An upbeat Sam Smith said Mill Hill Village Sports Club was “in a good place” at the recent annual general meeting with participation up in both the football and cricket sections.

The club chairman told a well-attended AGM that player numbers in the Saturday football section increased by more than one-third this season compared to last year. The club also added a new Sunday squad with healthy numbers.

“It’s been a great year,” Smith said. “Participation is up across both football and cricket and that’s thanks to the club volunteers who put a lot of time and effort into it. We try and get as many people as possible from the local community to play sports.

“We have a Saturday squad of 62 players this year across a first team and a second team compared to 45 last season,” Smith said. “Plus we have added a Sunday team with a squad of 18-24 players, which didn’t exist before. They’ve entered the Watford Friendly League. In football, for the second team, we’ve had an influx of young players. We’re in a good place.”

Participation is also looking healthy in the cricket section across juniors and adults. Director of Cricket Phil Smith said: “In 2023, we ran Under 11s A and B teams for the first time. This is only possible because of the increased numbers at the base of the junior pyramid. We also increased our adult Sunday fixtures schedule, adding a T20 tournament to our roster. We fulfilled all of our T20 fixtures this season.”

Numbers look set to increase further in the juniors cricket section in 2024 as the club forges a new partnership with Finchley CC by forming Mill Hill Finches, an Under 10s softball cricket team for girls to be coached by Anisha Dissanayake (Middlesex CC and Sunrisers).

Also at the AGM, which took place on November 8 at Hatfield University with some joining remotely, Phil Smith added that plans are afoot to make improvements to the clubhouse at our Burtonhole Lane home.

Club Treasurer James Thompson also outlined the sound financial position of the club