Hello everyone!
It's been a few months since my last cure for insomnia so now that the 'Summer" has arrived, I decided it was time for an update. For those who have likely noticed my lack of presence at the club so far this season, I'm writing this from a hotel room in Leeds. I have taken up a career on the railway, and at the ripe age of 39, I'm currently studying an apprenticeship to become a conductor. It would appear that you're never too old to further your skillset and learn new things, it's just a sad shame that I can't apply the same ethos to my cricketing prowess....
In the cricketing world, many will be saddened to see that James Anderson will finally be bringing the curtain down on his test career. A remarkable bowler who has broken records galore and been the spearhead of the England attack for almost two decades, no mean feat for a fast bowler! With both him and Stuart Broad now out of future plans, it will be an interesting time as an England fan in red ball cricket as to who is going to take the opportunity to be the new leader of the attack. Matt Potts and Brydon Carse from Durham will hope that their names are in the hat alongside Mark Wood no doubt, although Scott Borthwick might secretly hope they don't as Durham look to establish themselves back in Division 1 of the county championship this season.
Cricket eventually got underway for our various Blackfyne based sides. Our 1st and 2nd X1's have started strongly and both feature at the positive end of their respective divisions, although some weather related cancellations have prevented them both from currently residing in top spot after 5 match day rounds. Our Accademcials had a cracking win in the cup on Sunday just gone, with 6 juniors turning out for the side in that fixture and turning in strong performances. Our junior sides are now up and running, or will be by the end of this week. With 7 (yes seven) junior sides now representing the club, it's great to see some of the older juniors now pushing their way into senior team roles and providing match winning performances once selected.
A huge amount of credit and thanks has to go the way of the selfless junior coaches who are there every Thursday in summer (when dry enough), the 12 weeks of winter programmes provided at the leisure centre and the 8 week programme of All Stars in summer too. They all do this for free to enable the future stars of the club or maybe beyond to start to hone their skills in the sport we love and without them the club would be in a sorry state. The club owes a huge amount of gratitude toward these volunteers! I have heard positive reports that Alex who has joined us for the season from Australia, is getting heavily involved and utilising his high level of coaching qualification to further help develop our junior members. Anyone who doesn't know who he is, he's the one with the moustache that wouldn't look out of place on a member of The Village People...
We continue to work toward making improvements to our facilities. The roof is our top priority, we know it currently looks more like a cheese grater but the process of permissions from relevant authorities is a painstaking process. It is in hand and being chased but until the crossing and dotting is done, we are unable to secure necessary funding to begin the costly process of replacing it. A big thanks to Prud who is co-ordinating the works at the ground and well done to his apprentice Will (his son) who is keenly helping out on weekends.
All of these things can't happen without money of course. A massive thank you to all of the sponsors that have renewed again for 2024, and a big shout out to those who are new to the club in 2024 too! Your support makes a huge difference. We have so far has a few fund-raising events which have been brilliantly supported by parents, families and club members and will look to have other family lead events throughout the season. All of the matches and training sessions have been well attended so far, this keeps our bar ticking over and the treasurer moderately content.
I have spent my evenings so far this week registering the huge amount of new junior recruits to our two websites as well as adding to Spond. If parents of juniors could check their inbox, junk folder and so on, there will be an email from myself via play-cricket which you need to accept so that your children are correctly added to the national network and with the local junior leagues. Also check for invites to Spond, a free app that makes it much easier for coaches to provide updates about games, training and social events that we have trialled with our senior sides and will look to roll out into the junior set up as the weeks go on.
Please note, and it's one I'm sick of telling people. The club is very busy these days. 3 senior sides, 7 junior sides, two full training evenings and Blackfyne FC using the club more often for changing and showering facilities. I have told people plenty of times over the last few seasons, however, DO NOT leave you bags, playing kit, playing equipment at the club. It intrudes into other people's space or worse, if it goes missing, the club will not be able to compensate you for your loss. Have consideration for others and leave the changing and shower areas as you would like to find them when you arrive to play a game. Also, for the seniors who STILL haven't paid their subs, your £70 is due by 31st May. Those who haven't paid, are not available for selection after this date. Don't pretend to be surprised by this, reminders have been sent via e-mail, into team WhatsApp groups and posted on Spond since the AGM in November. If anyone has any questions about theirs, please get in touch with Colin McPherson.
All in all, a fantastic start to the season. Thanks to those who are going the extra mile and also to those who have lightened my load going forward by taking on some of the many behind the scenes tasks I have previously been doing. The club might hopefully still be in one piece when I've finished my few months in a classroom and all of our teams will be pushing for honours!
Fingers crossed for plenty of warmth and sunshine going forward. Keep an eye on our social media channels and website for details of events and why not try and get to games to support the teams if you can. Links to all of our websites and socials are available via the Linktree link at the bottom of this e-mail. Hopefully I'll get a chance to see some of you in the not too distant future and the chats will be around how well things are going, I won't hold my breath just in case though.
Take care everyone, Ian