a reminder or the link to the papers to All club members, Parents only or a Group of your own, from the club's own domain; sending works once that domain is connected. Members without a Koach account don't get that email, so for the notice itself it is only enough if really everyone has an account. Under Organisation you record the committees the meeting appoints, such as the audit committee, with a role for each member such as Chair, Secretary, Treasurer or Member. What else Club does is on the page for clubs, and what it costs on the pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

Further reading

How to run a volleyball club: the club year, step by step Sports club annual report: a template with team stats Sports club committee roles and responsibilities: who does what

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