Presidents Report 2011 / 2012

Presidents Report 2011 / 2012

First of all, let me thank you all for attending tonight’s AGM and a special welcome to our life members. After coming off a very successful 2010 / 2011 season in which we won 2 senior grand finals, myself and the club as a whole were ready to go another step forward in 2011 / 2012 season. We were able to achieve a better result than last year’s effort; we played in the Grand Finals in all 4 grades in senior division, winning 2 grand finals – being 1st Grade & 4th grade.

Our 1st grade side was to make the grand final again playing against a very talented Collie outfit. In a rain affected match it was Colts holding the advantage with a 40 run lead on the first day which proved to be enough, with the 2nd day being a wash out. With the side being lead by Matthew Foreman it was a great effort by all. We have now played in our 5th grand final in a row, winning 3 flags, the last two back to back – a fantastic achievement by all.

For our 2nd grade it was another fantastic year with first year captain, Jaysen Miguel, taking the reins. Jaysen proved he was more than capable leading the second grade to the grand final – unfortunately not being successful this time. Congratulations Jaysen and all players for a great effort.

Our 3rd grade had a terrific year making the Grand Final also. With a side made up of some very experienced players and some very talented teenagers, I as captain was really pleased with the effort by all. A standout was young Toby Watson who when started to play was only 13. Toby proved to be a very valuable member of the side and I can see Toby going onto high grades in the future. Unfortunately, we came up against a very experienced Hay Park side and on the day were second best.

And finally to our 4th grade who made the grand final again for the 6th time in a row – having won 4 of the previous 5 finals this year, they were again victorious. This year’s captain, Peter Waghorn, also found a place for himself for the final, fantastic effort again and congratulations to all.

There is no doubt that we have a host of talented players, many of which are still teenagers playing senior cricket for the Colts Cricket Club and in the past year have formed the nucleus of our 1st grade premiership team. This does not just happen and thanks must go out to all senior players who mentor our junior group into senior cricket. This has proved to be a strength of our great club and I believe we must keep mentoring and developing our juniors and to provide a pathway for them to higher honours.

As always there are many people to thank in running a club the size of Colts. Firstly to Paul Gardiner & Phil Nuttall for their help in organising and arranging coaches for our juniors last year is much appreciated. Their support throughout the year in helping me administer the club was fantastic. Secondly to Chris Michell as treasurer, he has done a great job this past year. This is not an easy job I know so thank you for a job well done. Next Justin Riley for driving our sponsorship for the year landing some great Major sponsor’s for the club, which include: Barr & Standley, Flexi Staff, Nexus, Burlington Hotel, One Steel, Eastman & Co, Hydraulink, TFM and Bunbury Cricket Centre. And to all our other committee people including Matin Shaw, Paul Wilson and Nathan Brennan & Jaysen Miguel – thank you for your time and effort over the season. Your support was needed and much appreciated.

This year was the second year for our In2Cricket programme. After a great start last year Chris Michell & Ritchie Brown again provided their time and effort in successfully running another fantastic programme. Also, many thanks to Shannon Michell & Anna Brown for their efforts on administration day and work in the canteen during this time. This programme will provide players into our Junior cricket programme and is a must to continue. I am sure we can provide some more assistance to Chris & Ritchie in the future.

This year also saw Vance Jarvis come on board as our canteen organiser. Vance proved to be terrific in this roll and by all the feedback from the players and supporters throughout the year his efforts were much appreciated. So from the committee a big thank you to Vance.

Also this year a new lease agreement has been signed for the Michael Eastman Pavilion. This differs from the previous agreement with the Runners Club holding the lease and Colts Sub-lease. Now all three clubs have equal footing with all clubs being named on the new lease agreement with the council. Thanks must also go to Paul Gardiner & Chris Michell who assisted me in achieving this.

And now with the next season fast approaching we have to focus on the New Year and after 4 years as President I will be resigning from the presidency. I must say it has been really rewarding time for me and feel that the club is in a sound position both on the field and financially and wish to thank again those people who have really assisted me during this time; Paul Gardiner, Chris Michell & Justin Riley have been really supportive and thanks to all the other committee who have severed during this time. With a President at the helm & the help of the new committee I’m sure that we can have another successful year for the Colts Cricket Club.

Thank you to all.