The cricket season has arrived. The rugby has finished, the Pagoda Shoot is over for another year and the ground is ready for cricket. We start on the evening of Friday 26th April - see this page on the website for full details. If you want a quick guide for the season please go to the “All you need to know” page on our website. Please come along, bring your friends and enjoy the summer at RCC.

2018 was a glorious summer for cricket and a remarkable year for RCC Juniors. Now for a big “thank you”. RCC is an amateur sports club and is wholly dependent on volunteers. We are all incredibly fortunate to have so many people who dedicate time and passion to help the club thrive. If you are a Welfare Officer, Age Group Manager, Kit Supremo, Grounds and Facilities miracle worker, mid-week scorer or umpire, or Sunday morning cat herder (and all those other roles that I have missed) I offer you my warmest thanks. You are Richmond Cricket Club. One final thank you to Emily Nelson has been truly amazing as the Clubs Child Welfare Officer over many years. She has now handed over to Neil Warton (thanks in advance Neil!) and was rightly elected as a life Vice President of the club at the Richmond Sumer Clubs AGM. Congratulations Emily.

I offer special thanks to our sponsors - Chestertons. The financial contribution that they make to the club is a significant and important one, but our estate agent friends go well beyond that. They are regular hosts at club events and enthusiastic supporters of RCC Juniors. We wear our purple coaches tops with pride! ....and if you have a house to sell please do go along to your local Chestertons branch and let them know you are from RCC.

RCC Juniors stands for “cricket for all and for elite player development” and it is a juggling act to manage this balance effectively. Turn up on a Sunday morning or a Friday evening and you will see that there is always a happy buzz about both Old Deer Park (ODP) and the Newman Cricket Ground (NCG) at Christ’s School. And if you take a look at the league and cup results from last year you will see that we have some very talented cricketers too! The girls age groups continue to grow and are thriving and under the leadership from Chris and the team - this is set to continue. There is no doubt that we are delivering on cricket for all.

We are well represented (boys and girls) on the Middlesex and Surrey County pathways and that is a testament to the talent of the players and of the high quality cadre of coaches who are now part of RCC. This team, under the oversight of Director of Cricket (DoC) Adam London, are highly qualified and experienced and mean that RCC is becoming a destination for ambitious young cricketers.

The club had an unprecedented year of success in 2018 and the juniors more than matched the stunning efforts of the 1st XI. There is a long list of honours and ongoing discussions about a large trophy cabinet. Rather than list them all here let us basque a little in the winning of the MCA Victor Ludorum which is awarded to the most successful junior club in the county.

Now for the money bit……. we are not a profit making organisation but the books need to balance. We must cover our costs and we made the difficult decision to increase our subs by £10. We believe that we offer excellent value for money and from this season all parents will be issued with an Old Deer Park discount card that provides 10% off in the club house. Please see the link here for our subs policy. As a reminder these subs cover:
The lease on Old Deer Park - this has been subject to an increase from a peppercorn rent to a full commercial one. We are actively pursuing revenue generating opportunities to insulate the members from the bulk of this increase.
Ground maintenance for ODP and NCG including nets, pitches and scoreboards
Coaching - professional coaching from Adam London (Director of Cricket) and his team and the cost of ECB training for our volunteers
Equipment for training - and you would not believe how many balls “disappear” from the club
Ground hire - as the number of teams expand we need to hire more grounds to run concurrent matches
Insurance – which only covers registered and paid up members

Other activities that we run, such as the academy or winter nets, have a separate fee to cover costs.

Holiday Cricket Camps - we do make some money on camps and this is all ploughed back into the club. These are great fun so please participate and support your club.

As with previous years we are more than happy to agree discounts for those not able to pay, but the club as a whole needs to cover costs – so please respond to that online payment request when it comes your way.

In summary RCC is a wonderful place to spend some of your time in the summer months. Please continue to participate, understand when club officials chase you for subs, and help us to build the sense of community at this special club.

Bring on the cricket.
Rich Zotov
RCC Juniors Chairman