The sun is rising earlier, the afternoons are brighter, and the cricket season is almost upon us! We have been working hard in the background this winter to make this the most exciting juniors season yet. Nets have been in the process of refurbishment and the grass square looks beautiful.

As always, we offer an exciting range of juniors cricket from All-Stars for the little ones to top-flight competition in the U17s. Our number one goal is to share our love of cricket, whether it’s building life-long friendships over a carefree match or striving together with your teammates on the path to an age group championship.

We measure our success not by trophies but on the strength of our community. The more boys and girls who go on to be part of our adult teams whether in a player or volunteer capacity, the prouder we are.

We formally start the new 2024 season on Sunday 21st April. If you want a quick guide for the season please go to the All you Need to Know page. See the Training Sessions page if you want to know when your child's age group training sessions are. Please come along, bring your friends and enjoy the summer at RCC.

In 2021 we consulted with our members and published a new club strategy - see the video presentation here. We continue to stand by this strategy as we aim to be the go-to cricket club in London. We do this by being a trusted, successful, inclusive, family-oriented cricket club that attracts and welcomes families and players of all genders, ages and abilities.

Our philosophy is based on the 4 pillars which emerged through feedback from our members and volunteers, and also through extensive interviews with people inside and outside of the club.
The themes are:

Cricket & Coaching: unsurprisingly this is first and foremost. We stand for winning elite cricket alongside participative cricket for all. We aim to provide high quality coaching and player development and a clear pathway from junior to adult cricket
Culture & Social: we are building a One Club culture, are a welcoming, family friendly club and are building a social calendar to appeal to all
Grounds & Facilities: we have excellent playing and training facilities at ODP and Christ's School and we are working to improve the off-field facilities at ODP
Governance: this is not the most exciting to read about, but is essential as we look to steer the club forward. We have slimmed down the club executive committee and are standing up sub-committees which will drive the other 3 themes in our strategy

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 Safeguarding 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. We need more help so whatever your skillset please see our junior Volunteering page and get in touch.

I am delighted to offer special thanks to our Sponsors - Chestertons (our prime sponsor), Dice Communications (sponsor of the men’s coloured clothing) and Slaughter & May (sponsor for women and girls). The contribution that they make to the club is a significant and important one, all have been with us through challenging times and look forward to sharing in more of our successes. There are further sponsorship opportunities and we would welcome approaches from anyone interested in associating their company with this great club. See Club Sponsorship for more.

RCC Juniors continues to stand for “cricket for all and for elite player development”. We welcome all-comers at the same time as helping players of all abilities to develop their games. We want to turn up the dial on the buzz that is created at both Old Deer Park (ODP) and the Newman Cricket Ground (NCG) at Christ’s School when they are full of junior players enjoying cricket. We would love to increase the amount of time that families spend at the club with excellent food, drink and catering facilities to make a day of it for the whole family.

As a result of our efforts last year, including our successful Ashes fundraiser, we are continuing to invest in our facilities. Be on the lookout for an update from our facilities team on the exciting work that has been progressing during the off-season including a new 2nd “minis” pitch for 8- to 11-year-olds at Old Deer Park. This will allow for even greater opportunities for the families of our younger players to enjoy all the social facilities Richmond Cricket Club has to offer during matches.

As you all know we are not a profit-making organisation but the books need to balance. We must cover our costs, including putting money aside for capital works. An ever growing fixture list and demand for more professional coaching are driving up our costs. Against this backdrop it is essential that our members pay on time. We believe that we offer excellent value for money - please see the link for Registration and Membership page for further details on benefits, costs and how to pay.

As a reminder your child's membership covers:

Our Home at Old Deer Park: we have been playing at Old Deer Park since 1865. Our lease has recently been subject to an increase from a peppercorn rent to full commercial terms. 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
Capital reserves for large scale projects
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 matches - 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. The summer leagues have put additional pressure on this
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.

We also run regular Holiday Cricket Camps: the money we make from these is all ploughed back into the club. These are great fun so please participate and support your club - see our latest offering at Easter here.

As always we are more than happy to agree discounts for those not able to pay in full, but the club as a whole needs to cover costs – so please respond when Fiona, our new membership secretary, gets in touch to request payment.

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

Bring on the cricket!

Greg Tijerina
RCC Juniors Chairman