www.sportip.biz 27

CRICKET CLUB

Bexleyheathexleyheath CC is a fantastic example of the important role that a club can play in its local community. Sport in Profile Magazine recently

caught up with their Chairman Mick Parnham to find out more about the good work the club has been doing lately.

Bexleyheath

Involvement

He told us, “I first got involved with Bexleyheath CC in 2010 when my son was ten years old and joined the club as a colt. The following year I was asked to become the under 11’s manager. Two years later the then Chairman decided to stand down and I put myself forward as a candidate for the position and I was voted in as Chairman by the members and remain in the position.”

The Role

“The most challenging aspect of the job is co-ordinating the running of the seventeen teams. To overcome this, we

have appointed managers/coaches to each team, but with that many teams there is always an overlap of players.

Also, we find it hard to accommodate all of our growing number of colts into teams, as whilst we don’t want to turn players away, the colt’s season is so short, that some of the players are not getting enough game time. The most rewarding part of my role is seeing our colts progress through to adult cricket and succeeding in the adult teams.”

Present “The general mood is buoyant at

the moment due to the unprecedented success we had in 2016 and whilst this

season is proving more challenging due to the higher standard our teams are playing at, the players are relishing it.

The adult teams are all performing well in the higher leagues they are playing in, it’s been frustrating for the colts due to other clubs not being able to fulfil fixtures due to them having dwindling numbers of members.

With the start of the summer holidays, the colt’s season had finished, but we aim to get friendly fixtures for them to keep them interested. We also aim to ensure that all adult teams finish in a respectable position in their respective leagues.”

B

28 Issue 14

FOLLOW US ONLINE TWITTER.COM/SPORTINPROFILE

Youth

“Youth development is the most important thing within our club. As I mentioned earlier, many of our local clubs are struggling to fulfil colt’s fixtures due to dwindling numbers. This will have a knock-on effect in future years for the adult sections within their clubs. We are lucky at the Heath that we have a dedicated team of coaches and parents, who ensure that our colt’s numbers remain healthy.”

Community

“We are most definitely a community club. We recently allowed a local primary school that doesn’t have a sports field to use the club free of charge for their annual sports day and three of our younger coaches gave up their time to assist on the day.

Also, only recently, we had an act of mindless vandalism at the club, when we had potted plants and hanging baskets wrecked. The photos of this act were placed on social media and we received numerous offers of help and donations by members of the local community, who are not connected to the club in any way, but know how hard we work to supply sporting opportunities for the community.”

Challenges

“I see the biggest challenge of the next five years being maintaining

colt’s development both as playing members and becoming qualified

coaches, so as the club has a sound base to progress in the future. This will also involve getting the parents to become proactive.

Cricket as a sport in the UK is in decline at club level for various reasons, such as no terrestrial TV coverage and lack of council playing

facilities. By working closely with local schools and the wider

community, we will try to raise the profile of the game.”

Ambitions

“We will continue to explore ways of developing the playing facilities, whilst also ensuring that

all of our players are coached to enable them to play at the highest possible standard. In 3 years’ time – 2020, we will be celebrating our 150th anniversary and are already planning a year of celebrations.

In summary, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as a member of BHCC, making new friends and helping to put the club where it is today. Not only does cricket provide an opportunity to play sport, our younger members learn the values of team work and gain invaluable social skills.”

Thinking of Selling?

Call us Today

020 8300 1234Service - Integrity - Value

Main Sponsor of Bexleyheath Cricket Club

Bexleyheath

“My son Archie plays for the club and I’m currently on the committee. Archie is sixteen and captains the Under 17s. He plays for the threes on a Saturday and the development team on a Sunday.

As a company we financed the Astro Pitch and are always keen to help out where we can. The club has a good Colts section and now have two overseas players so the future is looking bright.”

Chris Langley, Christopher Russell Property Services

www.sportip.biz 29

Contact us on 07809 555 155info@enchantedwoodpreschool.co.ukwww.enchantedwoodpreschool.co.uk

Enchanted Wood is an inclusive forest preschool for 2-4 year olds. We currently have 4 sites in the Bexley area.

Standard Road, Bean Road and Mount Road in Bexleyheath and VCD Athletic Club in Crayford.

Bexley's 1st Forest Preschool

Proud sponsors of Bexleyheath Cricket Club

At Enchanted Wood Preschool, our Staff encourage the children to play and explore, to be active learners and to think critically.

By means of developmentally appropriate play activities and a high level of individual adult input, we offer a curriculum which leads to nationally approved early learning goals and prepares children to progress with confidence to the National Curriculum at the end of the Foundation Stage.

We support children’s holistic learning and development by ensuring that we provide a comprehensive range of carefully selected and well-organised quality resources in areas (indoors and outdoors) which are always available for the children to access independently.

“Our connection with Bexleyheath CC is a great aspect of Enchanted Wood Preschool. It reinforces our ethos of focusing on outdoor activities regardless of the weather.

Our Ethos is that children should learn and play as much as possible outdoors so we felt it was appropriate to sponsor the colts.

We’ve sponsored the club for two years now and our parent testimonials show how much our mums and dads appreciate the links between our preschool and the cricket club.”

Abie Sandford, Enchanted Wood Preschool

Here is the e-mail that the Head teacher sent to me after the event:

Dear Mick,

Many thanks to you and Bexleyheath Cricket Club for letting us use your facilities. As a school, we have limited space for sporting events and working with you allowed the children to experience a very special sports day. It was extremely well organised and we couldn’t have asked for more support.

Our children and parents had a great day and would like me to pass on their thanks. It would be greatly appreciated if we could develop these links so that our children can further enhance their sporting talents and potential in a safe and welcoming environment.

Kind regards

Sue Oram

Bexleyheath