ECB Cricket Young Leaders Award

YLA Case Study Newent CC

The delivery of this award over the last 12 months in Gloucestershire has been very successful with around 100 new Young Leaders qualified across the County. These courses have been delivered in a number of ways. They have either been delivered during the cricket season at a club or durning the Spring at school. Below you will find a case study of a successful way of delivering the Young Leaders course:

County Board	Gloucestershire Cricket Board
Club / District / School	Newent Cricket Club / Leadon Vale Clubs
Number of young people involved	6 from the club (District programme)
Age range	14 to 16
Month of project	May 2011
Funding method	Private
Club Mark Status	Accredited
Author and Title	Chris Germaine - Coach

Background to the project.

Newent Cricket Club saw the need to get young players involved in the running of the club. Rather than get them to tidy up, which is something teenagers are generally not very good at, we thought it would be a good idea to get them involved in helping on a Friday night coaching the younger players. Many of the players that went on the YLA were 16 and had made the step from under 15 cricket to senior cricket and we wanted to keep them involved in the game and the club.

Having 3 Saturday, 1 Sunday and one evening league teams as well as an Under 17 team in the GYL, there is plenty of cricket for them to play. We have developed our under 11 programme and entered 2 teams into the Leadon Vale Youth League to accommodate the number of young player in this age group. With 3 coaches running this section it was obvious there were gaps in our provision and this was an obvious area for our young leaders to get involved.

What were the aims of the project? Why was the project needed in your club?

The project held at Newent was a district one, were Young Leaders from district clubs attended. We had people from Dymock, Redmarley, Corse & Staunton as well as Newent. The club want to develop younger age cricket at under 9 and under 11. As mentioned above we have expanded the provision for under 11 and in 2012 want to do the same for under 9 players. Without the development of our Young Leaders there is not chance we will be able to support the progress of the young players through the club.

As well as keeping them in the game and the club in the short term, the Young Leaders will be looking for employment or applying to University. The qualification and experience they will gain from this activity will be invaluable for their applications as will show prospective employers etc that they have applied themselves and given something back to the local community.

What impact has this had on your club?

Increased capacity to enable the club to move forward, especially in the areas mentioned above. A sense of self worth for the Young Leaders who are now putting back into the community. It will give them increased confidence in what they are doing both within the club and outside. It will show to the rest of the club that the youngsters are leading the way in the development of the club.

What support do you required from the GCB and its partners in the immediate future

Opportunities for the YL to progress to a UKCC Level 1 coaching course. Support for the YL to get coach development to enable them to move to he UKCC level 1 course. They need some sort of support structure in place to enable them to develop their skills, possibly through the GCBCA. If they are supported in their early years they are more likely to develop to complete the UKCC level 1 and then level 2 etc. If they are left unsupported they will give up.