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
In these difficult times we will always put everyone’s safety and wellbeing first. We are a Clubmark Club and we 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 AND MATCHES
Outdoor training is run from the middle of April through to the end of August every Sunday morning. Registration will be from 9.45am to 9.55am with an immediate start at 10.00am and will finish at 11.30am.
The sessions will be not be just on the technical side of the game i.e. nets but also aspects like “cricket fitness”; match awareness; sessions on aspects of the game like 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 – but most importantly the main aim of the sessions is that everyone is having fun and rounded cricket experience. We also use our 2nd 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.
Matches are mainly 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. All matches are 20/20 games - mid-week games are start at 6.00pm; Sunday games are in the mornings, starting at 10.00am. All the junior fixtures are on the website – www.oldactonianscricket.com
We are also an accredited club to run 2 national programmes primarily aimed at young players new to the game.
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 teaching them new skills.
We have 2 hourly groups on a Sunday morning: 10am to 10.50am and 11am to 11.50am
May 9, 16, 23, 30 June 6, 13, 20, 27
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.
Our sessions are on Monday evenings from 6.00pm to 7.30pm
June 7, 14, 21, 28; July 5, 12, 19, 26
SELECTION FOR GAMES/NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE
The age group lead will notify players through the club website by email if they have been selected for a game – 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.
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’.
SOCIAL EVENTS
We would normally run a series of social events including a number of BBQ’s during the season; at the moment those activities are subject to government guidance and are therefore on hold; as soon as we have any news on when we can start up again with those we will let everyone know.
HOW’S THE CLUB RUN
The cricket club is run by a number of volunteers and we always welcome offers of help from all members, and hope that as you feel 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 (except for the Seniors Coach) are volunteers – the more volunteer qualified coaches we have then the better quality of coaching we can offer. Formal training costs will be paid by the club for all coaching courses – all we ask back in return is for some time helping out on a Sunday morning or at matches.