Junior Cricket Development Group Consultation Document

 

 

 

Download Consultation word document 
CONSULATION RESPONSE DOCUMENT 

 

 

 

Contents

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Discussions Points

 

The purpose of this document is to seek opinion from member clubs as to what they feel is the best way forward for junior cricket in the Scottish Borders.

 

Whilst there will be meetings of the Scottish Borders Junior Cricket Development Group through the winter months it is anticipated that this document will allow for wider discussion between the various committees and junior sections of the clubs.

 

This will provide the members clubs greater opportunity to influence the decisions made by SBJCDG in relation to the short and long term future of junior cricket.

 

It is important that these discussions take place because despite the best intentions of the junior development group there remain several issues that clubs have raised over recent times and in particular the age groups and competitions that we play.

 

With this wide consultation we should be in a better position to assess what the clubs want and can then implement things that will hopefully work and create a strong base to move forward from our existing position.

 

2.       Background

 

Senior cricket in the Borders is managed by the South of Scotland Cricket Association (SoSCA) with the Scottish Borders Junior Cricket Development Group (SBJCDG) taking responsibility for all junior cricket in the region.

 

The competitive side of the Association is known as The Border League which is believed to be the oldest League in Scottish Cricket. The Development Group run the Under 13 and Under 16 Border League’s as well as cup competitions at these same age groups, a newly formed under 11’s knockout competition and under 10 kwik cricket tournaments.

 

The Development Group are also responsible for the Borders area teams at under 11, under 13, under 15, under 17 and girls squads. Both the under 11’s and girls squads play in friendly games with the rest playing friendly games and “area championship” games.

 

This provides a large number of games throughout each season all of which provide vast opportunities to our juniors but conversely creates significant issues for clubs in terms of coaches, volunteers and ground staff.  

 

 

 

The main Association has a number of member clubs and each one is affiliated to Cricket Scotland. The Development Group have slightly more member clubs although their affiliation to both SoSCA is unclear.

 

 

 

Each clubs boasts a junior section with players competing in at least two age groups with many of the older juniors also playing senior cricket. Whilst at the younger age groups there has been increased participation (in some cases junior club membership has doubled in the space of a couple of years) the older age groups seem to lose players. Most clubs have a number of qualified coaches with at least Level 1 coaches and in most cases level 2 coaches available.

After several seasons when the Scottish Borders Junior Cricket Development Group struggled to run a league programme involving more than one age group,  2010 will be seen as the watershed year not just for the two leagues but also the first Under-11 hardball competition and also Under-10 softball festivals; all of which should now be fixed in the Border junior cricket calendar.

The introduction of league programmes at the two age groups has had an impact on the development of the juniors and the strength of the Borders Area squads. The under-13 programme, in it’s current format is four years old and has clearly served the representative area squads well with the under 13 squad being clear winners and joint winners in the last two years of the inter area championships. In 2008 the under 15’s won their area championships but the under 17’s have struggled to make an impact in their competition.

Whilst as previously mentioned, the under 13 format has been running in its current format for 4 years, the older age group is not the success it should be.

Following debate through the winter of 2008/2009 the development group changed the format from under 15 to a colts format (under 17). This was done following input from the clubs who thought they would not be in a position to field a team at under 15. The success of this format was mixed and brought complaints and issues that were then discussed through the winter 2009/2010. Following these debates a decision was made to change the age group to under 16 although despite the clubs input and agreement, several were forced or chose to field joint teams.

The clubs who have joined together are :- Biggar/Peebles, Kelso/Manderston, St Boswells/Melrose. Selkirk withdrew and this left Tillside, Hawick and Gala fielding teams entirely from their own club. 

The 2010 Border Junior League programme ended with two league titles heading to Shedden Park. Kelso CC’s most successful junior season for some years ended with a double of the Under-13s League title and, jointly with Manderston CC, the Colts league title. Both teams also went onto win the relevant cup competitions.

The start of the 2010 Under-13s was delayed due to the untimely and tragic death of Rowan Boland, although only 9, already one of the rising stars of Gala CC juniors. In tribute to him and in honour of his family the first round of fixtures was cancelled.
The 8 Border teams compete in two stage programme:
1. They play each other home and away over a 14 week programme (April to end July)
2. There is then a 5-week knock-out cup competition culminating in a Finals Day on 4th September.

Matches take place every Wednesday (or within a week window) and the points system was devised to encourage teams to play games with the players available rather than rearrange for a later date when ‘better’ players are available. It is a policy that has provided some success because in the last three years annually, 70% of the programme is completed.

 

 

Final U-13s Table  
 
  

As can be seen above, there is a concern regarding the number of forfeited games particularly because of the successes of recent years.

The Colts programme mirrors the Under-13s in that the season is split into a league programme and an ‘end of season’ knock-out cup. Tillside from the Alnwick and Berwick District league also joined the league in 2010 not only making the programme viable but also raising the quality of cricket. Sadly Selkirk CC had to withdraw at the beginning of the season but the programme continued over the 14 scheduled weeks. 

Colts Table:
 

Again there are a few games forfeited and worryingly and significantly the majority of these games involved two of the joint teams. 

 

 

 

 

The future of cricket in the Borders undoubtedly lies with the Junior Development Group and whilst the younger age groups are strong there are clearly issues with the middle and older age groups. Whilst second team and indeed first team cricket now involves a number of juniors it is incumbent upon the development group to get the formula right so that young players can both compete in their own age groups and more importantly are not lost to the game through lack or games or coaching.

 

The representative area teams are an important part of the structure and offer a higher standard of cricket for our better players although there are increasing difficulties in management and coaching issues.

 

There have been great strides taken in junior cricket in recent years and only with hard work, commitment and desire by clubs and particularly individuals will we be able to move to the next level.

 

 6.             Discussion points

 

 

Currently we schedule three kwik cricket festivals during the summer. In 2009 only one took place and in 2010 two took place but with very limited numbers at one of these.

 

This is clearly an important area for development and whilst several clubs seem to have significant numbers at this age, there appears to be a lack of commitment to provide games/festivals.

 

 

 

The inaugural hardball tournament took place at this age group in 2010 and was named after Rowan Boland. Whilst the competition was slow to start eventually all games were played and seemed to be well supported by those clubs entering.

 

The under 13 format appears to work well and therefore is unlikely to need changed.

 

 

As discussed elsewhere in this document, this age group provides the most challenges to the development group and probably requires the most thought and commitment. The following discussion points have been raised throughout the past season by a number of people:-

 

 

 

 

 

 

The above headings and questions are quite specific and based on issues that have often been raised. The questions are very open and designed to promote discussion within the clubs. Forms are attached which can be used to provide feedback which hopefully will not be too much of a burden but the purpose of this process is to gather in open and frank views from the clubs so that the main issues can be addressed.

 

There are many more areas that may require some discussion including Coach Education, Volunteers, Regional Academy, Borders Academy, Girl specific cricket, School links,     promotion, advertising, sponsorship and please feel free to feedback on any of these or other issues so that full consultation can take place.

 

I have also included a section on the attached forms seeking opinion on the worth of a specific meeting to have open and frank discussions which I am happy to arrange if there is a requirement.

 

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or views and to give time to address any issues prior to the 2011 season could all replies be returned to me by email by 1^st March.

 

 

Stevie Halls

Chairman

Scottish Borders Junior Development Group

 

Contact - steviehalls@hotmail.co.uk or 07833391175