Last Tuesday myself and Bob Chapman, the Club Secretary spent a pleasant evening trying to convince as many people as possible that giving Upton Cricket Club a £1000 grant for new junior equipment would be a great idea. The final decision lies with the councillors and will be made at a meeting on 26th February, so please take the time to support our application it can affect the councillor’s decision. It only takes a couple of minutes so please click here.

Thank-you.

Running Upton Cricket Club takes an unbelievable amount of effort, I’m sure we all have our own tales of increasing bureaucracy, red tape and the nanny state causing untold headaches and additional work. Well it is no different for the cricket club, to enable our teams senior and juniors to practise and to play takes a lot of work from a lot of people. Running Upton Cricket Club is akin to running a small business but purely on a voluntary basis.

Therefore with people’s time at a premium and the day to day running of the Club becoming increasingly onerous it is vital we have a clear goal of what we are trying to do and how we can achieve this.

To this end we now have a Junior Section Mission Statement and 3 Year Plan to support these goals. I know, not very exciting but it is important that you the parents and your children understand what we are trying to achieve and how we intend to do this.

Mission Statement

• The main aim of our junior section is to provide the opportunity, and facilities to allow as many children as possible to gain an introduction to the game of cricket.
• To introduce them to the basics of the game and to allow them to develop within a structured environment to reach their full potential.
• To provide the required coaching and guidance to progress.
• To provide opportunities to develop their skills within match situations.
• To provide support to progress from junior to senior cricket and beyond if capable.
• To ensure their time at Upton Cricket Club is enjoyable.

High Level 3 Year Plan for the Junior Section

2015

• Increase the quantity and quality of coaching provided by reducing group sizes by having more people involved on a Friday evening.
• To improve the coaching by fully utilising our facilities including regular use of the bowling machine, video, and specialist coaches.
• To introduce a staged development plan to ensure each training session has a focus and end target.
• To run a least one festival day at UCC
• To apply a budget and operate within this.
• To encourage and promote stronger links between Junior and Senior Sections
• Improve communication, via face to face conversations, website, and newsletters.

2016

• Ensure progress made in 2015 is maintained
• Ensure lessons learnt are implemented to improve the service we provide
• To run more festival days
• To set a budget and operate within this.
• Document procedures and processes to allow a transparent view of the Junior section and to allow for easier succession planning.

2017

• Ensure progress made in 2016 is maintained and is now seen as the norm
• Ensure lessons learnt are implemented to improve the service we provide
• To set a budget and operate at a profit.
• UCC seen as a centre of excellence for Junior cricket

Its early days but how are we doing?

Well, the new website is up and running, (thanks to our new Chairman but more on him in a later edition), so hopefully you are already seeing the benefits of improved communications.
(Plus I know there must genuine excitement and anticipation as you wait for my next blog to be published.)

In terms of coaches for 2015, I already have 6 coaches in place, plus we insisted that any overseas player should also be a qualified coach and to be available to help with juniors. The good news is that we do have an overseas confirmed for the season and not only is he a coach; he is the development officer for his province in his native New Zealand and should add greatly to our coaching ability.

So 7 coaches, but when you think that last year we had 118 children registered, that still means a coach taking 16 children each, too many to deliver effective coaching. Ideally I would like to see that group size halved.

I already have a commitment that will see a number of senior players coming down on a regular basis to help. I am also exploring how to raise funds to pay for additional coaching.

I am also very keen to tap into the commitment and enthusiasm of you the parents.

Do you need to know anything about cricket? – No.
Do you have to commit to helping out every Friday? – No.

If you want to get involved just let me know and I’m sure we can find a way to get you involved to the benefit of the junior section by doing something you will also enjoy.

If you want to help out on the cricket side, then you will always be paired up with a qualified coach who will run the session. You as parents will know there is nothing more rewarding than seeing a child learn and succeed at something new, whether that is from simply learning to catch, right through to playing a great cover drive.

If you want to go the extra mile, then there are courses you can attend to allow you to coach cricket. Brian Sheriff at the moment is doing his level 2 ECB Coaching course, paid for by the Club.

If you want to help and would like some confidence in knowing what to do then there is an ECB Coach Support Worker course available. This is a 6 hour course and will be held at Parkfield Liscard CC spread over two evenings on April 22 and April 29. The cost is £30 and I hope I can get the Club to pay for a number of courses if people are interested.

If you want to help you don’t need to go on any courses, just your time and enthusiasm will suffice.

If you want to get involved but don’t think you could help with the cricket, then there are lots of other jobs I could do help with. Anytime you can give would be greatly appreciated.

11 weeks to go to the first outdoor Friday night.

Regards
Simon

Junior Cricket Chairman

If you have any queries, or would like me to use this forum to explain any part of the Club, or you have any specific question, or you fell like volunteering to help out in any way please drop me an e-mail at sgmcgowan@tiscali.co.uk