Good afternoon fellow cricketers, 🦗🦗🦗
I’d like to begin off by saying what a year. It is impossible to understate how fun and enjoyable this year has been. I somehow didn’t think first year could be topped but this year has blown it away. Cricket has become a huge part of my university experience, from someone who played minimally prior to coming to Leeds, and now is both an active playing and social member of the club.
The introduction of the fixture sec has been well needed, and I’d like to start off by thanking Millie for all her efforts and organisation for this role, it certainly doesn’t go unnoticed. I’d like to build upon the already successful introduction of this role, something I think I’m well suited for due to an array of reasons.
As our club continues to grow, the talent pool does likewise. The option of a 2nd BUCS team will soon become available to us, allowing more talented cricketers to represent their university. Obviously, this will come with more organisation for the Fixture Sec, and despite the way I portray myself between the hours of 7pm Wednesday- 4am Thursday, I can be quite serious. I was House Captain at my school, leading 500+ pupils through a variety of events, from Sports Day, to House Debating etc. This has given me strong time management, communication, and team work skills, all vital to any committee role. Additionally, I’ve started my climb on the corporate ladder currently working part-time in compliance auditing which blimey needs a lot of organisation. So yeah, I could organise a piss up in a brewery. And maybe a bucs fixture here and there too.
Also, somehow my semi-serious degree has a whopping 6 contact hours a week. With my ever-impending dissertation next year (do be sure to do Celeste’s survey) I can only expect my hours to further dwindle. This allows me to dedicate a large amount of time towards my role (|T|) to ensure the smooth running of both outdoor and indoor fixtures.
The organisation of transport also plays a pivotal role for this job. I know a good bus when I see one. And I have a car. Huge fan of Beryl Bikes, however unsure of the practicality of this? The inaugural tradition of Bangar away will be one transported in style, even if it does call for 5am wake ups.
Aside from BUCS, there is certainly more opportunity for friendlies and development fixtures during the outside season, to put our training into practice. What would cricket be without a pitch? Nothing. I somehow know a sizeable 3 Club Chairman’s across Leeds, allowing us to build good relationships for pitch bookings, maximising our chances of filling our summer up with the sport we’ve grown to love.
If I was to go mad with power in this role, a new fixture I’d like to see introduced would be an unofficial indoor varsity against Beckett. I’d partner with the Welfare & Charity Sec to hopefully organise this during October, for Breast Cancer Awareness month. This will most importantly raise money for an incredibly worthy cause, but also give us a chance to beat Beckett not once but twice in a year! (Hoping this doesn’t age badly but I have faith)
Something I think is not only needed but achievable would be the introduction of match-ball sponsorships for our BUCS games. Working alongside the Sponsorship Sec, we could hope to see all our 1st team games sponsored by different Leeds small businesses, to easily save the club some money, allowing us to allocate funding elsewhere for the further growth of our society. The creation of a 1st and 2nd team kit bag would also be useful for the society come summer. This would be filled with side-arms, fielding bats, you name it, it’ll have it. Somehow Kookabura have still got me as their pity hire, so all club kit can be purchased at a discount of 50%.
I would also like to build upon the fitness opportunities provided this year. I would work closely with the 1st Team Captain, understanding what the team needs for the seasons commencement and make this happen, whether this is a weekly run club, spin sessions, or as whimsical as the odd evening of padel.
It goes without saying Varsity is the key date on all our calendars. The first sip of diesel on the glorious day that is the 5th June, can’t come soon enough. What often isn’t shown, is the colossal amount of planning and effort that goes into making these events possible. Helping organise this would be an honour. Something which could be great to get set up is the streaming of our game, allowing alumni and people who couldn’t attend the day- although unsure where else you’d be- to tune into what will be a fine display of cricketing ability and possibly some dire chat from me on the sidelines, something I’ve become rather good at.
Aside from these ideas I’d have for the role, something I cannot emphasise enough is my love and commitment for the club through the two previous years. I’ve tried and succeeded intro throwing myself into all aspects of our society, whether this has been getting called for contact 24/7 at the netball, diabolically bowling at nets, or enjoying a relaxed hot milk in Cuthbert Broderick Spoons. I’ve been severely available for literally anything. I’ve been there for it all and loved every moment. I’m already dreading having to let go at the end of next year, but in the words of someone pretty dull “all good things must come to an end”. Panic masters anyone?
I hope that wasn’t too boring of a read, I’ll see you all at Varsity on the 29th,
Bleep Sec.
