Missed this before, not sure how.
Over the Winter an AGM was held under a set of circumstances engineered by a small band of people who play social cricket on Friday evenings. Tensions between the senior section and the social team had bubbled along with the occasional cup match on a Friday causing a social game to be cancelled, and of course their insistence on playing in all weathers on a Friday night when a pitch needs to be prepped and covered for the following days 1st team game. There were many other things going on too that were grating, some of the individuals from the social team were junior coaches, but were neither qualified nor safety checked, and repeatedly ignored the concerns raised at committee meetings. Essentially they kept much of the junior section and their social team as a club within a club. They consistently blocked our attempts to gain ClubMark (as they knew the magnifying glass of the ECB looming over them would mean they would have to be safety checked and qualified)
As some of them were junior coaches, they were in the ear of the parents and managed to get enough to vote their way at the AGM in December.
I won't go into the ins and outs but essentially they held a committee meeting shortly before the AGM when many of the people who are now committee members at Ketton Sports CC were on holiday. During this meeting they say they voted to alter the constitution to allow for parent voting on behalf of junior members, and for a lower voting threshold to come in (down to 51% from 75%)
The constitution can't be altered other than by means of a membership vote at a general meeting. Something that nearly a year on they insist is not the case.
They stood against a number of us and 'won' the AGM in every contested vote, but didn't achieve 75% in any vote. In one fell swoop they removed or alienated the entire senior section, the groundsman, some junior coaches, all club sponsors and in particular 3 individuals who have helped the club in to many ways to list, not just financially and with donations of time and equipment, but with man hours and committee roles, captaining on the pitch in years gone by, volunteering at car boots, etc, particularly one individual who had been a member since 1958.
As a group (senior section, some junior coaches, former members who were keen to get involved again having been previously alienated by the individuals from the social team, groundsman, key sponsors, etc) we reached an impasse with people who were impossible to reason with. This is something that has been reflected by the parish council and trustees of our sports & community centre unanimously voting in our favour. After reaching the impasse we made the very difficult decision to form a new club.
The people who remained at Ketton CC seemed very pleased with their AGM result and rather foolishly were under the impression that they owned the ground and all the equipment such as mowers, sight screens, electronic scoreboard, etc. The parish council own the ground and it is the responsibility of the trustees of the sports & community centre to allow cricket to be played there.
We approached the trustees with the proposal that the new club was the only way to ensure cricket continued at the ground, on the basis that between them the 3 individuals mentioned previously owned the following:
pavilion (90% paid for out of the pocket of 2 of the 3 individuals, and named after the 3rd)
sight screens
mowers (including a £20k tractor and outfield mower)
electronic scoreboard
nets
mobile batting cage
boundary ropes
covers
2 of the 3 individuals also pay for the ongoing groundworks, such as outside contractors to put the wicket to bed, acquiring loam etc, this cost runs into many thousands every year. The 3rd individual is one of the groundsmen.
Initially the trustees suggested a co-operation agreement, where both clubs would use the ground in much the same way as had been happening in previous years in all but name anyway.
It was recognised that we were the only club capable of delivering the facilities and equipment expected of a cricket ground, and our club contained the man power and expertise to look after the wickets and outfield. As a result the proposal by the trustees was for Ketton Sports CC to maintain the ground, as well as play senior weekend and midweek cricket, some junior cricket, and All Stars, with Ketton CC paying a fee to cover the pitches we would prepare for them to facilitate social cricket and the only junior cricket age groups they were interested in (the ones their sons played in)
Ketton CC protested very loudly and very publicly, they started a petition, they demanded the parish council take action to reverse the decision of the trustees, they did everything possible to set a fire underneath the whole process without actually coming to the table and discuss like grownups. Eventually they decided to try and make the case that it was totally unworkable for 2 clubs to operate on the same ground. At a parish council meeting they said it would be setting a 'national precedent' for 2 clubs to operate on the same ground. They were swiftly cut short by 2 parish councillors who said 'never mind nationally, there used to be 2 clubs in ketton.' - A very similar disagreement happened in the 1960's and both clubs operated side by side for around a decade before merging as one again.
The season started and they still refused to enter into negotiations, announcing that for the time being they were playing at the ground of another club (remember what they said about 2 clubs on the same ground....?)
Towards the middle of the Summer they put a presentation to the trustees that essentially demanded they were made the 'landlord' club who would prepare the ground and we would have to pay them a fee to use 'their' ground. There was no information given on how they would fund the equipment or provide the expertise required. They made this demand on an all or nothing basis, and if their demand wasn't met they were off. The parish council made it clear it was a trustee decision, and the trustees (including 3 parish councillors) voted unanimously to reject their proposal and approve us as the sole club.
This season Ketton Sports CC have over 150 paid members, the 7th highest (43) All Stars attendance in Leics & Rutland, our U11s and 1st team won their leagues, Sunday 2nd team regularly had 7+ teenagers from the local area, some of whom progressed into the 1st team. We are on our way to achieving ClubMark next year. We held a Presidents Day Dinners with nearly 200 guests, raising lots of money for the club and also putting plenty of money over the bar of the sports & community centre. We ensured the ground and facilities were ready for the Sport Bash:
https://www.stamfordmercury.co.uk/news/new-venue-a-hit-for-sport-bash-at-ketton-9001380/And crucially we never ever lowered ourselves to their level of public badmouthing of their club, or the individuals connected to it.
In contrast Ketton CC dragged their heels to every discussion, consistently spread nonsense that bordered on libel around the local area, managed a few midweek social games, and folded their U9 and U15 sides (as none of their own children play at that age group)
Through people they know in the journalism world, they managed to get The Cricketer Magazine Community Champion Award given to one of their members, for services to junior cricket coaching, particularly girls cricket. This is despite the fact that he isn't a qualified coach, isn't dbs safety checked, and crucially had barely coached for 18 months before the award. The Cricketer have admitted they didn't verify the facts before handing out the award.
If anyone really wants the nitty gritty I have a dossier we prepared that was given to the trustees shortly before the meeting to vote unanimously in our favour. It is
lengthy and has far more information than this post.
Essentially, as far as the forum is concerned, the Ketton you have always known via myself in my current guise and previously as Vitas Cricket has not changed other than becoming Ketton Sports CC. If anything, things are now better than ever as we've got rid of the bad apples.
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Topic: ketton cricket (Read 6850 times)