Apologies all- this time with agenda attached.
Dear Member/Friend
Attached is the agenda of our 2024 AGM to be held on Wednesday 13 November 2024 at the Ridgemont Pavilion, home to Tunbridge Wells Youth Football Club, Ridgewaye, Southborough, TN4 0AA commencing at 1930. Please do make a special effort to support this important event in the Club’s calendar.
On the field, it was great to see the Southborough Women's team build on last season's efforts. Whilst they struggled for results, and had the weather hinder them on a number of occassions, the spirit and enthusiasm for the game continued to shine through and we welcomed even more women and girls to cricket at The Common. Southborough Men’s 1st and 2nd XIs played in the second and fifth divisions of the Kent Village League respectively. We were also able to field a 3rd XI on one occasion and we hope to again build on that this coming season. We also entered teams into two midweek competitions and had a full Sunday fixture list, so plentiful opportunities for cricket for our playing members. Unfortunately, the 1st XI struggled to string results together, losing a number of very close games and, with the weather denying them the chance for a last-minute escape, they were relegated on the last weekend of the league season. We'd like to say thank you to outgoing 1st XI Captain, David Jones, who created a great environment in which to play cricket, with his (in)famous motto 'Best Day of the Week' becoming well known over the last couple of seasons. The 2nd XI had contrasting fortunes and played consistently well, with strong performances right across the team earning them the Division 5 title. Congratulations to everyone involved and especially to joint 2nd XI Captains Christian Williams and Steven Smith. One of the midweek competitions saw us pitted against local(ish) town teams, but was completed by the end of May, whilst the other competition spanned the entire season and better met our requirements to find opportunities for parents of our juniors and others looking to return to cricket. The Sunday XI was again a good proving ground for some of our emerging youth talent whilst also a home for some of our more social cricketers, supported by some of our league players, with games played in the right spirit.
Our junior membership is going from strength to strength with 72 boys and girls of five to seven in the All Stars and 152 other juniors in the under nines, elevens, thirteens and fifteens. We are delighted that our girls section continues to go from strength to strength, with 48 girls playing cricket for the club 'post-All Stars', now making up 32% of our u9 to u15 membership. Results in league cricket across the age groups were pleasing, with the Under 11 and Under 13 boys competing strongly in their respective divisions, only falling away from the summit towards the end of the season. In each age group team, lots of the players were given multiple opportunities to play and we saw really strong growth and development over the season.
We have big plans for 2025 with it being our 225th anniversary as a club! We have appointed a committee working group to plan events and activities around this anniversary and if you would like to get involved, please do get in contact with any of our committee members.
Club membership and finances are in good shape thanks to the efforts of your Committee and in particular, Mark Harrison, the Treasurer. We were able to use our second ECB grant to make improvements to the restroom facilities we offer for women and girls. We have also made some other changes to the Clubhouse to try and make it a more welcoming place for our members and guests. We believe with the reserves we have in place we are now on the verge of beginning to plan for a much needed upgrade to the clubhouse. This will be a long-term project but it’s an important landmark for us. The ground and square stood up remarkably well in very challenging weather conditions, thanks to the tireless care and hard work of our groundsman, Jamie Brown- ably assisted by Hassan Hadi.
We will be arranging indoor nets in the New Year which older colts will again be able to attend. The details are not yet available but will be posted on the Club website, www.southboroughcc.hitssports.com, and on Spond, in due course.
We do have a small number of vacancies on the committee, and are always happy for healthy competition for currently filled roles so if you are keen to become more involved, please have a conversation with the chair. Current vacancies include: 1st XI Captain, Midweek Captain (new role), Club Welfare Officer, Cafe Manager, Volunteer Co-ordinator
We look forward to seeing and hearing from many of you on 13 November 2024.