This is the Chairman’s Report from last night’s AGM:
“Now is a great time to be a member and involved in Staplehurst Cricket and Tennis Club. With a lot of other clubs struggling, and even folding, we are bucking the trend and going from strength to strength.
Last year I said that things have changed – people’s lives have changed so we need to move forward in the same direction but in a different way.
The whole club seems to have embraced this message. There is now renewed enthusiasm across all sections. The cricket – under the guidance of new captains Tom Davey and Gez Saunders has been re-invigorated – we can see this by their success on the pitch with both teams being promoted this year.
But also off the pitch too there is a really good feeling of togetherness and camaraderie with players from all teams socialising more together after matches and at curry nights. The junior cricket continues to thrive – whereas other local clubs have had to withdraw from certain age groups due to lack of numbers. We are still fielding teams in all groups U9, U11, U13 and U16.
This is thanks in part to all the hard work that John Swannick has put in with the local primary schools where he gives up his time and offers coaching free of charge. It is also great to see so many of the older juniors now obtaining their Level 1 coaching awards and coming along on Sunday mornings to help out with the training of the younger ones.
We have had a steady increase in new tennis members and I really feel that this section will soon start to flourish again too. There is a regular group, who, along with Julian Squiers, who come into the bar for a drink on Friday evenings throughout the year and there are others who now frequently come along at the weekends too.
The Petanque section and Running club continue to complement our own club activities – the petanque with their weekly matches and practices sessions on the same night as cricket nets. The Running Club which has really taken off this year and has more members than ever – are now also regularly using the bar too and often have social events at the club which are very well attended. Again this year, lead by Nick Jordan, they organised the Mid Kent 5 Miler which raised approximately £2000 for club funds. I would once again like to thank Nick and his team for all their efforts and generous support for the club in this respect.
Social and Fundraising, headed by Tracey Trevett, has also been successful with different events being organised and well supported throughout the year, including the new relationship which has been built with Chapel Lane Play Group when we organised a successful Santa’s grotto day and we now have plans for more joint events with them in the summer. Thanks must also go to the other Fund Raising team members, Danielle Masterman and Holly Saunders for their support.
I would also like to thank the General Committee for all their hard work behind the scenes particularly in respect of the potential sale of land and the exciting plans we have moving forward. There is no one person to single out for this – it has been a dedicated team effort – with everyone pulling their weight and doing their bit. You will hear more about this later but needless to say we are really excited about the possibility of being able to enhance our existing tennis and cricket facilities, to re-vamp the clubhouse for the benefit of our social members, and also to generate more income for the club with private functions throughout the year.
So in essence, we have had a successful year and there is a really good feel about the place at the moment. We now need to capitalise on this and make sure this continues going forward so that the Club thrives for the benefit of everyone.
I would like to finish with a few thank yous:
Ray Jenkins for a successful President’s Day this year and also for his donation of the new sound system and projector which has been a great asset.
Julian Squires – for tennis coaching sessions
Alan Reader of course for all his hard work and dedication.
I would just like to mention that Alan Collard and Alan Reader were invited by Kent Cricket Board to Canterbury in the summer to be presented with awards in recognition of their services to Cricket over the years so well done to them both.
Thank you."
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