Actonians Cricket Club

JUNIOR CRICKET AT ACTONIANS

Our aim is that everyone will feel welcome, always enjoy themselves, and appreciate being a member of a club that prides itself on being ‘One Club’. If your child has played the game before that’s great but if they haven’t please don't worry about your child not having much cricketing experience - we just want the kids to fall in love with the game and see where that takes them on the cricket field.

New boys and girls welcome. For further information on joining our junior section please contact Clifford Pile - clifford.pile@ntlworld.com 

Junior Club of the Year - recognising our work in encouraging children from all backgrounds to develop and grow their love of cricket

Coach of the Year - Bobby Behzadi - acknowledging his ability to create an inspiring environment for children to both participate and gain confidence through cricket.

Our Winter Indoor Cricket Training will be starting on Saturday 5th November 2022 through to Saturday 8th April 2023.

SOFTBALL OPTION – ideally suited for Under 9’s and those who will feel more confident training with a soft ball

Each session will last 1 hour and will include some technical work on batting and bowling, elements of fielding and each session will finish with a mini-match - hopefully by attending these sessions you will not only have a great time but also see a benefit come the start of the outdoor season in April. 

Cost = £5.00 per session.

HARDBALL OPTION – ideally suited for Under 10’s and above and feel confident playing hardball cricket

Each session will last 2 hours and include some technical work, elements of fielding and cricket fitness as well as nets. Hopefully by attending these sessions you will not only have a great time but also see a benefit come the start of the outdoor season in April. 

Cost = £10.00 per session.

Venue: Reynolds Sports Centre (Acton Ark Academy School), Gunnersbury Lane, Acton W3 8EY

The facility has amble car parking; is on the E3 bus route and only a few minutes’ walk from the Uxbridge Road so hopefully everyone should find it easy to get to.

So that everyone can have an enjoyable experience we will be restricting the number of participants per session. Payment must be made at time of booking.

Please complete and return the appropriate form to me at clifford.pile@ntlworld.com

Clifford Pile

Junior Manager

2022 Season – Messages of thanks

Just wanted to say thanks so much to you and all the coaches. He’s absolutely loved All Stars and will definitely be back next time.

Many thanks for the Dynamos lessons. They enjoyed it.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you and all the coaches, for all your excellent coaching throughout the season.

Thanks for everything this season and look forward to next year 

Thank you for making our first summer season so good, it’s much appreciated.

She has absolutely loved her first season at Actonians, and she is already looking forward to working hard over the winter to improve her skills ahead of next Season. 

Thank you so much for everything. My son was so enjoyed his cricket this summer. Thanks a lot.

Junior Festival - Thank you so much for today. It was great fun and nice to be back out on the field with the children.

Junior Festival - Thanks for all your effort organising everything yesterday; it was a wonderful day

Just wanted to say thank you so much for all your work with my son this year.

Junior Festival - Thanks very much for yesterday. We really enjoyed the day. Thank you for being so welcoming to our son, he is really keen to be a member of Actonians and to get involved over the winter. 

Thank you for all your hard work over the summer. He certainly enjoyed the nets at the weekend and hopefully he can play a bit more next season. Thanks again to you and all the coaching staff.

Just wanted to say a big thank you for such a great day on Sunday and also a big thanks to you and all the coaches and volunteers at the club. ******** has really enjoyed playing for Actonians and has come a long way thanks to the coaching and match play. 

Thanks for having ******* over the summer. He really enjoyed it; we appreciate the great introduction you have given him to a sport he may not have previously tried.

THANK YOU for organising us all, all summer. They have both really enjoyed their cricket this summer, feels like it has finally clicked and been very nice to see them grow in confidence. 

CLUB ETHOS

We are always keen to attract new players to the club and to the game in general; we have an open membership policy and offer cricket for boys and girls aged 5 to 17 and have built up a reputation of being a welcoming and open club – with safety and fun being at the centre of everything we do.

SAFETY AND WELLBEING

We will always put everyone’s safety and wellbeing first. We are an accredited Clubmark Club and adhere to the ‘Safe Hands’ Policy for Safeguarding Children in Cricket (available to view online at https://www.ecb.co.uk/safeguarding). All of the adults at the club who work with children and meet the necessary criteria are checked and vetted by the ECB.

TRAINING

Outdoor training is run from the middle of April through to the end of August and all takes place at our main ground – Gunnersbury Drive (unless otherwise advised).

Sunday mornings – 10am to 11.30am. Registration will be from 9.45am to 9.55am with an immediate start at 10am.

All Stars; Boys age groups: Under 9’s; Under 10’s; Under 11’s; Under 12’s; Under 13’s and Under 14’s. Girls age groups: Under 9’s, Under 10’s and Under 11’s

Tuesday evening – 6.30pm to 8.00pm.

Boys age groups: Under 15’s, Under 16’s and Under 17’s. Training will be with the seniors (start date to be confirmed).

Friday evenings – 6.00pm to 7.30pm

Girls hardball training including the following age groups Under 12’s, Under 13’s, Under 14’s and Under 15’s. We encourage as many of the Under 14’s and Under 15’s group who are ready to play in the women’s team to train with them on Wednesday evenings.

Girls Under 16’s and 17’s – as there is no junior cricket for this age group we would encourage you to come down with the ladies on Wednesday’s; if you don’t feel ready for senior cricket Friday’s would be an option.

The sessions will be not just on the technical side of the game i.e. nets but also aspects like cricket fitness; match awareness; captaincy; field positions; setting fields; match management including basic scoring and the laws of the game with the aim of improving everyone’s general cricket knowledge. Most importantly, the main intention of the sessions is that everyone is having fun and a rounded cricket experience. We use our 2^nd ground, Boddington Gardens, for some training sessions as it has another 3 nets and also enables us to do centre-wicket training on the non-turf pitch.

We do have a supply of club equipment which will be available for use for the younger age groups. As children develop a love for the game they will move to having their own equipment; if unsure please do not hesitate to ask the coaches regarding any equipment requirements especially bats as it is so important that young players use the correct bat size/weight. We normally have a stock of second hand clothing and equipment available as well.

MATCHES

Games are played in April, May and June with some summer games in July and August. We run teams in the Middlesex Junior Cricket Association competitions from Under 9’s to Under 17’s. Mid-week games are 20/20 games and start at 6.00pm; Sunday games are in the mornings, starting at 10.00am. All the junior fixtures are on the website

SELECTION FOR GAMES/NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE

The age group lead will notify players through the club website by email – you need to acknowledge that your child can play and is aware of the timings etc. (Please note the club cannot accept responsibility for getting your child to away matches or bringing them back). We will always give opportunity to as many players as possible to play games during the summer with the principle of maximum participation in those matches; however, sometimes selection for and participation in matches will be on the basis of ability.

MEMBERSHIP

The cost for junior membership is £120.00 for the 1^st child and £95.00 for siblings which covers:-

• All outdoor training sessions from middle of April to the end of August
• All matches and festivals throughout the summer
• Cricket Ball
• A cricket voucher for a complimentary day at one of our cricket camps

*New members will also receive a cricket shirt and all girl members, either renewals or new members, will receive a pair of coloured trousers for matches for the 2023 season.*

We also encourage parents to become members of Actonians Sports Club and you can include that on the completed membership form. The cost of that is £45.00 per adult.

Benefits for juniors and adults include: a 10% discount on drinks purchased at the bar. The club also offer complimentary WiFi and Spotify as well as free Sky Sports and BT Sports programmes.

Could you please complete and return the attached registration form to me as soon as possible – clifford.pile@ntlworld.com and arrangement payment by BACS (Account Name: Old Actonians Association Cricket Club Colts Section; Sort Code: 20-27-48: A/C Number: 40149543); with the reference Member/Child’s Name.

All members – juniors and adults - will be issued with an individual club membership card. All cards have the facility to ‘top-up’ to help move away from ‘cash’. As of today’s date the club does not accept cash across the bar. Membership is for the whole year and not just the cricket season so it would be great to see you enjoying your membership outside of cricket times as well.

We are also an accredited club to run 2 national programmes which are designed to introduce children to the game, teaching them new skills and having a great time.

ALL STARS

All Stars Cricket provides a fantastic first experience for all children aged 5-8 years old with an 8 weeks programme of activity and skills development. The programme is designed to introduce children to the sport and teach them new skills. Cost = £40.00

We have 2 hourly groups on Sunday mornings: 10am to 10.50am and 11am to 11.50am

May 14, 21, 28, June 4, 11, 18, 25, July 2

ClubSpark / All Stars / Actonians CC

DYNAMOS CRICKET

Dynamos Cricket provides a fantastic next step for all those graduating from All Stars Cricket and the perfect introduction for all 8-11 year-olds new to the sport. Complementing junior cricket, Dynamos provides children with a more social offer focused on developing fundamental movement skills and applying them in an exciting game of countdown cricket over an 8 week programme and is linked to The Hundred. Cost = £40.00.

Our sessions are on Monday evenings from 6.30pm to 7.30pm

June 5, 12, 19, 26; July 3, 10, 17, 25

ClubSpark / Dynamos / Course

SOCIAL EVENTS

Middlesex Player Evening – Tuesday 16^th May 2023

Junior Section BBQ – Sunday 21^st May 2023

Sunrisers Player evening – Friday 2^nd June 2023

Junior Section BBQ – Sunday 16^th July

End of Season Junior Festival – Sunday 3^rd September 2023

HOW IS THE CLUB RUN

The cricket club is run by a number of volunteers and we always welcome offers of help from all members. We hope that as part of the club you will feel able to get involved.

One such area we often need help in is the running of the games (such as scoring) which frees up the coach to manage the games to maximise the enjoyment and hopefully success of the players and ultimately the team. We are grateful to those parents who already help in this respect. Another area of support we need help with is administration – roles include Treasurer, Membership, and Data Protection – if you feel you would like to be involved please let me know.

All of our coaches are volunteers – the more volunteer qualified coaches we have the better quality of coaching we can offer. Formal training costs will be paid by the club for all coaching courses – all we ask in return is for some time helping out on a Sunday morning or at matches.