The Journey Begins

It turns out, I am merely a Director of this club until the AGM, where I will (hopefully) be officially nominated and seconded to carry on. I have to write a short synopsis on what I can bring to the table, and where I want the club to be, which shouldn't be too much trouble as I have a clear vision of what I want to happen at The Bury. My only concern at the moment is how we're going to get there.

On Friday evening, I experienced a first. I had never been involved in an "official" meeting as such, with an agenda and points of order, over dinner in a swanky restaurant. I'd just like to point out at this stage, this was paid for by ourselves! I don't think we would get away with putting such prices on the company accounts! I wasn't very vocal during the meeting, mainly because I was trying to take everything in, plus I was trying to get to grips with the officialdom of it all. I have spent all season playing cricket on the same pitch as 2 of the other committee members, surrounded by banter and competitiveness, but all of a sudden, we're enveloped in discussing the accounts of the club and structure management. It hasn't quite sunk in yet. The closest I have ever come to being involved in such an event was during my school days, where we had to hold "meetings" with our "project manager" in IT, (who was the teacher), but no one ever took them seriously. And it was with made-up points of order and for something that wasn't REALLY happening. This, on the other hand, is happening. And is happening really rather fast.

Although it shouldn't be the case, I did also feel a little ... under-qualified. Obviously, I am only 21. The people who surrounded me all have much more work and life experience. One is a computer programmer, the secretary has a law and business background, one is Head Strategist for a major company and the last member has been involved in work in Eastern Europe and what not, although I'm unsure in what field. (No, I don't think he is a member of the KGB!) Me on the other hand, simply works in a single-manned post office. I really do think I can bring unique attributes to the committee though, and I feel I have the respect of the adult membership, (of which I will run again this coming season), for my role to be a success. I just need to work on believing that I can make a major contribution, just a wee bit more.

Today was also a strange sort of day. After a busy Saturday morning at work, I spent all afternoon helping out where I could on the End of Season "Fun Day" for the junior section. It was a good laugh, but all of a sudden, it got tense. The outgoing chairman had agreed to hand out the awards, and as I stood there and listened to him, you could feel the tension in the crowd of people watching. It was literally a case of him coming along, handing out the awards, and going home again and you just got the feeling that he didn't want to be there. And who can blame him. I do feel a little sorry for him. It's been an unpleasant week in general, and the transition is one that needs to be carefully carried out. As I was cashing up the takings also, there were a couple of interesting discussions, but they shall remain private from this blog at least.

For most of the afternoon, I was the only "new" Director present. Which meant I was fielding questions from people I had never met before about where the club was going. Seeing as this was the junior section's day, I hadn't met very many of the parents involved, as I was only heading the adult section last season. It was a case of being put on the spot on some occasions, answering some tricky and potentially sensitive questions. I think I did well, but a couple of the people I discussed certain things with are very strong and opinionated people. That's a good thing, but it was certainly a challenge this afternoon, trying to communicate that we were working on making a structure and regaining communication and trust.

I do completely understand of course, that very few of you are at all interested in the ins and outs of this situation. But for me, this is a very big commitment. It's a big commitment to anyone, but I think for me, it goes further than that. It is another step forward for me in my personal comeback, as I said before, and therefore it is at the forefront of my thoughts at the moment. So, apologies if this is all terribly boring but... You know...

The level of work we have to do reached another level today. I knew we had a lot to do, but the trust we need to regain from the membership is a task that will be a very difficult one. I'm fairly sure I've never been so heavily involved in such a momentous task, but I am ready to take it on. Time to fight another battle, after the battle of the last few years.