AGM 2020 ROUND UP
2020's AGM was held at the Meadows on Friday March 7th, with upwards of 40 new and returning members attending. The meeting included a number of excellent speeches from Chairman Scott Parkinson, Honorary Secretary Kieran Coe and Honorary Treasurer Clive Brooks, outlining the club's progress over the last year and setting the vision for 2020, a year which will see a number of key events and new challenges.
Highlights included Scott setting out a message of sustainability and forward thinking, reflecting on new committee members and the need to keep sustaining the club going forward. It's vital to attract younger members to both the committee and the playing staff, and the commencement of two formal junior sides in 2020 should help massively in addressing the longer term playing side. Scott also reiterated the importance of Tottington's Big Day Out, which will be held on Sunday July 5th - this event attracted over 7,000 people to Crompton Meadows in 2019 and is one of the biggest - and best - events in the local community. All members are urged to help out with event planning and on the day, so mark it in your diaries! In his capacity as Club Welfare Officer, Scott was also proud to confirm no issues arising at all through 2019.
Kieran spoke with his usual enthusiasm around club development, focusing on the great strides we've made with the new surface and of course our colossal new shed and equipment - Dickie P's pride and joy. He also spoke around developments such as access from the lines, the area to the front of the pavilion and more. Kieran also put across the vision and selection policy from the cricket committee, in Watty's absence, and reiterated the vision of each side, the importance of backing both the committee and your captains, and that this was a year in which we'd see a fantastic new addition in the form of Australian overseas Dean Bennett as well as a new Sunday 3rd XI. KC also pointed out various upcoming events such as NatWest CricketForce and the friendly game in April where we'll formally welcome Dean to the club; the dates of these events appear on the front page of the website and will be circulated to members in the usual ways. Please do support these events!
Clive presented his usual fantastic financial summary, detailing the in and outs through 2019 and pointing out the key areas to support the club, such as sponsorship, TBDO, Boxing Day cricket and more. As ever this was a terrific piece of work and one which consumes a lot of time and effort. The club really has come an awfully long way in the past decade. Membership and match day fees were also confirmed, with no change to 2019 levels. One additional levy, however, is a £10 fee for GMCL membership for each player; this covers a multitude of benefits including insurance, access to the enhanced CricHQ system and much more.
The formal election of officials then too place, with no changes to the key roles - David Nuttall will continue as Club President, the three aforementioned key roles will remain as they are, while the position of Vice Chairman remains unfilled. Three new members were added to the general club committee, and the captains and vice captains for 2020 were announced. Ryan Marsh will skipper the 1sts, with Nick Marsh as vice, while Ben Baker and Lee Kenyon will take charge of the 2nds. Our new Sunday 3rd XI, aimed at providing more social cricket but also an important gateway into Saturday cricket for youngsters and returning players, will be in the capable hands of Mark Parkinson and Phil Yates.
Following the meeting, new kit was distributed by Ben, Kev, Clive and Rick (your author had to take out a bank loan) and there was ample opportunity for socialising and even some rather nice pizza!
Thank you to all who attended, to our club officials for their hard work in putting together some excellent reports, and we look forward to welcoming everyone to the Meadows throughout 2020.
