Very interesting topic this and a bone of contention, at all clubs in the league that I play in. We pay £75.00 per annum (this constitutes membership of two sports organisations from who we receive funding as well as a club fee), then £5 per match (£3 for juniors). Teas are on top of that – say £2 to £4 per head depending on the quality of the teas and how hungry one is… (very often the teas & the showers are the best part of my day these days). Add to this, various fundraising efforts – the B3 bat raffle being one.
Scorers fee at our club is £15.00 and a free tea; umpires: panel umpires (1st XI) are £35.00 a pop – playing a home game thus costs £70.00 plus £15 for the scorer, away games just £15 for the scorer, but of course that evens itself out. For club umpires (2nd XI & Sunday XI), £30.00 umps, £15 scorers – you pay your own.
Facilities wise – at out ground we have two very good sight screens at each end, covers, a decent scorebox, an umpires room with showers, very good changing rooms with constant hot water, decent toilets – including disabled – plenty of seating round the ground and a decent area in which to take tea – our 1st XI teas being the best in the division it has to be said. We also have a three lane artificial practise area, built and paid for by the members, which is in some need of some TLC – one of our NatWest CricketForce projects…
However, and this is to do with when we moved to our current location – we have no bar or function room. The facility does have three all-weather tennis courts – with its own pavilion, a five-a-side area (both floodlit) and changing room, and a football pitch and we have four changing rooms in our main pavilion. We also have a bowling green with its own pavilion and car parking is more than adequate, even on busy days.
Beers wise – we basically sell cans and bottles from a fridge – a bit rural, but what we do is buy in crates, sell the cans / bottles at £1.50 and any profit made goes into the junior section. After the games, we’ll have a beer at the ground, then go to the Carleton Bowling Club, a facility with decent prices for ale and a committee room and where we can hold functions – our Presentation Night in October attracting 110 folks.
The league in which we play – the Moore & Smalley Palace Shield – has a Premier Division and then divisions 1 to 6 playing on Saturdays, with two large divisions playing Sunday cricket. The junior set up is possibly one of the largest and best junior sections in Lancashire, including as it does several Northern League clubs. Both the senior and junior sections are recognised by the LCB as being successful, growing and well organised.
What the league do very well, is set standards for grounds / facilities in each and every division, which is important in keeping standards high and making sure that only teams meeting the criteria can progress or where new teams apply to join the league (there are about two teams a season on average that apply to join). Certainly in the Prem and Division 1, there are some very decent grounds we play on with some excellent facilities for players, spectators, umpires, etc. Regular ground audits are done and captains have the opportunity to raise any ground issues with the league, as do the umpires, so standards are pretty well maintained.
Although strictly an amateur league (or so the rules say anyway…), the standard of cricket, in the Prem particularly, is very good. Not perhaps as good as it used to be (as an old duffer, I am bound to say that…. Eh, when I were a lad, etc.).
This may be more info than required… Happy New Year.
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Topic: 2014/15 Club Subs and Match Fees Poll (Read 32279 times)