OSBORNE Park Cricket Club is seeking to double its membership base to avoid folding in its 100th year.
Vice-president Damien Bainbridge said the club was due to celebrate its centenary in 2019 but was struggling to maintain members because of the area’s changing demographic and work and life demands.
He was concerned the club, based at Robinson Reserve in Tuart Hill, would not be able to continue if the decline persisted.
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READ NOW“It’s very hard to develop a club when the park’s facilities are in such a great need of repair and upgrading,” he said.
“We are looking forward to 2020 when plans for the rooms and training nets will be put forward from the City of Stirling.”
“We need to see the club double in size…providing a possible three to four teams.”
Mr Bainbridge retired from playing cricket in 2009 after 20 seasons but returned to the field this year, establishing the club’s veterans team in the Metropolitan Veterans Cricket Association competition, which plays fortnightly on Sundays.
“The new inclusion of the vets team has shown that the club has a family atmosphere with lots of young children being allowed to roam and play in the reserve,” he said.
The team has 15 players but is seeking more men aged above 36 to join so it can field two teams next year.
The club also has two senior teams playing in the North Suburban Community Cricket Association.
Mr Bainbridge said Osborne Park was a close club, with licensed clubrooms for members and believed the planned Robinson Reserve upgrades would greatly benefit players and their friends and families.
Players can join at any time with weekly opportunities available.
Training is at Robinson Reserve on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5pm.
Call Mr Bainbridge on 0419 997 322 or president Enrico Recchia on 0415 707 467 or find Osborne Park Cricket Club on Facebook.