Glenrothes Cricket Club Junior Section
Glenrothes Cricket Club restarted its junior section in season 2006 where children from the age of 5 are given the opportunity to participate in the sport of cricket. with the appointment of Willie Morrison to Youth Convenor. Towards the end of that same year Willie, Greig and Robert sat their level 1 Cricket Scotland coaching certificates and successfully passed. ,
A youth development plan was formalised and this was in turn signed off by Cricket Scotland to allow us to be approved under their TopClub scheme.
The aim for the 2007 season was to kick-off the links between the club and the local primary schools, with 10 schools programmed this was the beginning. We hope that we will send qualified coaches to the primary schools to teach children the basics of the game every year and hopefully that progamme will see the numbers of juniors attending training nights at the club increase year on year. With continuing pressures of work Willie, Greig and Robert could not commit to ongoing coaching and Past President Geoff Sampson took on the Role of Youth Convenor for the 2008 season. In order to undertake this role he committed to going on the 1st aid course and also a 3 week level 1 coaching course at Jordanhill in Glasgow commencing at the begining of February 2008. Last years 1st X1 captain Ian Dale already a level 1 coach has also confirmed he would like to assist in coaching this year.
Glenrothes Cricket Club are committed to the TOPClub scheme run by Cricket Scotland for developing junior activity within the sport.
The first step on the TOPClub journey is to create a vibrant junior game which will ultimately support senior club cricket in the future. Cricket Scotland believe the TOPClub programme will help modernise the club network in Scotland and create a dynamic junior game. Scotland’s sports clubs face more challenges in the 21st century, with advances in technology and changing social trends leading to less active children. Changes to working patterns have affected numbers of volunteers and the time they have available, and legislative change has placed the onus on clubs to adopt child protection and equity policies.
TOPClub will help clubs meet these challenges head-on and, through their local Development Manager and the national development team, clubs will be given the support required to be successful in today’s challenging environment.
TOPClub will provide accreditation on key elements of club operations, making clubs more attractive to parents, children, local authorities and funding agencies. It will also help clubs to develop their core cricketing activities, which is where the most tangible benefits will be seen.
TOPClub has been designed to help all clubs fulfil their potential, irrespective of size and I would commend it to all clubs as an essential part of their development.
TOPClub is a graded development programme which provides accreditation over five award levels. Clubs can progress through the system by achieving minimum standards against pre-set criteria for each level.
The first two levels focus heavily on developing policies and procedures, to establish a club’s ability to offer a safe, effective, child-friendly environment. These levels also contain elements which lay foundations for improved structures and processes, which will help clubs to progress more rapidly in the ‘medal’ stages.
Once ‘Approved’ status has been achieved at level 2, clubs will progress towards the appropriate award in levels 3-5, which focus on improving sport-specific structures,pathways and people, while continuing to maintain and improve on quality standards achieved in the early levels.
Training for all juniors is held on Monday night from from late April onwards to the end of August. These sessions start at 6.30pm and progress through until 8pm. Boys and girls from the age of 5 and upwards are welcome to attend these sessions. Each coach is a fully qualifiedand has been through Police disclosure procedures, a child protection course and a first aid course.
Kwik cricket is an introductory form of cricket played with Kwik cricket balls (soft) and plastic bats and wickets. Our Kwik cricket team attend Kwik cricket festivals throughout the summer (usually on sunday mornings) hosted by us and other clubs in the Fife area.
Interested? Then send us an email or come along to one of our junior training evenings and give it a go.
