TUCC
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
My
Fellow Members, Ladies and Gentlemen:
So
quickly did this year go by and in like manner our Club has so quickly completed
eleven years of existence. And the honor
has been mine to serve as your President over these eleven years. Today, it is
with great pleasure and distinct honor that I present to you the 11th
President’s Annual Report of The United
Cricket Club.
I
am happy to report that we can ink on record another successful year as a Club
despite a poor performance of the Cricket Team.
We are successful because our Club remains most professionally organized
in the Immigrant and Cricketing Community, highly reputed by the City of
It
was with no surprise that you, at our last Conference, expressed confidence in
the following five Officers of the Club and unanimously re-elected them to
their respective Offices:
Azam
Rahamat - Vice President
Cecil
Agimudie - Secretary
Lakeram
Nankoo - Treasurer
Rajin
Nanku - Team Manager
Following
their election, they proceeded to re-appoint the following persons, in
accordance with the Constitution, to form the Executive Committee:
Selection
Comm. Chairman - McCarthy
Punter
Disciplinary
Comm. Chairman - Yadram Sumair
I
am happy to report, as in the past, that your Executive Members performed with
distinction. They have answered my call
to duty with fervor, promptness and excellence.
They are the best thinkers and they have deliberated over every issue
brought before them with great wisdom, research and reasoning. And best of all, especially on the
complicated issues, they argued freely and frankly and agreed to disagree in
the best interest of the Club.
At
the Special Meeting held at the Hampton Inn, both Veerasammy Virappen and
McCarthy Punter were re-elected Captain and Vice Captain respectively. They
certainly ought to be congratulated for leading the Team throughout the Season
with the many challenges that confronted them.
I thank them for weathering the storm.
And
lastly, Lincoln Montaque was re-appointed Assistant Team Manager. I thank him for his contribution.
MEETINGS
Over
the year, the following Meetings were held:
- One
Annual Conference/General Meeting
- One
Officers’ Meeting
-
One Special
Membership Meeting
-
Four Executive
Committee Meetings and
- Innumerable
Ad Hoc Meetings
I
must proudly report to you that our Meetings continued in the usual manner: conducted
in a formal and professional way with free, frank, democratic, healthy and
civil discussions and debates. Both
opposing and proposing views were heard and debated and then decisions were
made in the interest of the Club and its Members. And this is the reason we are so organized,
unique and successful.
I also
thank you for your involvement in the process.
MEMBERSHIP
The racial and religious diversity of our Membership
continue to be the pride and envy of our Club.
Our total Membership stands at 54
which comprises
30 Non-Players and 24 Players. The majority of our Members are from
I am proud of our Members especially because you are
so dedicated, committed, loyal and united.
And just incase you do not know: you are the backbone of our Club.
The People of Waterbury and
indeed the Members of our Club, are extremely fortunate to have a Mayor who has
restored integrity and good and honest government to this the great City of
Our
Fiscal Year under review reflects an excellent
Since
the inception of this Club, the Membership Fees have never been changed:
Non-Playing Membership remained $22.50 and Playing Membership remained
$45. This does demonstrate the good
intention of your Executives; they find ways and means of running this Club without
increasing the Membership Fees. According to our statistics for this year, we spent $70 per Member or $158 per Player. We are indeed
very conscious of this investment in our Players. This is not only a deal; it is a blow-out
sale, because when we look around we find other Clubs charging their Players
approximately $250 per year.
Our
deficit of $257 could very easily be justified by our purchase of a new Matting
costing $475 and the increased prices we encoutered.
I
now take pleasure in declaring that with no bills to pay, our Closing Balance at Bank stands at $5,008. This is a solid
financial state. Our conservative financial approach must therefore continue.
But
this would not have been possible without our Bronze Sponsor Anderson’s Auto
Electric; and our Donors: Alphonse
Ladyga, Hampton Inn, American Motor Lodge, Ryan Arnajallum and Dynasty Sounds and
their continuous contributions. I thank them
for their generous contributions and support.
Our
thanks also go out to all who prepared food and did not charge us for the
costly ingredients and for doing so with a smile.
DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE
Headed
by Chairman, Yadram Sumair, the Disciplinary Committee which included Rajin
Ramraykha, Venkersammy Govinden along with the The President and Team Manager,
did yet another fantastic job.
There
were two Final Warnings and one Recommendation for Corrective Action
issued. These bold measures were taken
to ensure strict enforcement of our disciplinary policies. I commend the
Committee for upholding our principles and values without fear or favor.
SELECTION COMMITTEE
The
Selection Committee comprised Veerasammy Virappen, Yadram Sumair, the President,
the Team Manager and with McCarthy Punter as Chairman. Theirs was indeed a very difficult task. They were determined to select the best, to incorporate
the younger and less experience players and to do so in a fair and
uncompromising manner. While I
acknowledge that a few players may disagree, I wish to categorically state that
the Committee did an excellent job. And
believe me, it was not easy and it will never be.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
We continue to showcase our
Club externally, to expose the Cricket Game to more and more people, and also
to teach high standard organizational business practices. Hence, apart from
word-of-mouth, we did the following:
1. One Article via
2. Our Club’s Emblem being used for Showcasing by
Cafepress.com
3. Continued maintenance and rapid update of our Website:
“http://unitedcricket.2ya.com”.
We
say thanks to the Waterbury Republican-American Newspaper, Cafepress.com and
our Website Engineer Ryan Arnajallum.
We
played a total of 26 Games: we won 12 and lost 14. You certainly will agree
that this is in no way a good performance.
But here is the breakdown:
Friendly Games: we played 11 Games: we won 6 and lost 5.
TUCC sponsored Triangular Competition: we played 4 Games: we won 2
and lost 2. Congratulations to West Haven C.C. who
defeated UBS C.C. in the Finals thus winning the coveted “Roy Nanku Trophy”
sponsored by the Nanku family. Let me
pause at this time to proudly announce that Roy, a Member of ours, is currently
serving the Military in
20/20 League Competition: we played 3 Games: we won 2 and lost 1.
The Regular League Competition: we played 8 Games winning 2 and loosing 6.
And in other Games: Four of our young players: Chandika Singh, Jason White, Varunkum
Bhattaram and Anthony Rampersaud represented Connecticut in the Regional Under
19 Tournament and they did so outstandingly.
As
you can see, it is no exaggeration to say that our Team failed and failed
miserably. I believe we could have done
better had the players played selflessly and with unity. But no; they were too
busing nursing grudges rather than seeking peace, unity and reconciliation. Some
players were more concerned with what position they were put to bat and with
how many overs they would be asked to bowl. The young players were given every
opportunity possible but a few of them have failed to take up seriously their
responsibilities; they behaved as if they were celebrities and so were
unwilling to do normal chores.
Too
often the burdens were left on the shoulders of a few; some players seemed to
believe that their jobs were only to play cricket. Very often too, players looked upon one
another whenever there were things to do.
The
story is told of a Club with a few tasks to be done. Everybody
said that Somebody would do
it. Somebody
figured that Anybody would do
it. Guess who did it? …Nobody. And so, their Club’s Executives decided that Nobody should run the Club. Your
Executives can choose to do the same too. But we know better than that; we are
more responsible than that.
I
know that these criticisms do not apply to all.
But who the cap fits, let him wear it.
May
I make it categorically clear that we will not tolerate this in the coming year.
Our Players need to rededicate and commit themselves to do everything possible
to build this Team, take up responsibilities and do what has to be done. We as the Executives will provide you with
Leadership but you have to and must do the rest.
YOUTH PROGRAMME
I
am so proud that we have a set of dedicated young men and women who are not
only dedicated to the game of cricket but also to the Club. They show up religiously on Tuesdays for
training and were taught cricketing
skills, discipline, team work and game preparation. They then concluded the
season with a Cricket Game that included
youngsters from
I
must express our sincere gratitude to Azam Rahamat and Rajin Nanku for
conducting this Youth Program.
As
a Founding Member of The Southern Connecticut Cricket Association, it is our
duty to ensure that is kept alive and well.
This is why we must remain associated with it notwithstanding the
dictatorial and unlawful practices of its Leadership, and mindful of the crisis
situation they plunged the League into.
Last year I reported to you that even though I had resigned as Chairman
of the League’s Judicial Committee, my role and our Club’s role would be
“critical support”: constructive criticism when they step out of bounds and
support when they fall in line”. I meant
well. Unfortunately when the Team
Manager and I showed up at a Board of Directors Meeting, the President
unilaterally changed the procedures which disallowed us to speak. It was an act
of dictatorship and vindictiveness. What a coward he is!
Today,
the Board of Directors has become a Rubber-stamp and a toothless poodle. The President and his Executives spend beyond
budget then come to the Board for approval, Meetings are being disrupted or
lacked a quorum to indicate disapproval, the President and the Executives
express anger and childishness when they fail to have it their way, and the
President continues to violate the Constitution and By-laws and insults justice
to the extent that our own McCarthy Punter was suspended without Notice of a
Hearing, let alone a trial. What a shame!
We
will and must continue to work hard to change the dismal path of this League.
I
wish to personally applaud and thank Azam Rahamat and Mansuklall Sagar who
continued to serve as our Club’s Representative and Alternate
Representative respectively to the
League’s Board of Directors. I also wish to thank Yadram Sumair, Raifque Abba
and Azam Rahamat who represented our Club at the League’s Annual General
Meeting. They all did an excellent job
fighting for our Club. And to do so in the midst of such an intense battle within
the League, is indeed commendable.
Scoring
the Game is a crucial part of the Cricket Game; yet quite a few players do not
know how to score and are unwilling to learn to score while others who know to
score are reluctant to do so. I wish to
thank all those who assisted in this area; both players and non players. You have displayed unselfishness. In the coming year the Players will have to
decide between chipping in to score or chipping in to pay someone to score. The
latter obviously will entail an increase in the Game Fee.
I
thank our Team Manager for working diligently and unselfishly compiling the
data for League Reporting and for our Club’s Incentive Program.
U.S.A.C.A.
Our Club continues our
association with the
Let us continue our
membership with this national organization and help to make it better, more
transparent and more democratic.
INSURANCE
Because we are committed to
the Safety, Security and Protection of our Members, we continue to hold Secondary
Health Insurance for Members and Liability Insurance for the Club. As a Member of The United States of America
Cricket Association we procured Coverage from Francis L. Dean & Associates,
Inc. for only $125. This is no comparison to the real market
value of about $1800.
While other Clubs have
taken austerity measures and have cut back in the customary “refreshments after
each Game’, our Club continued its tradition of generosity and kind hospitality. In fact, we increased our spending by $245 this year; we actually spent $1053 on Refreshments. I am eternally grateful to those who helped
with the cooking; we could not have done it without you.
We
view our fans as crucial to the success of our team. We relish your encouragement and support. But
this year, quite frankly, I am a bit disappointed; you did not show up in large
numbers as you normally do. The average
attendance at Home Games was 65 while
the attendance at Away Games averaged 25.
I know our team failed us
miserably. But that should not prevent
you from showing up. We must be loyal to
our team, we must stick to our team, we must embrace our team whether they win
or loose. I implore you today, turn out and support you team this coming
season. Let us continue our family
picnics and watch our team play.
Our Incentive Program is
perhaps, the only of its kind in the Country.
It is designed to reward each player fairly, not only based on their cricketing
performance but also based on their discipline, task accomplishment and team
work. It’s Points System assigns
70% to Batting, Bowling and Fielding
while 30% is assigned to
Discipline, Task Accomplishment and Team Work.
For
this year, the Batting, Bowling and Fielding Scores amounted to a total
of 6299 Points while Discipline,
Task Accomplishment and Team Work amounted to 2700 Points. A Player with 100% Points for Discipline, Task Accomplishment and Team Work
could have increased his standing by 112
Points.
Today,
I am pleased to announce that the following categories of Awards will be
presented: Gold 1st - 5th
, Silver 1st – 5th , Bronze 1st – 10th and 4 Achievement Awards.
I
congratulate all recipients
And
now Ladies and Gentlemen, I submit to you that our Club has done well but our
Cricket Team has to improve and I am sure they will. At one of our Executive
Meetings, I asked the Executive Members whether they were burnt out and wanted
to quit. They very quickly expressed their
determination to continue. I then
implored them to rekindle the fire. And
so I ask you today: Members, Players, Fans, Supporters, Friends and
Family: rekindle the fire and let the
fire of The United Cricket Club keep burning and burning and burning.
Respectfully
Submitted,
The United Cricket Club
12/06/2008