Custom Bats Cricket Forum
General Cricket => Cricket Admin, Facilities and Fundraising => Cricket Administration => Topic started by: uknsaunders on November 03, 2013, 01:26:54 PM
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What's the ten things you would do to make your club better (for the most part!)?
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The ten other buggers in my team that can't catch :)
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I wish we had bigger changing rooms, at least the home one.
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Reduce from 4 pitches to 3 (2 teams per ground) and have them a bit closer to our "home" ground.
Focus on getting the colts actually playing cricket instead of going out with their mates on a Saturday.
Try to avoid having 2 sides in the same league again.
Remove the league policy about selection after X amount of games for teams in the same league (e.g 5th & 6th team).
More structured training in winter nets (think thats happening this year).
More 1st & 2nd team players to actually attend training.
Reduced match fees for students/apprentices.
Have the 1st team get more involved with the club (not turn up, play & leave).
More people get involved with helping, not the same few people doing everything (wishful thinking).
Try and get the average age of the higher teams down (1st 2nd and 3rd) so if/when the older guys stop playing or move down a league it isn't as huge an impact.
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I wish we had bigger changing rooms, at least the home one.
We had a massive clear out and were surprised how big they were. Could do with ikea space saving designs for changing rooms as most away changing rooms are tiny.
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I'd love to have a clubhouse with changing room and a bar and a big tv on the wall so we could all go down there to watch football and cricket and make it a more social environment
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The ten other buggers in my team that can't catch :)
So you'd be the only one who can't catch then. :D
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I'd love to have a clubhouse with changing room and a bar and a big tv on the wall so we could all go down there to watch football and cricket and make it a more social environment
Agree with this massively, we had a new pavi a couple of years ago, and wish we'd made the dinner room bigger so we could have team gatherings to watch the footy etc. But budgets limit things like this!
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Agree with this massively, we had a new pavi a couple of years ago, and wish we'd made the dinner room bigger so we could have team gatherings to watch the footy etc. But budgets limit things like this!
We had our clubhouse extended last year so have a kitchen/tea room in the back. You can fit a team in there too (usually the away tea at teas). The main part of the clubhouse is our bar, sofa & armchairs to sit/lay about in and a full length window to watch the match. We do have a telly on the wall in the main area of the clubhouse, so all we need is sky sports and it'd be a near perfect set up!
The only slight issue is if you play on a certain strip the sight screens are directly in front of he window lol.
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take the astro off our square.. waste of time and sight for sore eyes (and elbows when diving on it)
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We already have one cracking purpose built ground but I'd love there to be the second ground next door and as good. Have 4-6 lane static nets and 2-3 cages. Club to do proper winter training sessions where people are actually taughtt and not just a net. Same trainig during the summer and of course, more effort put in on the social side by getting more things arranged in the evenings and encouraging the wags and kids down Saturdays.
Recruiting players isn't a problem but it seems keeping players is (this is only my first season). Not sure why people leave yet but I'd like to know why and stop them. Hopefully in 12-18 months the club will have the backing to really push to be the biggest on gloucestershire. That's my hope anyway but I'd love a clean slate like Jake has.
I'd love the club to have proper club recode and stats and for them to be kept up to date and go back the years. Stats are something people don't realise how interested they are in them until they have them.
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I want to hear yours nick lol
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I want to hear yours nick lol
More interested in hearing whether people have the same grumbles or do they want different things.
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Oh another thing I would change is our outfield. In my first season at the club, it was playing beautifully. No snooker table by any means but true enough to be able to confidently attack the ball. Then there was a combination of the groundsman getting a new tractor with skinny field wheels and the particularly wet summer 2 years ago which mean that he basically corrugated the outfield.
As a batsman, I don't mind it as its always worth a few extra runs due to dodgy bounces but I have seen too many people pinned in the face and chest for it to be worth it.
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2 Pitches at our home ground.
Better timekeeping from the majority
Better changing/showering facilities at our outground if we can't have 2 pitches at home
Being allowed to prepare our own pitches at the outground
Other than that, not much I would change
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i would imagine most people would probably have atleast one or 2 from my list
new nets - our 2 lane system has seen better days, whilst it functions netting on it isnt like any pitch we will ever play on!
much better pitches - ours are pretty average. very little work done to prep for a game
a more intergrated club - 1s and 2s to actually act like a single club
the same old people not doing the same old things - usual faces doing all the jobs whilst others turn up and play only.
our junior and ladies sections back - we miss both of these alot, difficult getting sides without the juniors.
worthwhile coaching sessions - training can be a little hit and miss
people being available for the club and not picking and choosing which team or where they play
a pride to play for the club - alot of people just arent bothered now. it shows in our results.
a decent club umpire - ours isnt great
full time groundsman who knows what he is doing.
that probably covers it. we have had a pretty successful club over the years. unfortunately with the older guys retiring and people moving away and the lack of youngsters coming through we really have gone down hill. the facilities in general are pretty decent. 2 bars including one in a large function hall. sky sports, free wifi. beer at a decent price. electric scoreboard and pretty large changing rooms. we just need to sort the rest out to get the club back to where it should be.
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our junior and ladies sections back - we miss both of these alot, difficult getting sides without the juniors.
Ladies section is something I'd quite like to see. The Mrs has volunteered herself if I'm ever short due to last minute dropouts. Luckily I haven't had to take her up on that offer, but she is keen to play even though she's never really picked up a bat or ball before!
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Ladies section is something I'd quite like to see. The Mrs has volunteered herself if I'm ever short due to last minute dropouts. Luckily I haven't had to take her up on that offer, but she is keen to play even though she's never really picked up a bat or ball before!
we had a pretty successful ladies section. one of the very few in the area. unfortunately lack of coaches, people moving away and giving up has meant we dont get the numbers needed to make a team. there are some decent ladies around. i play against a few of the northants steelletos. people underestimate them and usually regret it at some point during the game.
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Great topic this...
1. Two pitches at the ground
2. Better quality outdoor nets - we have to wheel out onto one of the strips on the sole pitch we have
3. Sustainable income
4. More teams - junior, etc. We used to, but we are now down to a 1sts and 2nds. Of course you need more volunteers, coaches, etc.
5. More reliable players. Of course the club is geared towards supporting the 1sts in the Premier League, but having only 6 turn up on occasions for the 2nds is unacceptable...
6. Spin off from #5 - Greater attendance after games and for social functions.
7. Structured coaching sessions - are nets really worthwhile with 2-3 people showing up, batting for 15 mins and getting roughly 1 in 10 decent balls to play?
8. Up-to-date weekly records and stats - 2 of my best 3 innings for the club haven't been recorded and hence my stats for the club are inaccurate!
9. If its a wish list, our own indoor facility and a first-floor balcony (always wanted to sit out on one whilst we bat!)
10. I work for the charity Fields in Trust (formerly National Playing Fields Association). We protect sports pitches and grounds from development with a legal deed and we are currently working with the ECB to tie this in with some of their funding for clubs (as in it being a preferred requirement for clubs to protect their grounds with us) - I'm presenting to ECB national staff later this month. We also offer funding options for landowners and, most importantly, the ownership of the ground stays with the existing landowner (i.e. club). I wish our club would do this, bearing in mind that many housing and supermarket developers insure against basic protective covenants on sports pitches and grounds.
Fields in Trust are a not-for-profit charity, so I hope that negates any self-promotion replies!
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we had a pretty successful ladies section. one of the very few in the area. unfortunately lack of coaches, people moving away and giving up has meant we dont get the numbers needed to make a team. there are some decent ladies around. i play against a few of the northants steelletos. people underestimate them and usually regret it at some point during the game.
We've got quite a few girls in the colts sections coming through, but once they go finish colts cricket, there isn't anywhere for them to go. I know some of them occasionally play sundays if the sunday 2s are short (The sunday 2s skipper is one of the colts coaches) but no dedicated women's/girls team.
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Interesting that similar comments come out about decent grounds, pitches and practise facilities. Almost a universal theme.
Something that I've always been keen on and nearly but not quite got going is collective responsibility. ie. everybody in a club taking ownership for one non-playing task . Been close to it where 5-10 people have looked for sponsorship as opposed to the odd one, or 3-4 guys have taken on website updating. However, it's never quite kept going. To me if people were told as part of membership they had to "donate" 8 hours of their time a month ie. in effect 1 game, to non-pitch tasks then many clubs would be much nicer places to be.
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Looking at some of these comments, I wish our team had what other teams are trying to improve.
My wish list:
1. Two or more cricket pitches (presently there is only one)
2. Any type of nets (we have none)
3. A new pavilion (currently ours is comprised of a couple of toilets, a shower and a storage room. The seating area is basically concrete steps).
4. Groundsman (There is nobody willing to do this, and yes we have offered to pay)
5. A proper training session (Usually the same four or five guys who show up for training and with no nets, having a knock is futile)
6. A more committed group/team (It's usually the same two guys who prepare the ground, clean the "pavilion", prepare the teas, etc. an no, we are neither the Captain or Vice-Captain)
7. An additional team (be it "B" Team or Colts or Ladies)
Hopefully, things may change next year as a couple of us have changed most of the policies and procedures already in place and have added a couple of our own. And we are looking at adding a couple of players that have a different type of work ethic.
And if you were wondering I live in Trinidad and Tobago.
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And if you were wondering I live in Trinidad and Tobago.
that's a CBF tour venue sorted! (subject to ground upgrades) :D
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Interesting that similar comments come out about decent grounds, pitches and practise facilities. Almost a universal theme.
Something that I've always been keen on and nearly but not quite got going is collective responsibility. ie. everybody in a club taking ownership for one non-playing task . Been close to it where 5-10 people have looked for sponsorship as opposed to the odd one, or 3-4 guys have taken on website updating. However, it's never quite kept going. To me if people were told as part of membership they had to "donate" 8 hours of their time a month ie. in effect 1 game, to non-pitch tasks then many clubs would be much nicer places to be.
This is on thing on my dream list of how a club runs. Unfortunately it is a pipe dream and will almost certainly never happen at my club.
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that's a CBF tour venue sorted! (subject to ground upgrades) :D
Anytime you're ready. ;)
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4. Groundsman (There is nobody willing to do this, and yes we have offered to pay)
And if you were wondering I live in Trinidad and Tobago.
this sounds perfect to me if i ever decide to move.
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1. Make our ground more enclosed and private to give it a better look from the outside perspective - or move for that fact! Vandalism is a massive issue.
2. To not feel as if our club depends on 'big players' enough so that they basically get away with murder thinking that they own the club - get rid of them
3. More consistency in numbers at training sessions with more emphasis on drills to improve our cricket
4. Have our changing rooms updated and modernised to give it a better look
5. Find a way of getting a partnership with local schools so that our youth system and future of the club continues to grow
6. Not depend on getting as many players from outside our area to maintain our first teams position
7. Invest in a roll on net cage so that we can actually train on turf wickets to make it more match specific
Only seven off the top of my head, sounds so easy when you're just typing away a wish list but would be nice to get a few extra things going as a club. It appears it's always the same few people who are trying to keep the club afloat.
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this sounds perfect to me if i ever decide to move.
No probs pal, the job is yours...
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Bigger and better pavilion including electricity, showers and somewhere to actually eat food other than outside or in changing rooms.
A merger between the two clubs I play for - Club A has two Saturday sides but not Sunday team along with no youth section(so relies on young players who come through youth section of club B, such as myself). Club B on the other hand only plays Sundays and although they have plenty of youngsters, do not have enough adults to be able to sustain playing in a league(so now only play friendlys).
More focus on training and T20s in midweek.
Lower match fees - As an 18 year old on just over £6 an hour, £7 match fees are quite a substantial amount to pay out every week.
Some decent nets would be nice aswell
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Some of these more doable than others, but for us:
1 - new artifical nets
2 - new ground equipment to assist groundsman
3 - upgrade the current scorebox to an electronic one
4 - Make away changing rooms bigger
5 - improve the outfield
6 - cheaper memebership
7 - Have indoor nets built onsite
8 - A few more sociable and club orientated members
9 - supermodel to work behind the ramp
10 - to have several oil tycoons join as social members to make points 1-9 possible :D
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this is a really interesting thread and like others have said a lot of similiar things coming up.
here's mine -
1. new outdoor nets - we had to take down ours at the end of the season because of H & S!!
2. better availibility and committment from players - especially on Sundays
3. more focus on game situations in practice - rather than just trying to smash every ball out the nets as far as possible etc...
4. other people at the club to do more rather than leave it all up to the committee to do everything
5. a much better structured and larger colts section
6. the club to be run more as a cricket club rather than sports club - we have football, darts etc...
7. the outfield to be a cricket outfield and not a kids football pitch in the winter
8. more sponsorship in general at the club
9. a perminant groundsman - this is an absolute pipe dream though!!
10. to go a season where we don't have the roller, mower etc... breakdown - lol!!
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Sorry to hijack your thread nick but i thought id just add a question on here as its kinda related to it rather than opening a new thread. if you want to move it be my guest.
so most of the replies revolve a little around improved facilities, new nets etc. this all costs. how do clubs go about raising funds? what events do you hold each year or would you plan to hold to get these facilities? I know grants are obviously an option but im talking the club generating funds themselves through events or sponsorship.
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My old club, before we formed Ketton Lions CC this winter, used to hold an annual fireworks display for the village.
Buy in a few kegs of real ale, barbecue, jacket potatoes/beans etc, raffle, stalls for the kids, facepainting etc etc. All manned and run by members of the club, with myself and Robin buying in circa £600 of fireworks and digging two pits on the opposite side of the ground to the crowd and the bonfire.
We filled the pits with sand and while one of us is removing the old firework, then placing and lighting a new firework in pit 1, the firework in pit 2 is going off. This way we managed to keep things continuous, if not exactly health and safety approved. Much better than your typical garden display where there is a long delay between each firework. At times it was a bit like being in the trenches!
This meant many villagers were sufficiently entertained to return year after year rather than going to the big, professionally organised display in peterborough. We charged an entrance fee, with a family ticket discount, as well ad obviously making money from the bar, raffle, food, etc.
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My old club, before we formed Ketton Lions CC this winter, used to hold an annual fireworks display for the village.
Buy in a few kegs of real ale, barbecue, jacket potatoes/beans etc, raffle, stalls for the kids, facepainting etc etc. All manned and run by members of the club, with myself and Robin buying in circa £600 of fireworks and digging two pits on the opposite side of the ground to the crowd and the bonfire.
We filled the pits with sand and while one of us is removing the old firework, then placing and lighting a new firework in pit 1, the firework in pit 2 is going off. This way we managed to keep things continuous, if not exactly health and safety approved. Much better than your typical garden display where there is a long delay between each firework. At times it was a bit like being in the trenches!
This meant many villagers were sufficiently entertained to return year after year rather than going to the big, professionally organised display in peterborough. We charged an entrance fee, with a family ticket discount, as well ad obviously making money from the bar, raffle, food, etc.
it is something we talked about for next year and something which would hopefully work, particualrly as there was been a lot of house built near the ground so plenty of families etc who would hopefully come down. any ideas for this year?
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Sorry to hijack your thread nick but i thought id just add a question on here as its kinda related to it rather than opening a new thread. if you want to move it be my guest.
so most of the replies revolve a little around improved facilities, new nets etc. this all costs. how do clubs go about raising funds? what events do you hold each year or would you plan to hold to get these facilities? I know grants are obviously an option but im talking the club generating funds themselves through events or sponsorship.
Realistically I'd say most clubs get their funds from:
Youth subscriptions
Bar
Backing from rich members in money/equipment
I'd imagine things like fireworks, 100 clubs, fantasy cricket leagues, skittles, 6's tournaments all raise money but not in the quantities that the above do for 'normal' clubs.
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Myself and Robin are available as freelance pyrotechnics ;)
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Myself and Robin are available as freelance pyrotechnics ;)
A club backed by a retailer should become one of the biggest around :)
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we hold a quiz night in january as we use the local pub and they are quiet it raises a few hundred quid and gives us something to do. we also have a annual horse race night which raises a minimum of £500 usually £650+. as we dont have our own bar it can be quit difficult to raise funds but we do have two new sponsors for next year which will bring in £1500.
we are a very small club so this money makes a huge difference to us.
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My old club, before we formed Ketton Lions CC this winter, used to hold an annual fireworks display for the village.
Buy in a few kegs of real ale, barbecue, jacket potatoes/beans etc, raffle, stalls for the kids, facepainting etc etc. All manned and run by members of the club, with myself and Robin buying in circa £600 of fireworks and digging two pits on the opposite side of the ground to the crowd and the bonfire.
We filled the pits with sand and while one of us is removing the old firework, then placing and lighting a new firework in pit 1, the firework in pit 2 is going off. This way we managed to keep things continuous, if not exactly health and safety approved. Much better than your typical garden display where there is a long delay between each firework. At times it was a bit like being in the trenches!
This meant many villagers were sufficiently entertained to return year after year rather than going to the big, professionally organised display in peterborough. We charged an entrance fee, with a family ticket discount, as well ad obviously making money from the bar, raffle, food, etc.
in the village where i play there used a fund raising organisation which organised the yearly firework display spent in the region of £3000 on fireworks alone and summer fete, they would basically support any good cause in the village, they would end up raising many thousands a year. anybody that help got a share for the chosen club etc.
it was really useful as it was ongoing and we had a few hundred pound a year donate for 2 days work so was a good swap
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Whenever there is a particularly large Euromillions Jackpot on during the summer, me and my teammates will often spend hours during the game saying what we'd spend our countless millions on to improve the club. Infact it is one of my favourite conversations to have on a weekend.
We almost always come up with some ludicrous things to spend our money on, such as a huge inflatable dome which would be erected in the event of rain meaning no more washed out games. Genetically modified dogs that don't produce any saliva and are trained to fetch cricket balls out of the surrounding hedges so we never lose a ball again. Scorers that will record every stat up to and including an F1 style weighing index before and after then start of a game so we can see who worked hardest/sweated the most due to lack of fitness.
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Can I add another one, more than 2 people in the club who are able to apply bat grips would be nice!
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Can I add another one, more than 2 people in the club who are able to apply bat grips would be nice!
It's probably one of the most self explanatory things to do, I reckon its more laziness on the other guys part.
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On the topic of Fundraising, it all goes back to the collective responsibility I mentioned in a previous post.
As a club if you have a shred of ambition you set yourself goals. If you want to buy 10 things to make the club better then that money needs to be raised. If all the members, or at least most of them, put the 12 months of hard graft into fundraising then most clubs will achieve their goals.
They don't. They sit on their (No Swearing Please) or even worse get into the lottery debate (I've done that a few times as well!). Too many people just let things drift rather than be proactive or get involved in others activities.
Imho fundraising has decreased in clubs over the last 20 years. Attitudes have changed,as have the players tasked to carry the club on.
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On the topic of Fundraising, it all goes back to the collective responsibility I mentioned in a previous post.
As a club if you have a shred of ambition you set yourself goals. If you want to buy 10 things to make the club better then that money needs to be raised. If all the members, or at least most of them, put the 12 months of hard graft into fundraising then most clubs will achieve their goals.
They don't. They sit on their (No Swearing Please) or even worse get into the lottery debate (I've done that a few times as well!). Too many people just let things drift rather than be proactive or get involved in others activities.
Imho fundraising has decreased in clubs over the last 20 years. Attitudes have changed,as have the players tasked to carry the club on.
Can't comment on what cricket or really sport was like 20 years ago BUT, I do remember going to my fathers clubs race night as a youngster and I had the normal kid bets of £3 per race and that's your lot unless you won. However, on the races where you auction off horses ey would frequently 'sell' for 150+ quid each, in fact it was unheard of any sellin for less than 100. Winnings where then higher but it also meant the club made much larger sums in profit. Not only now do you see clubs doing far less fundraising but for the ones I've been to as an adult they are far less well supported, meaning you make less and so it's less 'worth it' .
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The thing is with the lottery statements is , would you actually spend all your own cash for little to no return or would you set it up as a business to st least earn money back ?
I mean if you pumped 5m in you could easily have two top quality grounds with pavilion in the middle, you could build an indoor centre, 6-8 static nets outdoors (both grounds with covers, scoreboards etc) and you could easily set up a retail shop and bat making/repair workshop..
That at least wouldn't just mean one club got awesome facilities but as a business it would make loads year in year out. I'm actually surprised a retail shop hasn't done something like that as it'd really corner an area of the country with indoor facilities, and outdoor facilities for coaching etc
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I'd say that what you are expecting to get for your five million is rather a lot more than you would in reality.
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I'd say that what you are expecting to get for your five million is rather a lot more than you would in reality.
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That's excluding land cost which would raise it a fair bit. Static nets would be a fair chink but 8 is not 4x the cost of two etc.