For those children who may be new to the Club or who are at the stage where they are not yet playing matches against other Clubs, there are a variety of other issues that are of interest to parents and this note seeks to provide useful additional information in that regard.

What should the children wear to training?

While some children will wear cricket whites, any sports clothing will be suitable. In terms of shoes, trainers would be ideal.

If your child is playing in a proper match we would expect them to wear cricket whites and ideally white cricket shoes or trainers.

In the early stages of the season, it is important that children bring warm clothing, as it is cold, particularly in the evening.

Is the training hardball or softball?

Up to the U8 Age group (Year 3 at school), most of the training will be softball, either a tennis ball or a plastic incrediball. We will offer hardball training for those children whose cricket development is more advanced and where it would be safe to do so.

Can parents attend training sessions or matches as spectators?

While, under Government guidelines, spectators are not currently permitted, parents may attend training sessions or matches, if they feel that their child be anxious if one of their parents was not close by. In this situation, we would ask that only one parent attend and that they remain distanced from the cricket activities and socially distanced from any other parents who may be present.

A copy of the Club’s announcement on this subject can be seen at ECC policy on spectators.

What equipment does my child need?

In normal times, the younger children do not need any cricket equipment and the Club provides balls and bats for them to practice with. And, as they are are playing with a ‘softball’, there is no need for them to have any protective equipment.

Once the children start to play in matches, parents often will buy a cricket bat for their child. And, once they start hardball cricket, they will need all the normal protective equipment, including a helmet, pads and batting gloves. These often come in a cricket bag, which are sometimes much larger than the child!

Of course, we are not currently in normal times and the sharing of equipment is discouraged. Therefore we are asking younger children to bring a bat and a ball with them if they have access to them. If not, the club can still provide equipment for them and it will be sanitised regularly.

How are training sessions organised?

The Club’s training sessions are supervised by our professional coaches, assisted by parent volunteers. Initially, the focus is on the basic skills of the game, i.e. hitting, bowling, throwing, catching and stopping the ball. As the children become more proficient, they play mini games where they can practice executing the skills they have learned. The emphasis is on the children having fun and developing a passion for the sport.

Generally speaking, we have children of the same age training together, but, as the age groups are sometimes quite large, we do seek to have players of similar ability training together as this offers the best cricket development opportunity for all.

We have the U6 (Year 1) and U7 (Year 2) Boys and Girls train together.

The development of Girls cricket is a strategic priority for the Club and we feel this will be an important step in improving the development of the youngest girls at the Club, without diminishing in any way what we offer for Boys. As above, we will look to group together children of similar ability and we are always sensitive to allowing children who have strong friendships to practice together. The training sessions are generally held on the outfield of our cricket grounds and the children do not usually progress to using the nets until they move on to hardball practice. This year the U11 and U13 girls have the opportunity to play in softball and/or hardball leagues plus there is are U11 and U13 Girls team's entered into the boys league.

When do matches start for the children?

The youngest age groups which we enter teams in formal external competitions are U10s (Year 5) for both boys and girls, but quite often Boys and Girls from the U9s (Year 4) and even the U8s (Year 3) do participate in matches if they are able to be competitive.

There is an informal league for the U9 Boys and we have entered two teams. We also organise friendly matches for the U9 Boys and the U8 Boys. Again, players from younger age groups may be included if their cricket skills are well developed.

And we also have the internal Inter Franchise League, in which there is a division for U8/U9 boys and girls which will provide even more playing opportunities for the children.

The children in the U5 – U7 Age groups generally do not play in matches, unless they are very strong players, but, as above, they do play mini games in training where they develop their skills.

On what days and at what time are matches played

There is no simple answer to this question, but in summary:

• U10 and above MJCA League fixtures tend to be played on mid week evenings (on different days) starting around 5.30 – 6.00 p.m., with the odd Sunday morning,
• U9 MJCA League fixtures tend to be mid week evenings
• U8 and U9 friendly matches are usually played on Sunday mornings
• IFL matches are predominantly played on Sundays, but could be in the morning, middle of the day and/or in the afternoon.

How do I find out which team my child is and when their fixtures are?

We use Pitchero to communicate with parents. Your child should already be registered on Pitchero and hopefully parents will also have received an invitation to register themselves. There is information on Pitchero regarding the time and venue of training sessions and matches.

We encourage parents to download the Pitchero Club App so they can see all the messages and indicate their child’s availability to attend training and play in matches on their smart phone.

If you have any problems using Pitchero, please contact Saloni Allot.

Food/drink

At Corfton Road, when training returns to that ground, there is a ‘tuck shop’/BBQ on Friday evenings where the children can buy food and drink. But, up to that time, the children should bring food and drink with them and this should not be shared with other children, unless they are from the same household.

Lost property

In the past, we had a large container, often quite full, of lost property at our main ground in Corfton Road, but, with Covid restrictions in place, our Club Manager, Julia Pearce, will be managing the situation and you should contact her if you have lost anything.

Who should I contact if I have a question?

You may well have had contact already with Laura Fairbairn, the Club’s Administration Secretary, who works closely with James Grigg (Head of Junior Cricket), Chad Barrett (Director of Cricket) and Saloni Allot (Head of Women and Girls Cricket, Junior Participation and Community Development).

You can contact any of these people if you have a query. We do also look to have parent volunteers at each age group who act as an interface between the Club and parents.

Contact details for the people mentioned above and the Age group managers for the U9s and above can be found at Information for Junior Members and Parents.

For U8’s, we have a parent volunteer in place and he will be assisting at training, organising matches (U8s) and acting as a point of communication for parents in the U8’s.

U8 Chris Waight 07834 723533 email; chriswaight78@gmail.com

If anyone would like to volunteer for the U7, U6 and U5’s we would be delighted to hear from you!

Safeguarding

The children’s safety is of prime importance to the Club. All coaches and volunteers who are involved with the cricket activities that the children engage is are DBS checked and the Club is Clubmark Accredited, which means that the Club has satisfied Middlesex Cricket that we comply with all the requirements set by the England & Wales Cricket Board, including in relation to safeguarding.

If you have concerns re safeguarding, you can contact the Club’s Safeguarding Officers, contact details for whom can be found at Information for Junior Members and Parents.

Membership of the Club

As you are hopefully aware, your child becoming a Junior member of the Club does also include non playing membership of the Club for the parents.

As such, parents can make full use of the iconic clubhouse and ground at Corfton Road, which is normally open 365 days of the year. Aside from a well-stocked bar, where members can use their membership card to get discounted prices, you can watch sports on the large TVs and, subject to social distancing, play pool, table tennis or darts or just enjoy the friendly company.

We also welcome well behaved dogs on leads!

We have a function room, the Tom Entwistle Room, which is available for members to hire at preferential rates for birthdays and other events and companies, such as Ikon Dental Services, Surridge (on Equipment) and Café Zee, offer discounts to members.

You can collect your membership card and a welcome pack from the pavilion at our ground in Corfton Road.

Volunteering

We are always looking to add to our team of volunteers, so, if you have any interest in helping out in whatever capacity, please do get in touch.in touch.