If it hadn't been for the fact that he happened to notice a piece of paper, it's quite possible that our new Captain, Rick Slimmon, would never have joined the Club. In fact, he may never have even played the course.
Rick was born and brought up in South East London. It was while working as a printer that he spotted an opportunity to make a new start, resulting in a move to Leicester.
“It was in 1972, just before I married Lynn” Rick explained. “The house prices were rocketing in London at the time and I happened to notice the prices of houses in Leicester from a brochure we were printing at work. I came up to take a look and, after living all my life in London, I was amazed at all the open spaces.”
Rick's father was a cabinet maker. “He always used to tell me to ‘get a trade'. When I was school I remember telling the Careers Officer that I wanted to be either a printer, an architect or….a hairdresser. My sister was a hairdresser and I guess my answer was something to do with the fact that there were a lot of girls involved! My brother applied to be a printer and didn't bother in the end, but I looked at it and thought I would give it a go.”
The printing job proved a good decision as it saw Rick and Lynn move up to the Midlands. He moved up before getting himself another job but that didn't take too long. “I didn't realise at the time that Leicester had a lot of printers in the City but I started work straight away and we've never looked back. The thing that I remember most about moving up was that the pace of life was so much slower and that took a little while to get used to.”
Golf wasn't Rick's sport when he was younger. “I liked football, but never played for a team. As a supporter, I wasn't a ‘pot hunter' as Crystal Palace was my team. Cycle racing was my main sport and I played a bit of squash. It was my Father in law who said that he fancied playing golf and so we used to go to different courses in Kent when we went to see him. Our first house in Leicester was right next to Western Park golf course and so I went there now and again. There were two or three lads at work who I went out to play at places like Oadby too. We never really took it very seriously until I had the opportunity to join Market Harborough.”
It was the opening of the back nine at Harborough that prompted Rick to take more of an interest in the game. “I knew people at the Club and I was asked whether I would like to go to the Club to play on a Saturday morning. We always used to work overtime in those days on Saturdays, but I went up one week and sat outside the Clubhouse afterwards thinking that it was a much better way to spend a Saturday morning than working! I went up a few times before the joining offer was available and that's when I became a member.”
Rick and Lynn now live in Fleckney and, of course, there are Clubs closer than Harborough. “I think that Harborough is a nicer and prettier course than a lot of others and that's why I chose to join.”
Rick is still in the printing industry and Lynn works as a Company Secretary for a business in the footwear industry.
So why did Rick get involved with the Committee? “I have always been involved in anything I have belonged to. I was the Chairman of the PTA and was a Shop Steward at work. I believe that, if you want to see things change and you are prepared to say what you think, then you should also be prepared to get involved so that you are in a position to be able to help change things. There were issues at the Club at the time that I felt strongly about and so I felt it was a case of ‘putting your money where your mouth was.'
Rick has been on the Committee for six years now and says he is hoping for, somewhat optimistically, ‘peace and harmony' in his year as Captain! Being Captain isn't something that he had expected. “The only thing that I really wanted was to get my name on the honours board and I did that in the Forbes Cup a few years ago. As far as the Captaincy goes, I am looking at that very much as an honour rather than a chore. It's a great Club. Lynn is 100% behind me and I am looking forward to everyone having a great year.”
“I just want to make sure that everyone involved enjoys the Club” Rick suggests. “I would like to sort out the card situation, so that we can pay by debit cards for more things. It would be great to get to the stage where we are ‘full' as a Club. It would be great if we could encourage a few more under 35 members too.”
One of the reasons that Rick mentioned that brought him to the Club was the way the course looked and he used the word ‘pretty' to describe the course that first encouraged him to join. He would like to drive standards in that department. “I would like to see the course and the areas around the course look prettier. It's all about the little things, being tidy and making the course and the Club look as attractive as possible. When things are tidy, it makes such a difference. It doesn't cost that much, but people notice those things.”
Anyone who knows Rick already will know that he is a strong supporter of the social side of the Club. “I hope that we can encourage more people to come along to what are some very good events,” he adds.
Becoming the Captain is something that clearly means a lot to Rick and he isn't fazed about being in the spotlight. In fact, in the past, he has missed out as he admitted; “In my younger days I did quite a lot of ballroom dancing and at one time was asked to be part of Frank and Peggy Spencer's formation dancing team but I didn't have the time to be able to do that. At that time I was also asked whether I would be interested in taking part in the ‘Magical Mystery Tour' film with the Beatles. In those days I was heavily into my cycle racing and so I decided not to get involved. It was only a two minute scene but you would have met the Beatles and been a part of a film that was pretty big. Quite a few of my friends were in it. Even now my family and friends can't believe that I turned that opportunity down.”
So, at last Rick gets to take centre stage. However, you also now have some idea of our new Captain's decision making ability. He's confident though that it definitely won't be a case of either of his favourite phrases that you'll hear him uttering in the Clubhouse from time to time…. ‘there could be trouble ahead' or….‘whata mistaka ta maka!'
About Rick's Charity
LOROS (the Leicestershire and Rutland Organisation for the Relief of Suffering) is a local charity providing care and support within Leicestershire and Rutland. The Leicestershire and Rutland Hospice is a specialist centre providing skilled nursing and medical care, supported by physiotherapists, occupational therapists and social workers. The hospice has 31 in-patient beds. For more information, go to www.loros.co.uk