Old Xaverians Cricket Club Outdoor Nets

Aim

Our club's aim is to fundraise £8000 to contribute towards building our brand new fixed outdoor nets facility at Old Xaverians Cricket Club.

Who We Are

Old Xaverians Cricket Club is a club with long standing roots in South Liverpool. We have been playing at St. Francis Xavier's College since 1990. We are a volunteer driven club who pride ourselves on developing an inclusive community where everyone has a place, from current and past playing members to spectators and volunteers.

Our home within the college has provided us with an excellent foundation to build upon and attracts a young and diverse membership. We have also proactively built up a network with local primary schools, enabling us to field teams in all age groups - Under 9s, 11s, 13s, 15s, 18s and 21s alongside the ECB All Stars and Dynamos initiatives. Our Women and Girls section continues to grow, and we now aim to improve our accessibility and facilities to ensure we can provide opportunity for all sections of our cricket club and community.

Currently we have two Men’s Senior Teams and were one of the founding clubs from the Women and Girls section, competing in the Liverpool District Cricket Competition. As a club, we believe the Junior section is the lifeblood of our club and is integral to our identity. We value providing opportunities for all, and this has seen great success from our Junior section, with players graduating to play for our two Senior Men’s teams, our Women and Girls’ teams, and our midweek team. Currently a large percentage of the senior playing squads have come through our Junior section. 

What we are looking to fund

We are looking to fund the installation of a top of the range three-lane fixed net practice facility at Old Xaverians Cricket Club. This will allow us to further develop our coaching and training across all sections of our club with an emphasis on expansion of the Women and Girls cricket and our Junior section. The club are looking to fundraise the outstanding amount required to move forward with the project.

Currently, our opportunities to provide training and coaching to all members; men, women, and juniors, has been limited by the access to facilities. The current training set up is two AstroTurf pitches, located either side of the cricket square with mobile nets which have recently come into disrepair. Access to these facilities has often been limited due to a comprehensive programme of competitive matches, taking place on multiple days each week throughout the summer. We recognise that, to continue to develop as a club and support our growing demand from the Junior, Women, and Girls sections, a new training facility, separate and unaffected by the matches being played on the square, is now a necessity. 

In order to do so, we have obtained quotations to install a three-lane net facility to the side of the playing field which can accommodate, and match, the increased volume of cricket played by the members and guests at our cricket club. As such, we will be using all money raised to support this project.

 Why we are doing this 

After recent work by the Cricket Committee on the club’s development plan, this project to expand and improve our cricket facilities was identified as a major part of the club’s progress. This need was identified upon review of the current training facilities including location and current failing infrastructure (Picture of old mobile nets shown below alongside proposed site of new improved structure). This project will provide a cricket environment that reflects our values and meets our development needs. The facility was also identified as a very time sensitive issue and needed to be part of the immediate next phase of the club’s development. By improving our cricket facilities now, it will go a long way to securing the future players, volunteers, and families who will drive the cricket club forward in the years to come.

As mentioned, below is a picture of our old nets. We have had to use mobile nets thus far in our journey and constant upkeep has meant that a project to build fixed nets is a much more financially viable option for us as well as the additional benefits for the development of both junior and senior members through training and coaching.

The COVID-19 pandemic damaged our club and the local community it supports immensely meaning we had to react quickly, adapt to new ways of working and proactively engage with members including zoom coaching sessions for our junior players. Prior to COVID, our cricket club had a thriving junior and women & girls’ section which has suffered due to the impact and uncertainty around lockdowns and government guidelines. We are now attracting more members and want to match demand with greatly improved infrastructure and increased space to train and coach young people.

It is our aspiration and aim to deliver a facility which both meets current demand and offers opportunities for future players, coaches and volunteers to use. We plan for this facility to be an integral focal point within the local community, being utilised by all ages and abilities. Increasing the capacity and opportunity to partake in sport, promotes regular physical activity, supporting and enabling members to improve both their physical and mental health.  

 Please help us

The full project costs a total of £60,000. We are working with Liverpool City Council and Lancashire Cricket Foundation to help deliver this project. However, we now need to fundraise, via this Crowdfunder appeal, to help the club achieve the overall total. We would greatly appreciate any donation you can make, no matter the value, and it will be gratefully received by everybody at the cricket club. We are targeting 100 pledges from people associated to local cricket, Old Xaverians family and Alumni, or anyone who is simply willing to support a very positive project which will make a huge difference to our club and the local community.

This project successfully funded on 3rd April 2022