Young Players Newsletter – March 2012
Dear Young Player and Family,
I hope the unseasonably warm weather is helping tune your thoughts to the upcoming cricket season. Of course, a warm spring is no guarantee of fine weather when the cricket season starts and the best advice I can give any parents planning to watch the early season games is don't pack away the long johns just yet.....
The big news this winter has been the redevelopment of the pavilion. By the time the season is fully underway I hope we will all be able to enjoy the fabulous new facilities- the weather has certainly been kind to the builders! Of course the pavilion is part of the link up with Middlesex and I recommend you keep an eye on the website for details of more opportunities to see the Middlesex and England players in action at our home ground.
I am pleased to say that Shane Burger will be returning in April as Head Coach for 2012, his 9th successive year. He will be working with Ruan Louw who has been appointed as Director of the new Radlett Cricket Academy. In his role as academy director, Ruan will be focussing particularly on the delivery of a continuous coaching programme that will enable young players to develop their own individual skills as they move up through the age groups within the club.
MEMBERSHIP
The priority period for previous members to renew their membership has now passed and we are taking new applications .As in previous years we are particularly heavily subscribed in some age groups where we now can take no more young players.
We have to reserve the right to close membership to ensure that we can maintain a sufficient coach/volunteer to player ratio to ensure all members receive proper coaching.
REMINDERS AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS
INTRODUCTION
Radlett Cricket Club Young Players section is run by volunteers. Whilst Head Coach Shane Burger is a professional cricketer and top level coach and Ruan Louw, our new Academy Director, an ECB top level 3 coach, the rest of our coaches are a mixture of level 1 coaches, level 2 coaches and knowledgeable volunteers.
The lifeblood of the Young Players section is the parents and other volunteer helpers who assist, manage teams and support fund raising events.
We are urgently seeking more parents who wish to become actively involved in our club. The amount of competitive cricket we can arrange for Young Players is directly linked to the number of people prepared to be involved in arranging and running teams. Please bear in mind that we need not be limited to one team in each age group.
Young Players are entitled to attend the training sessions for their age group and also arrange one to one sessions with our coaches at preferential rates.(One to one coaching is charged separately.) Parents/guardians are welcome to use the other (non-playing) facilities within the club whilst supporting their children.
YOUNG PLAYER AGE GROUP TEAMS
Talented young players may earn selection for one of our top class junior teams. A match fee of £2.00 is payable for each game played.
However, membership confers no guarantee of selection. You will appreciate that we can have many times more young players in an age group than we have places in the top team. Only the best players will be selected to play league games for the team.
However, we are planning more competitive cricket within the Sunday sessions and friendly matches for those not in the league teams can be arranged if there are more parent volunteers willing to assist in running and managing teams in their children's age group. Contact me if you wish to get involved.
WHAT IS INVOLVED IN HELPING YOUR CHILDREN'S TEAMS?
For each fixture, a manager is required to select a team, manage the match and file a match report to the league (for league matches). For home fixtures the pitch is prepared by our ground staff but getting the team organised needs to be done by the parents. This includes the provision of a scorer and umpire for each match. Beyond that, some additional support is required in administration, providing drinks for the teams, ensuring everything is locked away and left in a tidy state at the end of the match.
Provided each team has a small group of willing parents to manage their matches, these tasks are extremely straightforward and fun.
Young player cricket does not have to end at the end of July. Provided there is a group of parents willing to arrange and manage a fixture, we can usually provide a pitch on a midweek evening in August.
However, if a league team does not have a manager, that team will be withdrawn from the League.
Anyone who feels that they would like to learn to score or umpire or become involved in team management should contact me as soon as possible.
WHAT IS THE MINIMUM AGE?
We are happy to receive membership applications from boys and girls in years 1 and 2. Groups tend to be smaller in these age groups and we require their parents to stay at the ground throughout training sessions. In fact, many parents join in these sessions supporting the coach and other helpers. If your child is younger than year 1, please contact us before applying.
KIT
You will need to attend training in whites and matches (if selected) in whites and a Radlett shirt.
FREE RADLETT CRICKET SHIRT
Each Young Player joining for the first time in 2012 is entitled to a new club shirt – free of charge. Also, if you are a past member and have grown out of your shirt, then you can bring it with you to your first session and exchange it for a new shirt.
ORDERING KIT
We have agreed a kit deal with D&M Sports who will supply kit including helmets, pads, bats and batting gloves at favourable prices. We will be arranging a kit sale early in April and will provide details shortly. At that sale we will also hand out free shirts to those members who have paid their subscriptions. In the meantime you can order Radlett kit from the D&M web site: follow the link on from our website. There is a lead time on orders of 5 or so weeks so we advise you to check your raggy old kit from last year and get your orders in NOW so that you have all the necessary gear for the start of the season. Of course, kit, other than Radlett branded kit, can be obtained elsewhere.
CRICKET SESSIONS
The summer cricket sessions starts on Sunday April 22nd and runs until the last week in July. We also hold a festival day for all young players at the beginning of September.
The coaching team for these sessions will be lead by Ruan Louw and Shane Burger.
Sunday mornings are for all those who are 13 and under (as at 1 September 2011)
Under 12s and 13s sessions are between 9.30 and 11:30 am on Sundays.
Under 6,7,8, 9, 10 and 11 sessions are between 10:00 and 12:00 on Sundays
Under 14s and U15s sessions are between 6:00 and 7:30 on Monday evenings.
ACCESS TO GROUND
Under no circumstances should parents or young players access the ground through the hedge in front of the open side of the nets. This is equivalent to walking on Salisbury Plain during artillery exercises as you will cross the face of the nets where aggressive batsmen will be waiting to pepper you with hard cricket balls. You should enter the ground via the entrance at the rear of the nets. [PLEASE NOTE: BUILDING WORK IS CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS AND THIS ENTRANCE IS NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE – FOLLOW SIGNPOSTS]
WINTER NETS
Winter nets are still running every Monday night at Queen's School between 7-8pm under the expert eye of Tom Jenkins. Cost - a bargain £4 per session (just turn up, pay and play).
ELITE PROGRAMME
The elite programme has been running again this winter under the guidance of Tom Jenkins, first eleven keeper, Herts County wicket keeping excellence and batting coach. Training this year has been at Haberdasher's cricket centre.
Our links with the County coaching staff have been strengthened and the aim of the programme is to nurture talent not only for Radlett but also for the County, whether that be Herts or possibly Middlesex and involvement is by invitation only.
EASTER, HALF-TERM AND SUMMER HOLIDAY COURSES
This year we have added a second week at Easter, three days at half-term and extended our Summer programme to 7 weeks. Ruan and Shane will lead a team of qualified coaches and additional support staff. Early drop off (8:30 am) and late pick up (5:30 pm) is available (additional charge). Information and online booking are available from the website or contact Debbie Pepper on 07881 823201 (courses@radlettcc.com)
HELP
Radlett is a members club run by volunteers. We encourage all families to become actively involved in the young players section. There are not enough volunteers to go round!! There is a direct correlation between the amount of cricket available for the young players and the amount of volunteer time that is made available. Please let us know if you would be available to run friendlies and we can arrange more games.
BECOMING A COACH
If anyone is interested in taking a coaching training course or becoming involved in coaching either on a regular or ad hoc basis (particularly on Sundays) please feel free to contact me.
We are looking forward to a successful season and seeing you all at Radlett Cricket Club in April. If you have any registration enquiries, please contact Doreen Browne at doreenb@ntlworld.com
Please address any cricketing enquiries to andrew.wright@radlettcc.com
Yours faithfully
Andrew Wright
Young Players Chairman