To all members of the Game Section

Firstly, please let me take this opportunity to thank you ALL for your kind and unwavering support over the last 12 months; without it my job would have been made infinitely more difficult. I look forward to the next few years as Game Secretary with confidence, and will be striving to act upon the benefits of the faith shown to us by the powers at be.

The main aim of this email is to let you all know what has happened over the season, and also to give an idea of next year and beyond, in terms of funding and our ambition to grow the Game Section (and the association as a whole), predominantly with serving members, but not forgetting the contribution that is provided by the Associates in terms of experience and knowledge, and also assisting with the organisation of matches.

So where do I start? At the beginning seems apt.....

Al Mundy's unforeseen trip to sunnier climes necessitated a 'stand in' Sec for the majority of the season, and as I had 'volunteered' for the position from 2012, I was asked to step into his (big) shoes whilst he was away. Thankfully the majority of the planning had been done, so all that was required was to canvass attendance for each of the matches.

The 'in-house' matches (such as the Spring Bank, RN vs Associates, Inter Commands, etc.) were utilised by experienced and new anglers alike, allowing myself and Mark Close to run the rule for the InterServices, and I am pleased to say that we have some good up and coming serving anglers to help over the next few years. These anglers will no doubt complement the nucleus of the existing squad, and coupled with the significant success in the AMFC competition this year, we will benefit from fishing against some of the countries top club teams. More about this a bit later in the email.

The matches against external opposition have increased, with a new fixture incorporated against the Police, Prison Service and a 'select' local team according to the venue. The match is called the 'Tri-Match', and this year was held at Llandegfedd in South Wales. The RNRMAA emerged victorious, which was more impressive due to the select team being made up of Welsh International Anglers. Other external matches have had mixed results, a win against the Prison Service, 4th place out of 8 in the Services match (where Al Mundy, who on a short R & R break, managed to finish top angler for the whole competition), a narrow defeat against both British Telecom, and Kingsbridge Heavyweights, and also against the EFFA (fished jointly with the Army).

The lead up to the Inter Services competition, which I view as the pinnacle of our sport within the Association, led me to believe that we were in a strong competing position, and I truly believe that had the weather not hampered our preparation, we would have seen a significant improvement over previous years. This was not to be, as the 2nd practice day was called off due to extremely high winds, which undid all the valuable practice from the first day. Fishing in marginal conditions at times, the fish had scattered, and rod average for the competition was significantly down on previous years. As a result, a bid was placed to secure season tickets for Anglian Waters for 2012, which has subsequently been accepted, and finer details will be known in the New Year in respect of usage.

In essence, the acquisition will serve 2 purposes. The primary purpose is to actively encourage Serving Personnel expressing an interest in Fly Fishing to 'have a go' at boat fishing, guided by existing members of the Association, and secondly, to provide further coaching/exposure to the reservoirs predominantly used for the Inter Services competition. It is intended to have a specified coaching dayeach month open to all newcomers, with a secondary coaching day (for the Game Section) each month the day prior to a competition on one of the Anglian Waters.

The AMFC league has to be the highlight of the year, where the team was promoted into Division 1. This success is predominantly down to the superb organisational skills of Mark Close, but also to those who willingly gave up their time throughout the season to attend the fixtures (and indeed practicing the day before). Please do not think that the AMFC is an elitist part of the Association. The spirit of the competition is to encourage more anglers to participate, and to share experience, at the same time maintaining a competitive edge. I personally have learnt a great deal from these matches over the last few years, and I strongly believe that fishing in Division 1 next season will benefit the whole Section, and not just those who take part. As always though, I would ask that you make your availability known at the earliest opportunity, and please do not be afraid to volunteer yourself, no matter about your experience level. Please ask for further details.

There are a few things that I would like to bring to your attention - just a flavour of the year ahead.

1. Fixtures for 2012 will be finalised once the AMFC program has been decided (Al Mundy remains a part of the committee for the AMFC, and I believe the AGM is usually the last week of January). Once fixture list is complete, I will email to all members of the Section.
2. I would like to consider the possibility of 'pooling'any items of angling equipment that you no longer use (or need) to try and encourage the novices to use - as we all know, equipment does not come cheap, and it can be off putting before even starting fishing. Please let me know your thoughts on this or whether it has been done before.
3. Reports for matches - I would like to share the burden on this, it is an onerous task, and I would imagine that you all get bored of my 'take' on the match each time, so would like to propose that each match has someone willing to do a report (along with pictures if possible). This would relieve some of the burden on myself, and also ensure that we get as many different views as possible throughout the season. It would also mean that routine reports I feed back through the RNRMAA committee are easier to compile.
4. Availability for matches - currently using a mix of forum and e-mail. Owing to the forum being down, I am content to continue using email as a means, but I still believe the forum should be used (when it is back up). Please let me know your preference, so I can tailor the mailing list accordingly. Update: Since writing this, the forum is now back up and running - anyone having login problems should contact the Webmaster.

Neil Jones

RNRMAA Game Secretary

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