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Chairman's Report
2005
2006
2007

Leeming Club Report
for 2006

ROYAL AIR FORCE VALE OF YORK LEAGUE CHAIRMANS REPORT 2005

view as PDF here

1. INTRODUCTION. The Vale of York League (VOYL) catchment area covers some 5 Stations; however, given the current armed forces drawdown and large civilianization on most of these Units means that in reality, Leeming and Linton on Ouse were the only Stations sending out anglers and hence the only Stations able to actively compete. Also, due to the unpredictable nature of the role of the dominant station, Leeming, individual attendance figures would vary drastically from between 5 to 12 anglers per match.

2. COMPETITIONS. Despite the relatively small scale of our League in terms of the availability of competitive match anglers, this has thus far, proven to be an outstanding season in terms of notable results for some of our League representatives; the following is a summary of the competitions they have participated in during the 2005 season:

a. RAF Strike Command Championships (Tunnel Barn Farm). Anglers from RAF Leeming kick started the season at this prestigious event. The “A” Team made up of Flt Lt Richie Tomala, Chf Tech Gary Lavis and Jnr Tech Mark Porter took the event by storm finishing as clear winners with 2 section wins and a section 3rd. Individual honours also went to Sgt Rik Elsworth who finished 4th overall.

b. RAF Inter-League Championships (River Trent - Burton Joyce). Despite our best efforts, we were thwarted at every turn as we desperately tried to assemble a credible challenge for the most prestigious event on the League calendar, however, this was not to be and due to Operational commitments we were 3 anglers short of fielding a full team; inevitably, despite some sterling performances from both Leeming and Linton on Ouse anglers, the team finished in last place. A good deal of pride was eventually restored however, when Chf Tech Gary Lavis weighed in with a massive 10lb 3oz Barbel to finish in 3rd place individually.

c. RAF Inter Unit Championships (Grand Union Canal - Aylesbury). On a rock hard venue, which had lost most of its water due to a leak, all VOYL teams suffered. However, individual glory went to Cpl Gaz Millman from RAF Leeming, who finished a credible 6th out of 150 entrants with 9lb 4oz of well earned fish. (view results)

d. Van Den Eyde Clubman of the Year Competition 2005. (Cromwell Lake, Brampton). This event designed to encourage up and coming anglers to nominate for the RAF Team was comprehensively won by RAF Leeming’s Cpl Pete Eslick who saw off 35 other anglers to take the title.

e. RAF Representation. Flt Lt Tomala, Originally from RAF Leeming and currently at RAF Church Fenton is currently the Team Manager for the RAF Team and is in his 5th year as a Team Member. Representing the RAF at 9 major events throughout the year, notable achievements this season have included finishing 3rd individually at the NATO Championships in Holland where the RAF Team also took gold. Recent success came in the European Military Championships held in Belgium where again he finished 3rd individually with an outstanding Team win for the RAF.

3. CHARITY. The Annual RAF Leeming “Open” charity match took place on the River Swale on 15 October 2005. It was anticipated that over £1000 would be raised for this year’s nominated charity, “the Great North Air Ambulance”, however, after some sterling efforts both throughout a tremendous amount of preparation and on the day, led to this becoming the most successful match in the history of the event. In total 96 anglers took part and raised a staggering £3000. I would just like to add my personal appreciation and congratulations to all that took part for achieving such a fantastic result.

4. SUMMARY. I look back on my first season as the Vale of York League Chairman with some considerable pride. At that time, taking over the helm at short notice following the first tranche of redundancies, it seemed that anyone that could hold a rod was either leaving the Service or was destined to fill a vacancy further south; in short our numbers were decimated. How good does it feel now then, that anglers from our league have produced such performances so as to “frame” in virtually every major event in the match calendar. The Vale of York League continues to progress with a full programme of matches throughout the year. Matches are extremely well run and are always highly competitive and although attendance is predominantly by a hard core of regulars, things are slowly improving with the conversion of a few pleasure anglers to the match scene. The introduction of some new blood seems to have kick started not only the competition but also the camaraderie and is encouraging the flow of knowledge and ideas, ultimately raising standards throughout the League. The administration, organisation and funding of the league remains sound, which is almost entirely due to the efforts of the Committee Members and Station Reps. Their commitment and hard work, often behind the scenes, has continued to be of the highest order. They deserve our deepest appreciation.

G Lavis

G M Lavis
Chf Tech
Chairman Vale of York Angling League