As ever I hope this mail finds everyone well. Summer is well the truly with us and all sections of the club are doing well.
One continuing issue though is selection on a Saturday. We are all busy and have other commitments but please do try and make yourselves available where you can. Having a few more players available really takes the pressure off our captains. I myself have not played much of late for a variety of reasons, but I so enjoyed the game I played in a couple of weeks ago. We have so many things going for us as a club, but we can not take them for granted. Please get organised and rope off some weeks in the dairy to play a bit more cricket, you won’t regret it!
I know I have said it before but there are soooooo many things that have to be in place and happen behind the scenes for us to play any cricket. The time devoted and jobs that our volunteer Management Committee do for the benefit of the whole club never fails to amaze me. Though we are not perfect, I'm confident that we are very well run and we do things the right way, but it is easy for me to say this, after all I am a little bit biased! For those of you that don’t know we are independently ‘Clubmark endorsed’, Clubmark is an accreditation scheme for cricket clubs and is licensed from Sport England. In short ECB Clubmark shows that a club is ‘well run and provides the right environment for its members’. Clubmark qualification was one of my commitments to spearhead when I took over as Chairman 7 years ago.
There are many many positive implications to all players, parents and guests including
- Full up to date club constitution with all up to date policies adopted
- Club development plan in place
- Ensure we have correct and comprehensive insurance
- All coaches being qualified, DBS checked, first aid trained, CA registered when required
- All records and forms up to date
- Up to date emergency plans and risk assessments
- Proof of detailed record keeping from meetings and AGMs
- I could go on……
You won’t be surprised to hear that this is a monster of an administrative process and since we first qualified three years ago we have had to ensure we continually remain compliant. We are currently undergoing our formal reaccreditation which we do via Middlesex cricket every three years. Since we first qualified the whole system has been updated, which we have now got to grips with. As part of the process a visit is conducted at this time to ensure we are actually doing what we say we are. Ian Moore who is Head of Clubs & Leagues (Participation Team) at the Middlesex Cricket Board (MCB) is visiting the club on Wednesday for this purpose. I want to reassure everyone that this is normal and a positive event, we have done nothing wrong!
I want to thank all those involved in Clubmark, all those that have been on a course/s, volunteer on a Wednesday, hold a position on management, umpire, score, captain a team and generally get nagged by Gleno and myself! I am a parent with children playing cricket at the club, and I know how reassured I am with the measures and procedures we have in place. I want all members to know we are not complacent and know we have a duty to you all.
Special thanks to Glen Halley, Nick Munt and Kieran Jones for being our figureheads. We will not get formal confirmation that we have re-qualified until October. I will keep you posted on our progress.....
Any question please ask me or check out the Clubmark website at
http://middlesexccc.com/participation/clubs/clubmark/
I say it in every mail because it is true; NECC is as much your club as it is mine and all of us on Management. If you have any ideas, suggestions, observations or thoughts about anything re. our club then please let me know.
Many thanks for reading my mails and with very best wishes
James
James Scott
Chairman, North Enfield Cricket Club