YOUTH CRICKET AT GREAT HORWOOD
As
a club, we are committed to providing opportunities for children and young
adults to learn about the joys of playing cricket, whilst also developing
their abilities through a range of age groups. At Great Horwood, the success
of the youth section is seen as being critical to the future of the club. We
have the support of ECB Level 1 and 2 coaches, team
managers and senior players in facilitating this development programme, as
well as a firm commitment from the whole club. The club has adopted “Safe
Hands” into its Constitution and has achieved ECB Clubmark accreditation
during 2009 as well as ECB Focus Club status. The long-term objectives of
the Youth Section are to have teams at all age groupings from Under 10
through to Under 16, coupled with a stated Policy of providing playing
opportunities that will enable Young Adults to transition into Senior
Cricket within the club. A 3rd XI was established in 2009, which comprised
of a minimum of 5 Under 18 players in every game. This continued in 2010
with some players graduating to the 2nd XI and will again be a key policy of
the Club in 2011.
For 2011 we will continue with the structured programme that has been designed to
help our players develop from U10 through to senior cricket – covering all
the skills of the game:
| Ages |
Activity |
Squads |
Focus |
| 8-10 |
Basic sports skills
ABCs – Agility, Balance, Coordination, Speed
Development of power & endurance
Participation & Variety
|
U10 |
Talent Identification
Introduction to cricket, and some basic skills
Focus more on encouraging participation and ABCs than competition
Links to local Primary schools
|
| 11-12 |
Learn how to train
Developing basic cricket skills
Developing basic tactical awareness
75/25 training/compete ratio
|
U11
U12 |
Recruitment
Encouraging players into cricket
Development of basic skills
Entry into local league and cup competitions at these age groups
Links to local Primary and Secondary Schools
|
| 14-15 |
Develop technical skills
Develop tactical awareness
Develop specialist skills
50:50 training/competition ratio
|
U15 |
Specialisation
Specialist coaching for specific areas, such as spin bowling,
batting, seam bowling, wicket keeping
Full competitive fixture list at each age group
Introduction to sports psychology – visualisation skills, coping
with stress, building an innings etc
|
All coaches, helpers and club officials undergo a full CRB check before
being allowed to work with players, and we place child welfare at the core
of all we do as a club, with a designated Child Welfare Officer appointed.
The Youth Cricket Committee carries out all Youth Cricket
responsibilities on behalf of the Cricket Management Committee. John Goodger
is the Youth Cricket Manager and sits on the Management Committee of the
club.
All of the year group managers sit on the Youth Committee, with the
addition of the Club Chairman (Norman Ellison) and Club Welfare Officer,
Sharon Taylor.