Epsom Cricket Club 5 Year Plan 2018-2023 1 P a Dan g e Berry 10/14/18 V 1. 0
Contents Contents... 2 Purpose of this Document... 3 SUMMARY... 3 Club Structure... 4 Financial Plan... 5 Playing and Training Facilities... 6 Subscriptions... 6 Fundraising - Social calendar and sponsorship... 6 Fundraising... 6 Club History & Old Boys... 7 Sponsorship... 7 Senior Section... 7 Ladies Section... 8 Junior Section... 8 Schools Links... 10 Academy... 11 E.C.C Player Pathway... 12 2 P a g e V 1. 0
Purpose of this Document This document provides a plan for the next 5 Years for Epsom Cricket Club. It will look to anticipate how the club is going to change over that period and predict any number of financial increases through aspirational projects and changes in the size, shape, look and feel of the club with strategies and targets to move the club forward. Each year this document will be reviewed and updated to reflect a rolling 5 year view. SUMMARY The club continues to benefit from the time and effort of numerous volunteers both in dayto day running and key fundraising activities for improvements, which have been significant this year (2018) with a record number of donations and fundraising events. There have been several improvements of the Clubs facility in the last five years; new covers, nets, improvements in wicket, re-furbished bar area and new sight screens which will enable us to retain and attract new players throughout the coming seasons. One of the biggest improvements have been a new 50,000 net facility, completed in August 2018, bringing the clubs facilities for coaching and training up to a 1 st Div/Prem Surrey Championship Club level. Regarding participation; the 2018 season saw the continued success of the Junior Section with significant number of children still on our waiting list and a growing Girls section, helped in part by some local schools including cricket instead of rounders in their games curriculum, with cricket seen as an aspirational sport for girls with the success of the England Ladies team. We have however seen a drop off in Senior Participation which we will need to address in the forthcoming seasons as this year we have not entered a 4 XI and our Ladies team have struggle to field a consistent side. Financially the club is in a stable position and we have now started to provision additional funds to our sinking fund annually to save for future large maintenance and refurbishment projects. This is to try and avoid the need for large fund-raising activities to meet this periodic investment (E.g. Nets Upgrades, covers, sight screen, core facility replacement/upgrade) Our next big project which we hope to realise in the next 5 years is a joint venture with our shared site tennis section to replace the existing clubhouse with a new facility straddling the boundary between the two grounds. This is a huge investment that will need significant grant contribution from external sources. We are looking to start work on fund raising activities from 2019 with a joint working group within Epsom Sports Club. Next year will also see the introduction of a new Epsom Ground (Old Schools Lane) close by in Ewell which should reduce our reliance of external hires of park recs. We will have the opportunity to use the facilities at this ground for Junior, 3 rd and 4 th team cricket, which should provide better managed and maintained facilities to play on. The facility also benefits from an astro pitch which will enable earlier games for Junior sides where inconsistent bounce on grass pitches is a problem early in the season and doesn t aid development in technique. 3 P a g e V 1. 0
Club Structure The Club remains to be part of the Epsom Sport Club with all the key roles set out below. We don t see this changing largely in the next five years with the exception of a new role of Club Senior Head Coach which is being considered. The view is that this will give more structure and help our overall player pathway from junior cricket. Epsom Sport Club Epsom Sport Club Manager Epsom Cricket Club Chairman Treasurer Ground Representative Secretary Junior Chairman Welfare Officer Social Secretary Fixtures Secretary Kit & Sponsorship Officier Membership Secretary Club Captain Junior Representative Ladies Representative Club Senior Head Coach Senior League Captains 1-4XI, Sunday Ladies Captain Where we see the changes may come in amalgamating some Junior and Senior section roles to push forward the one club mantra. Over the 2018 winter we hope to start this work by having a combined Social Secretary and consolidating of the Junior and Senior websites in to one. 4 P a g e V 1. 0
Financial Plan Predicted figures over the next 5 Years. Items in yellow show changes/investments Income Description 2018 Actual 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Bar Surplus 13,000.00 13,500.00 14,500.00 14,500.00 14,500.00 15,000.00 Subscriptions-Juniors 31,393.81 30,000.00 33,000.00 33,000.00 33,000.00 36,300.00 Subscriptions-Seniors 6,500.00 6,000.00 7,100.00 7,100.00 7,600.00 8,000.00 Match Fees 4,930.00 4,200.00 4,500.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 Fundraising and Socials 5,100.00 5,100.00 5,100.00 5,100.00 5,100.00 5,100.00 Sponsorships 2,350.00 2,500.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 Donations(inc gift aid) 6,650.00 750.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 Winter Nets Income 1,816.00 2,000.00 2,000.00 2,000.00 2,000.00 2,000.00 Other(Venue hire+t20+misc) 4,000.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 Cricket Fund Raiser 11,000.00 4,000.00 10,000.00 4,000.00 10,000.00 4,000.00 Surrey Fund 10,000.00 TOTALS 96,739.81 71,050.00 84,200.00 78,700.00 86,200.00 84,400.00 Expense description Printing/Fixture cards 0.00 500.00 500.00 500.00 500.00 500.00 Pitch hire 4,570.00 4,750.00 4,750.00 4,750.00 4,750.00 4,750.00 Affiliations 1,250.00 1,850.00 1,850.00 1,850.00 1,850.00 1,850.00 Coaching 11,632.00 12,600.00 16,600.00 16,600.00 16,600.00 16,600.00 Player Budget 6,376.00 6,500.00 2,500.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 4,000.00 Equipment 3,650.00 5,500.00 5,500.00 5,500.00 5,500.00 5,500.00 Officers expenses 78.00 200.00 200.00 200.00 200.00 200.00 Winter nets 1,750.00 2,000.00 2,000.00 2,000.00 2,000.00 2,000.00 Website and Marketing 0.00 1,500.00 1,500.00 1,500.00 1,500.00 1,500.00 Nets/Ground Maintenance 27,213.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 Additional Project Spend 8,000.00 8,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 Additional Capital Expenditure 28,650.00 28,650.00 28,650.00 28,650.00 28,650.00 28,650.00 TOTALS 85,169.00 65,050.00 73,050.00 73,550.00 70,550.00 71,550.00 Operating (Deficit)/Surplus 11,570.81 6,000.00 11,150.00 5,150.00 15,650.00 12,850.00 Depreciation 2,625.00 75.00 75.00 75.00 75.00 75.00 Nets capital replacement 0.00 2,000.00 2,000.00 2,000.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 Sinking fund Contribution 8,000.00 3,925.00 9,075.00 3,075.00 12,575.00 9,775.00 Net Surplus(Deficit) 945.81 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Sinking Fund Nets 0.00 2,000.00 4,000.00 6,000.00 9,000.00 12,000.00 Sinking Fund Remainder 50,000.00 53,925.00 63,000.00 66,075.00 78,650.00 88,425.00 Total Sinking Fund 50,000.00 55,925.00 67,000.00 72,075.00 87,650.00 100,425.00 Notes: Bar price increase anticipated 2020 and 2023 Subscriptions review in 2020 and 2023 across the club. Seniors most like to stay flay until 2023 due to 20 increase last year. Anticipate increase in playing seniors from 2019 onwards as projected. Cricket Fundraiser, big event every 2 years Coaching increases as we employ a head senior coach Player Budget reduction as we move to a more home grown model, increase budget in 2021 Additional project spend to cover improvements in surface, new sight screens and covers at our second sight in Ewell No budget set aside for new pavilion which will be funded separately Net capital replacement money ring fenced in sinking fund, additional added in 2021 Sinking fund surplus for additional cricket specific spend for new pavilion 5 P a g e V 1. 0
Playing and Training Facilities Over the past 7 years extensive fundraising efforts and volunteer hours have resulted in many improvements to playing and training facilities, as well as equipment. As we look at the next 5 years there are a number of anticipated small projects to continue to improve our facilities as well as larger projects that we will need to gain external funding for to complete. We are also anticipating using our new Ground at Ewell for 3 rd and 4 th team crickets as well as some Junior matches. Target: Continued investment in the playing surface at main ground to improve speed and bounce year 2019-2023 15k Purchase and installation of sight screens at second ground 2020 5k Purchase and installation of covers at second ground year 2021 5k Replace of Pavilion as part of a wider sports club wide project 2023/4 1.5m Purchasing of new battery bowling machines for use in new nets year 2019 3k Ongoing regular communication and feedback with our grounds team SJK is crucial if we want to further improve the ground and square to a standard fit for a higher grade of cricket. Subscriptions Existing adult men s membership yearly subs are 200, discounted to 180 if paid by 31st May. Subs we increased last year for Seniors by 20 so will be frozen until 2023 season where we expect to raise by 10%. Existing women s membership is 65 which will be reviewed in 2020 with Junior Subscriptions Target Proposed to increase adult men s subs by 20 in 2023, and a further review ongoing ever 3 years Continue to push online subscription payment option, which is now available for both Junior and Senior subscriptions. Options to look at card match fee payment as we move to more electronic cash collection will be reviewed over the 2019/20 seasons Fundraising - Social calendar and sponsorship Fundraising Fundraiser have started to become more lucrative for the club, especially with the introduction of a gala ball in 2018 raising over 12000. We are consolidating the social secretary position to be a club position rather than a separate senior and junior position and will be looking to have a marquee event each year with a big fundraiser every other year. 6 P a g e V 1. 0
Club History & Old Boys In 2019 we also want to take a more proactive approach to restore the ex-players network and making the history of the club more visible. We intend to start looking at the option for an ex-player league lunch as well as other league lunch opportunities which are successful in other clubs. We will then look to build on this from 2020 to make this a more regular occurrence with the ambition to increase revenue on Saturdays but more importantly retain club history links with ex-members. Sponsorship Sponsorship and donations contribute to existing fundraising efforts and we are now in a position where we have 10 small sponsors. We will continue to build that over the next 2 seasons developing our sponsorship brochure which has recently been updated, outlining the benefits of becoming a gold/silver/bronze sponsor. The brochure will continue to be used to support targeted approaches to Epsom based companies to increase our income. Target Raise the base sponsorship figure to 4000 per annum which we think is achievable by the end of 2019/20 season and review our target there after Run one marquee event each year targeted at the whole club and a series of smaller events on both Junior and Senior nights Continue to develop presentation evenings and start/end of season nights to gain a bigger audience Start league lunches Reach out and restore link to ex-members with an inaugural league lunch Hold an open cricket sixes event to raise further funds from external source Senior Section Although a fairly successful year on the pitch for 1-3 s, participation numbers were down in 2018 forcing the decision to pull our 4 thh team from the league, with 9 cancelations in 2018. Going forward we are looking to see how we can retain and attract more players over the coming seasons in order to restore 4/5th team senior league cricket club by 2020. We do however anticipate to field a friendly 4 th team side where possible in 2019 through the Club Conference links and use this side to develop our old Junior Crickets as we prepare them for gr and use this side to develop our old Junior Crickets as we prepare them for greater challenges further up the senior ranks. The reason for pulling the 4 th team this year has stemed from the lack of availability in the 1 st and 2nd teams with increasing challenges for Captains lower down the club to field the sides they should have. In 2017 this mean the 2 nd team fielded over 42 players with a similar number this year putting pressure further down the club for individuals to play up. This not only means we are under representing ourselves as a club but also has a detrimental effect on Junior player development who are pushed up through the ranks too quickly which has had an effect on confidence and willingness to play. Inorder to hit this at the root cause the club needs to target more quality/committed players at the top end of the club if we are going to be able to maintain a 4 th team and compete at a higher level and in higher divisions. 7 P a g e V 1. 0
This year we had 47 senior members with many Juniors playing in the senior sides. To get back to a more stable situation in order to field 4 senior teams on Saturdays we need to increase senior numbers to at least 55-60 in addition to continuing to develop and use of our U13-18 age groups properly. To achieve this, we need to attract 8-10 new players per year to cover any attrition which normally numbers 1-3 a year. Our target is to get back into Div 2 by 2020 and begin to challenge for Div 1 by 2021 which will make it easier to attract and retain more quality players in the future. We also need to move our 2 nd Team back into Div 1 to maintain a smaller gap in standard between 1 s/2 s In addition to the participation targets we will look to introduce a Senior Coach during the 2020 season which we feel is required to improve the training of Senior sides on a Wednesday night. 2019 maybe too early to complete this objective at the moment with the continuing employment of an overseas player/coach Ladies Section Our target over the next 3-5 years will be to re-establish the Ladies senior team after significant numbers reduction over the last few years with only 4 Senior Ladies 2018. 2019 will see a largely U15 girls team enter the ladies league and we are hoping that the change in position of some of the schools and increase participation will help us to develop a competitive young side over the next 3-5 years with a view of retaining a number of the senior players to maintain a balanced side. Training will continue on a Monday s which has been identified as a girls/ladies training night and will work well with the direction of the side in 2019 moving forward. Junior Section The role of the junior section is seen as being twofold. First, to provide local juniors with opportunities to practice and play cricket either competitively, in matches, or in a non-competitive form at training. Secondly but not secondarily is to feed players through to the senior section of the club. A strategy for the past three years has been to develop a player pathway which now includes a cricket academy from U9-U12 players. This will continue for 2019-2021 with this extended to U14 and U16s invited to train more regularly at senior training sessions. Over the last 10 years the ECC junior section has grown rapidly and in 2014 had over 300 junior members, including both boys and girls (50). Discussion has taken place as to the maximum capacity of the junior section, taking into account the need to provide a quality of service that reflects the cost of membership and safety considerations. The main limiting consideration is the availability of quality coaching staff as well as the physical space available on coaching nights. Limits of 30 juniors per age group have been created balancing ECB coaching guidelines, space to train and coach availability. Increases in coach availability would enable us to provide a higher quality coaching by using smaller coaching rations whilst still giving the same opportunity to play matches. The 8 P a g e V 1. 0
majority of members of the junior section come from the local primary schools and most members sign up at those ages. Links with the local Epsom primary schools are strong with the club participating in the Chance 2 Shine programme which places Epsom CC coaches into the local schools and means that links are there for future membership numbers to continue to be strong. Consideration has been given to expanding the junior section to a second site. Local park rec amenity Alexandra Park is available and is used on an ad hoc basis to provide the space for practice matches on training nights. The one area of the junior section where there is significant possibility to grow is the number of junior girl members we have. To this end we provide free cricket at Epsom CC to junior girls in the local area, in the form of the Surrey Youth Games. This is organised by the local Council and coaches are provided by the club with the hope that they join the club once they have experienced cricket, in some cases for the first time. In 2018 Epsom CC coached girls team won the Surrey Youth Cricket games. We are also developing links with other local cricket club girls sections where they do not have women s sides, in order to try and grow the adult women s membership which should have a positive impact on both senior and junior female membership. This along, with a drive to recruit more girls to the Club from the Chance 2 Shine programme in local schools, means we are targeting more girl members. We have worked hard over the last few years to develop the number and quality of our coaches. We regularly identify suitable parents and players and get them onto the relevant coaching courses, in order to maintain the appropriate coach to children ratios. This is done from both an ECB compliance point of view but more to try and develop good junior cricketers who will be successful and go on to provide value added to the cricket section as a whole in years to come. 2018 sees four new coaches supported through level two certification. The quality of coaching combined with the good numbers we have, is begging to have an effect on the number of representative players we have playing at the club. We now boast multiple district players in the boys teams, two junior County Age Group(CAG) players, and 4 CAG players on the girls side. It is a goal of the junior section as a whole to increase the number of Epsom CC players playing representative cricket. Facilities at ECC are appropriate for the juniors, the 6 nets, three of them replaced in 2018, allow us to utilise net training for the age groups where appropriate. There has been significant investment in coaching equipment from 2016 onwards to continue to support our evolving coaching product which means we can provide the kind of training to not only develop junior sport skills but also, for the older juniors, ensure they would receive coaching at a county practice setting levels. One of the major threats to our ability to feed through from the junior section to the seniors and ladies is the loss of members aged 15-18 (a problem widely documented at other clubs as well) due to: Examination commitments. The significant step from 20 over to 50 over games Travel distance to some games Lack of match play opportunities from inclusivity Competition on young adults finances and time available for leisure activities. Moving away to university. 9 P a g e V 1. 0
We are addressing the above by Consideration of examination timetables when arranging fixtures. Developing a Saturday side with 5-7 junior members, but not a league entry side Maintaining a team in the Sunday Development league. Entry into the NatWest U 19 T20 competition involving local clubs. Reducing subscriptions but increasing match fees for junior matches. Encouraging involvement in coaching younger members including assistance in gaining coaching qualifications. Schools Links Increasing the overall profile of ECC within the local community and schools is important. The junior section goes a long way in helping achieve this. It is also recognized that future communications and marketing efforts should take account of the increasing importance of social media and an accessible online presence. This will be a critical enabler in raising the positive visibility of the section in local communities, increasing and communicating with the ECC membership and successful fundraising efforts. Moving to pitchero website has helped this over the last few seasons with links on twitter and facebook. Target: Look to gain greater links with local schools through participation days (kwik cricket), club advertisements, maintaining reach out programs (SYG) and sponsorship opportunities for schools. By end of 2019 have a quality and well managed digital presence via a revamped website integrated with the senior section. 10 P a g e V 1. 0
Academy 2018 saw the expansion of the Academy program to 2 age groups. The plan is to expand this further with more Juniors over the next 2-3 seasons as we try to improve the standards across the club and develop children faster to reach their potential quicker. Improving our talent ID will be key in this area which the Junior Chairman is looking to co-ordinate across the age group managers to allow for further stretch opportunities for talented kids. Example below is the form used by the county to assess the ability of children at certain age groups. Epsom will look to complete similar (less detailed) assessments to help us understand the development needs of the children within each of the academies and age group. 11 P a g e V 1. 0
E.C.C Player Pathway We are working on establishing a clearer player pathway through the Junior to Senior Section. This includes helping the club increase the numbers of Juniors we send for County assessment. Below is the pathway that we are focusing on to develop over the next 5 years with more opportunities to develop talent through the club. All areas in green are currently active. Further development of skills for U15-18 is an area we need to continue to focus on to help the integration to senior cricket Epsom Match Play Pathway Epsom Development Training Pathway Epsom Academy Programme County Performance Program County Program U5-8 s Skills Foundation U8-U15 Surrey Youth Games(SYG), Smash It,Development and Surrey League Matches U14-18 Trust and Development League U13-18 Senior Introduction 3rds/4 th XI/Sunday/Ladies U9-11 s Skills Development Girls SYG Training U12-15 Girls SYG Training Skill Development Game Management Talent ID U15-18 Development Talent ID U9-11 Academy Talent ID U12-14 Academy County Assessments U9-u15 CAG Representation 1 st and 2 nd Team Representation Senior Training Surrey Senior Representation 12 P a g e V 1. 0