Grassroots hero given time in spotlight

Mar 28 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

Grassroots hero given time in spotlight

OVER a quarter of a century’s dedicated service to the Northern Club in Crosby received its proper recognition last autumn when Mike Bishop was hailed as Merseyside’s Volunteer of the Year at the prestigious Sporting Champions Dinner at the Crowne Plaza.

Unable to attend the glitzy event in person – predictably, perhaps, because he was on one of the four cricket tours to Barbados he has organised – Bishop was nevertheless “delighted” to be honoured, but also keen to put the accolade in perspective.

“I didn’t do the work at Northern in order to get an award,” he stressed. “I don’t set my stall out for that sort of thing. In many ways I see it as an honour for the club more than myself.”

Well, it may be perfectly appropriate to salute one of the region’s most progressive and forward-thinking amateur sports clubs, but Bishop’s own role at Moor Park at a time of rapid change is also worthy of particular tribute.

He understands very clearly that clubs can no longer wait for sportsmen to stroll through their historic portals and sign up for membership. Instead, a vastly more pro-active approach is needed.

“About six years ago our number of members was declining but the average age was getting higher,” he recalled. “We sat down and realised that we had to turn it round at the bottom by trying to recruit younger sportsmen and sportswomen and by going into schools and offering coaching.”

The result of this change of policy by Northern’s hierarchy is that the club now has a sports partnership with Chesterfield High School and strong links with a number of primary schools in the Crosby area. It is a policy with which Bishop was closely involved and to which he is passionately committed.

“You have to go into schools and the primaries in particular are always delighted to see you,” said Bishop. “The key age for attracting members used to be 13. It’s now nine. If you don’t get children to join the club then, the chances are that they never will.”

Having achieved accreditation for all the four major sports played at the club, Northern was able to offer, in the words of the current mantra, a “safe, effective and child-friendly” environment in which coaching could take place. The result is that the membership roll now boasts more than a thousand names and the age profile is considerably lower.

Bishop is currently Child Welfare Officer at the club and also does some cricket coaching, but his deep knowledge is always available for any of Northern’s large band of officials and coaches to draw on.

“I’m a sort of minister without portfolio, a bounce-board, a consultant.” he observed wryly. “I was president in 2006 and, while that is the top honour at Northern, it is very much not a figurehead role.

“It means that for three years you’re very closely involved with the running of the whole club.”

In addition, Bishop was chair of the cricket section until 1998 and has captained both second and third teams. He has coached the under-13s, he has played his share of squash at the club and has does some mentoring of Northern’s other coaches. He knows how the place works.

“My only gripe is bureaucracy,” he said. “Sometimes we’re needed to redo particular courses every three years when all that’s needed is for us to acknowledge that we’ve been informed of new regulations.

“That apart, the need is to remain proactive and to continue to recruit volunteers and coaches.

“The top performers at any club should do coaching. It’s what the Lancashire ask their cricketers to do and, aside from the benefits to those they’re instructing, it makes the coaches better players too.”