Hi All,

This year’s Theale and Tilehurst CC AGM will take place online at 8pm on Tuesday 8^th December. You should all have received an E-Mail with a link to the virtual meeting for the AGM, if you haven’t please contact a member of the committee.

Please see this message from our chairman Phil Mead to give you an idea of what we are planning for next season.

Message from the Chairman

This year

After a slow start due to the pandemic we managed to get quite a bit of cricket in between July and September including Saturday 4XI fixtures for the first time in our history. We also managed to get targeted adult coaching from Aftab pre-lock down and some youth sessions post-lockdown. We raised over £6,000 to buy a new mower and fund our coaching programme.

We continued to have excellent relationships with Julian Wood and Aftab Habib. These relationships give us access to excellent coaches, their contacts and other opportunities to attract players.

Next year

Building on our success raising a 4XI this year we have applied for an Academy XI in the Berkshire league which will play at Douai. We plan next year to raise about £15,000 with the Douai recreation association to fund relaying the square next autumn with a view to play 1XI fixtures at Douai from 2022.

With the expansion of our cricket we will propose splitting the current Club Captain role into 1st XI captain and Director of cricket roles. This new role will oversee all cricket playing maters and push forward our recruitment, retention and coaching. This will develop us into a club able to compete at a higher level in the Thames Valley league. The Douai facilities combined with a re-laid square will further enhance our attractiveness to new and existing members.

To ensure we are financially stable we’ll propose increasing the membership fee over the next few years. The proposed increase next year is £10 to £60. To reduce the administration and ensure we collect subs and match fees we aim to introduce an online system for payment and administration. This will mean we move away from cash paid match fees and bank transfers. For under 15 players in senior cricket we expect to have more youth players and propose a return to £5 match fees for that age group.

The youth set-up will be reviewed when the 2021 government guidelines on COVID-19 are known.

What support do we need?

Firstly volunteers. We need the next generation of committee, coaches, umpires and helpers to move forward to where we want to be.

Financial support for fundraising and ensuring subs and fees at paid promptly. Also Help us get external financial support through promotion and fundraising activities.

Please promote the club whenever possible and help us attract new members.

Conclusion

At times last year we were getting 6 senior teams out on a weekend which is as many as any club in Berkshire. With the opportunity provided by Douai’s excellent facilities; a motivated committee and excellent contacts (e.g Aftab) it’s a really exciting time. Let’s all work to take out club to the next level.