Old Northamptonians Association
Sir Humphrey Cripps Pavilion,
Tel 01604
634045
Old
Northamptonians Association
Annual
Newsletter 2006/7
This last year has been one of continuing development for the Association as it aims to be the premier amateur sporting facility in Northamptonshire. The Association and the sports sections are rightly proud of what has been achieved to date, but we also have more plans continue our development in the coming years. This newsletter for 2006/7 tells you what has been achieved, what is planned and how you can play your part. Also attached are reports of progress of each of the sections.
1.
Annual General Meeting
The
association held its AGM in October and a new committee were elected.
There were
a number of notable changes:
- Vince Owen stood down as
chairman after successfully seeing us through the development of the new
clubhouse. His place is taken by Eddie Slinn
- Alan Deathe stood down as
treasurer after many years work. His place is taken by John Harris
Many
thanks for all they have contributed; we all owe them a great debt.
2. The new
committee has identified 4 priorities for 2007:
- Achieve continuing financial
stability
- Introduce a new constitution
- Improve communication
- Develop the old changing room
as a facility
In order to achieve these things we need you help
2.1
Achieve continuing financial stability
The biggest change for the whole Association has been the need to
operate our new clubhouse in a more professional way in order to cover the
increased costs we have to meet. The generous donation from the Benefactors enabled us to build the
clubhouse. Your committee made the decision to spend 10% more than the donated
amount in order to create the quality environment we have and accommodate the
size of changing facilities requested by all sections. This meant raising money
through various fundraising appeals, and in addition your Committee have negotiated an affordable loan that
can be paid back over a number of years out of the trading profits of the
Clubhouse.
This means
we have to make the best use of the clubhouse to increase our income. Our plan
is to increase income during the week when we can provide meeting and
conference facilities for local businesses as well as facilities for social
events at other times. We believe we can offer great personal service in an
excellent environment at competitive prices. Full details of rates and
facilities are available by contacting the clubhouse 01604634045 and asking for
David or Bev or e-mailing: oldnorthamptonians@hotmail.co.uk.
As always
we try to balance the day-to-day wishes of the membership with these special
events, however without this additional income we will not able to maintain the
quality of our great facilities and playing environment. For members the
Association organises a variety of social events throughout the year to
complement sports sections activities. The monthly quiz league that runs
throughout the winter season remains very popular, as do the sportsmans
dinners that have become a very successful feature of the social calendar. On
April 27th there is a dinner dance planned. Tickets are available
from Keith Napier or by contacting the clubhouse
Committee
member responsible: John Harris
2.2 New
constitution
The present
constitution sets out the legal basis on which the association exists. As we
have grown the present arrangements has become increasingly unsuitable for what
is in effect a small business.
It is proposed
that the association becomes a limited company that will be managed by an Executive
Board who will make decisions on behalf of the membership. The Executive would
be drawn from members of the sporting sections or Life members and Vice
presidents. Sporting section members, Life Members and Vice Presidents would
vote to select the Executive. Each sporting section (Tennis, Cricket,
This
Executive will report on a quarterly basis to elected representatives from each
section (2 representatives from Cricket,
For people
who have chosen to join as a social member rather than as a sporting section
member their membership entitles them to use of the clubhouse and the
bar and to elect two representatives to work with the Executive. This representation
will make sure their views and wishes are taken into account
These
proposals have been developed over a period of time involving many people and are
aimed at ensuring the continuation of the control of the Association lying with
the sporting membership.
These
proposals will be considered at the forthcoming Extraordinary General meeting
on April 24th at 7.30Pm
Committee
member responsible: Eddie Slinn
2.3 Old
Changing Rooms conversion
As part of
the overall development of the clubhouse an amount on money was earmarked to
develop the old changing room into The Bat and Ball Bar. It
will be a casual facility for members use and it is planned ultimately to be a
licensed facility. So far we have spent £50,000 to complete the core building
work. We have agreed as a committee to invest a further £12,000 during spring
on completing budgeted initiatives. Final dιcor & furnishing will be
through the further commitment of members of the association. .
Can
you help?
Do
you have practical skills?
Can
you give up any of your time?
Are
you prepared to make a financial contribution?
Committee
member responsible: Vince Owen
2.4
Improve our communication
Databases are being established and
membership cards will be produced for all paid up members & membership
cards are currently being issued, also where you have an email address we will
send you information by email. The Association is bringing together information
on membership from each of the Sections. Please ensure your details are correct
by completing the slip at the end of this newsletter and returning it the
clubhouse or E-mailing Life members and Vice presidents
During the 2007 we intend to put in place a website for the Association which means you will be able to check up on the latest news and events
Committee
members responsible: Fiona Seymour/Bev Kevan
3. Section
Reports
3.1
Football Section
The
Chenecks First team are still struggling to get out
of the lower parts of the division and although there has been some improvement
the team is still too inconsistent and will have to work harder to improve its
league position. Despite that the numbers at training has improved and this is
area which is to be encouraged going forward. Scott Carlin continues to remain
optimistic and needs to get full commitment from all players for the remainder
of the season.
The Reserves are performing reasonably
well but are suffering with the lack of meaningful fixtures. Mick Morris is
doing an admirable job in difficult circumstances. The A
Team are in an excellent league position after a slow start and are still
in the KO Cup. The cricketers are all enjoying the keep fit activity over the winter
period.
The Under
13s continue to take their
division by storm and are currently unbeaten. The Under 12s are finding
things difficult at the present time with a shortage of players but hopefully
the New Year will bring a change in fortunes.
3.2
Rugby Section Report
Seniors:
After the pre Christmas fixtures the 1st XV are a very
creditable 5th in the
The
captains and vice captains have worked tirelessly to ensure 4 teams are
fielded most Saturdays and despite the results not being quite as good as the
previous season everyone involved is enjoying their rugby both on and off the
field.
The Colts
are once again being coached by Emlyn Hughes and have won six of their eleven
matches played losing four and drawing one. This is the first season that
School 1st XV squad members have only been allowed to play for the
Colts on rare occasions pre Christmas as the School
seek to improve their fixture list. Consequently many of the U17s have
been moved up to the Colts, which has meant that the U17s have played just two
league games winning 46-3 v S&L and 22-3 against Long Buckby.
Finally a big thank you to all involved in ensuring that the Rugby
Section continues to thrive, especially to Norman Barker, who as Club Coach has
shown his tremendous enthusiasm to move the Club forward (and also to win
Weight Watchers Slimmer of the Year!) if only the majority of the players from
all sides show the dedication to training he and the regular few demonstrate
then who knows what we could achieve.
Juniors:
2006/7 is taking shape to be as successful as the previous season where we
virtually cleaned up from U.9s to U.12s at the Alliance, and both the
U.13's & U.14s winning their East Midlands Cups.
However the Section is not just about winning trophies, we are continuing our ethos of providing enjoyment and involvement of all players, developing their talents and team spirit. Regardless of whether the players are training or playing at a tournament, their safety is paramount and coaches are very conscious of this when deciding on teams and positions.
The numbers of registered players has again increased to over 350
players, supported by over 50 coaches and an army of voluntary committee,
coordinators and helpers. Our great relationship with the
The
Section has now been presented with the Prestigious RFU Seal of Approval -
recognition by both the RFU and Sport England as being a
safe, effective and child friendly club. A big thank you goes to Kevin
Herbert and the team who have put in a lot of time and effort achieving this,
it is an ongoing award and we need to keep working on this and put into place
out ambitious Club Development plan.
3.3
Cricket Section Report
Seniors:
Following the very successful year in 2005 for the Cricket Club over winter
there was much discussion over the replacement of Brendan Fourie,
who had been our very successful pro for 5 years but had returned permanently
to
The 2006
season was fraught with difficulties due to player injury and illness and on
occasion, juniors age 12 were brought into play in senior sides. Taking this into account, the Club was
satisfied that the very young sides held their own in the league tables. The First team, lead by John Mann, finished 6th
in the Premier Division but achieved a very high number of batting points and
were hampered by more abandoned games than most.
The other
three teams all finished up lower in their Divisions than previously, but gave
many juniors a chance to develop. In the
Juniors:
Once again the Club fielded junior sides of all ages in both the
The
success of the
The Clubs success has led to increased support from Northants County
Board, and we are striving to reach the national accreditation of
Clubmark. The Club has also undertaken
Chance to Shine a national scheme to bring cricket back into schools, which
requires us to provide 300 hours of coaching in designated local state schools
over the 2007 season. These two
initiatives have resulting in the Club putting great emphasis on training
coaches to Level 2 for every age group, and we are very grateful for all the
time our coaches commit. The potential reward from all this, is access to ECB
funds to improve our facilities over the coming years; a challenge we could not
afford to turn down.
3.4
Tennis Section Report
This winter has been the busiest
ever for the clubs tennis players which proves yet again that this is a sport
which goes on for 12 months a year and not just around Wimbledon fortnight!
This has mainly been due to a more
regular Tuesday evening club night under the floodlit Boys School courts and
the fact that these sessions are now enjoying welcome participation from
players at Abington LTC, who being based just around the corner in Park Avenue,
and being the only other grass court club in the county, are natural allies at
this time of year.
In addition to these Tuesday evening
sessions, we continue to run two teams in the town Winter League although the fact four of the matches for the B team have so far have
take place against teams from
This summer, the ONs has three teams
entered in the Town League, with the flagship A team hoping to build on 2006
when they stayed put in Division One despite extremely limited resources.
For the tennis section to move
forward at present it is in need of an influx of younger members, and probably
a coach to help filter junior players over the road from NSB. Also, the ladies
section, which withered on the vine in the post Peter Morris years of
organisation, could to with being re-vitalised.
We are
always on the lookout for new members and anyone with a healthy interest in tennis
should contact me, Mark Beesley on 01604 881965 or 07946 540402 for further
details. We probably dont appreciate what excellent facilities we have and
they should really be used a good deal more.
4. Harrison Murray Estate Agents
Please note our major sponsor has made available a special offer to
all club members:
For each
property that exchanges contracts to a member of the Association Harrison
Murray shall give a discount of £500.00 off our standard fees, we will then pay
a further £100.00
per transaction back to the club on payment of the fee.
5 Association Membership Details
Name
..
Association
Membership Type: Sports section / Social /Life Member,
Vice President
Home
Address
..
Postcode
E-mail address
.
Telephone
Number (home)
Mobile
.
To enable us
to update our database and communicate more effectively please return this slip
to:
The Humphrey
Cripps Pavilion,