DOL-FAN UK NEWS

Dear DolFan UK Members,

With the passing of our Man From Miami, Bill Bazos, this year has got off to a sombre start. It’s safe to say that he will be sadly missed by many over here in the UK. Our thoughts are with the Bazos family at this time.

This year, our AGM was held on Saturday 27th February at the now usual venue of the westbound Reading Motorway Services.

Attendees

Committee members present at the meeting were, Bob & Carla Ball, Eddie Irwin, Brian Tennent and Peter Whybrow.

Apologies for absence, Dave Wilson.

Committee Changes

No changes to the committee were discussed this year.

Wembley tickets 

Dave has been co-ordinating the Wembley tickets once again with the NFLUK this year. By the time of writing, all who ordered tickets will have paid in advance as requested by the NFL.

Discussions have taken place with the NFL regarding the ticketing situation, as their lateness has caused problems once again. They are looking to better co-ordinate with us for the 2016 games,and we are in talks to order tickets around the time of the general sales late this year.

Miami tickets

This will continue as last year and Dave will coordinate this with the Dolphins.

If any member intends to travel to Miami this year, please contact us directly if tickets are required.

Membership Report

Membership is now at 64, plus 3 honorary members.

Our membership year will again commence on August 1st this year, and we would request your co-operation in renewing in good time, so that we can conclude our membership activities before the season commences.

We have decided this year to honour Bill Bazos through the medium of our membership card, and have the Bazos family’s blessing to do so. We are also looking at a different item for the membership pack, and will make a decision later in the spring on what it will be.

When the current committee was formed, membership records at the time were not passed on, so our current records only go back as far as 2007. If you have been a member for longer than that, please email us and let us know when you joined.

Web Site Report

Once again, the website has gone from strength to strength this year, along with the official DolFan UK Facebook and Twitter page.

We discussed how to better utilize the website to generate more members. One way would be to advertise (to members) any events/draws etc that we decide to do this year. We want to find a better way to publicise what members (only) can benefit from through their membership. Last year’s trip to Saracens, and the Club Do were prime examples.

The committee once again noted and were grateful for Peter’s hard work and time spent on this.

Dolphins/Signed Merchandise Draw

We think everyone will agree that the prizes available during the Club Do were very special, and well, amazing! Our hearty thanks go out to Shawn Wooden especially for the wonderful bag of goodies he brought with him. The items were very special and unique, and, on the night, we think that everyone took something home.

We had some great prizes donated by members as well, and we are very grateful for those too. Our thanks go out to the members at Saracens that also took one of our hats to get them signed for the Club Do as well.

At the moment, our cupboards are bare! We will be looking at obtaining signed merchandise over the coming months.

Club Do 2015

We think that everyone who attended the Club Do last year will agree that it was possibly the best ever, especially with the visit by Shawn and Marcia Wooden, and also the Cheerleaders. Although it came nowhere close to eclipsing the numbers of 2007, I think you’ll all agree that the quality of the Club Do was superb!

The Club Do is open to all members with their friends and families, it is not, as has been previously suggested, a private function for the regular few. We have always welcomed new faces, and they have always walked out with new friends.

Club Do 2016

We have yet to decide whether or not to have a Club Do this year. A decision has been deferred, as we are currently awaiting a breakdown of who is going to what game(s). Some of the committee members are in favour of a break this year, but this will be discussed further in the year.

To assist us in discussing this further, please email and  let us know what your preferences are for a Club Do, and when you would like us to hold it should we decide to go ahead with it. 

Membership feedback

There were some emails from members, some points of which were answered directly.

One member asked if were possible to hold regular raffles, as well as provide a team photograph at Membership time. A high quality raffle(s) is something we discussed, but at this moment in time, we have no items! As for the team photograph, we will be looking into that. The only issue is that the photograph tends to come out just after membership time (after the final roster cut). But we will look into this.

Another member asked if we could honour Bill Bazos in any way, and as per above, that has already been discussed and addressed.

One suggestion was to hold a Club Do on a non-game weekend, but in our experience, the last time we did that, only 16 people attended, so, at this time, this not an option we will consider.

We are open to comments all year round, so if anyone wishes to pass on any thoughts, good or bad, please feel free to do so. Many thanks for the members that took the time to share their thoughts and suggestions with us.

And finally….

Once again, it has been difficult dealing with the Dolphins at times as they appear to want to put more distance between themselves and the “regular” fans like us. It would seem that they will bend over backwards for corporate/big spenders, but the normal fan tends to be forgotten somewhat.

Our main contact is possibly one of the busiest guys on their staff, and does what he can to help us. But without him, Shawn certainly would not have been at the Club Do, but that’s a story for another day!

2015 has been another great year for Dolfan UK, with Shawn Wooden proving to be an excellent choice as our Honorary President. We are very proud to have him on board, and those of you fortunate enough to have met him would have enjoyed his talk, Q & A session and stories through the evening. 

Long may our relationship with Shawn continue.

As usual, if you have any questions, comments, concerns or articles for the website, please contact us at the usual email address.

Many thanks for your continued support!

Eddie

Love football? Love the Dolphins!