Junior Presentation 2008
An excellent night was enjoyed by coaches, parents and players at Lilleshall’s junior presentation evening. Chris Dirkin, Shropshire County Cricket Development Manager, was on hand as guest of honour to make the presentations and club chairman Colin Wetherley-Mein did a fine job as master of ceremonies.
The panic set in early with the absence of both a data projector and screen which would make the showing of the u11 video tricky but – no matter – the club’s ancient 14″ DVD/TV combo was hastily pressed into service as a backup plan. Space for the food was clearly going to be a problem as a couple of heavy duty trestle tables were hastily dusted off and dressed with table coverings. All this activity came as a considerable suprise to several large spiders that had been living in these tables for years but these thankfully headed off to find quieter surroundings.
Extra benches were drafted in from outside to provide enough seats and much activity was evident in the kitchen as the buffet sprang into life supported by multiple plates of sandwiches from willing volunteer parents which just kept coming until the tables were heaving like something from a Hogwarts feast!
Meanwhile messrs Maltby and Bloor sat idly by sipping beer at the bar as the work went on around them – no change there! The juniors took considerable interest in the array of trophies on display with much discussion about who might have won what.
Colin gave an excellent Chairman’s address where he thanked the coaches for their continuing commitment and the parents too for the support they give to the juniors. It was just left to me to whip through a couple of domestics before the real business of the evening could begin and we were underway.
With the help of a couple of deft last minute corrections to the certificates – these were duly presented to all juniors present on the night with a shake of the hand and a word or two from Chris. This was followed by the presentations to those juniors who had the best batting, bowling and most improved in each of the three age categories and the most improved under 10. For the record these were as follows:
Under 10
Most Improved: David Holdroyd
Under 11
Best Batting: Alex Dillon
Best Bowling: Thomas Mackriel
Most Improved: Jack Painter
Under 13
Best Batting: James Hudson
Best Bowling: Peter Coombs
Most Improved: Ziyad Azam
Under 15
Best Batting: Alex Russell
Best Bowling: Drew Wrighton
Most Improved: Nick Hockin
Two further awards followed – the Coaches Award and the Chairman’s Award.
The Coaches Award went to Peter Coombs for setting a superb example of how to play the game in all its aspects and, for dedication and commitment both on and off the pitch, Alex Dyer collected the Chairman’s Award.
It was like a paparazzi scrum as cameras flashed at the winners who happily posed for photos as the applause kept going and our thanks to Chris Dirkin for coming along and giving the whole thing a ringing endorsement from the County. Chris clearly understands that – in grass roots cricket – such gestures are important and make a real difference.
The final – and perhaps most important – presentation went to Julia Ridgway and Nikki Witty for providing teas at u13 matches throughout the season and for a truly superb effort in co-ordinating the catering for the buffet – which was in no danger of running out – beating the appetites of even the hungriest Dads! A bouquet of flowers for each – thoroughly deserved.
We hope that everyone enjoyed the evening – it was terrific to have the opportunity to chat informally with parents in a social context and there is a clear lesson that we should make the effort to do so more often.Â
Thanks for coming. Here’s to next year!
September 20, 2009
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