AGM – Onwards and Upwards
Our AGM on Sunday 7th December was the best-attended for a long time. A cynic might suggest that this was because we had such a stinker of a year on the field in 2008 and a lot of people thinking things needed fixed, but that would be quite wrong. The mood of the meeting was very positive and actions before and since testify to that.
Just the one bit of not-so-good news: We have known for a long time that our Centenary Year President Alan Duncan was going to step down. We bent his ear mercilessly about staying on, but in the end admitted defeat – for a good cause. Alan looks after Grey Lodges in Dundee, a charitable organisation dedicated to promoting learning, leisure and local action in the community. His operation had a difficult year in 2008. He knows it’s going to be even tougher next year and we know that what Grey Lodges do is very important in Dundee. Maybe they need him more than we do. Let’s recognise that if we had a bad year on the field in 2008, we had a great year off it – our pre-season tour to Ireland, our mid summer cricket festival and our fixture with the Cross Arrows in September – all down to Alan’s enterprise and contacts. He remains with us as a committee member (and says he’s in training to get back into the first team!).
Not easy to find a replacement, but we think we have a good one in Ian Paterson. Patsy’s involvement with us came about through the football club, but he’s been a committee member (and 2nd XI batsman of distinctive style – say no more) for the last few years. We had our first committee meeting with Patsy in the chair on Monday night, with more buzz about the place than we’ve seen for a while.
That in turn comes from one of the most gratifying outcomes of the AGM – more players on the committee. Freuchie Cricket Club is about cricket, first and foremost. If our committee has maybe been a bit short of active players in the recent past, it’s not now! Scott Birrell and Scott Gourlay come back, Steve Rowley joins us, Robbie Birrell and Alan and Jock Wallace are still with us, and two really positive additions – junior member Robbie Wright and football club member Davie Houston. Development of our junior players is absolutely crucial, and having Robbie on board will help in that, while the mutually beneficial relationship of the cricket and football clubs is so important for us all. Good on ye, Davie Houston!
Robbie Birrell takes over as club captain and is already making an impact. Indoor training starts in January, with a programme of events already mapped out, and we’ll have the experience of Dave ‘Coo’ Cowan as vice captain. Second team leaders have yet to be elected.
We are also – gulp – working to bring in a pro for next year. We’ve said before that while our overseas players have not necessarily been highest scorers or wicket takers, week in, week out, they have provided a strength in the team that we visibly lacked in 2008. Even more important, we must have top-level coaching in place to bring on our juniors and younger players. Why ‘gulp’? Gulp and gulp again, because we look like pushing our finances to the limit, and there’s a lot of nail-biting about our plan. But we have no wish to be financially comfortably-off and sliding out of the SNCL leagues.
Onwards and Upwards!
0 comments
Leave a comment
Read more
« Photographs from the Centenary Dance
Press Release: Tour de Freuchie »