Strategy 2018-2020 Excellence in Cricket Development
Chairman s Introduction Responding to the challenges in Cricket Unleashed, the game wide strategy for cricket in England and Wales, and complementing the Warwickshire County Cricket Club Strategy for 2017-2020, this latest up -date of the Warwickshire Cricket Board Strategy sets out our priorities for the next three years and at a high level what we plan to do to achieve them. Getting more people playing and involved with cricket and inspiring a new generation to take up the game will only be achieved if we have vibrant, sustainable and successful clubs and teams and that is at the heart of our strategy. We want to create a virtuous circle. Building on the hugely successful launch year for All Stars Cricket, the new ECB programme specifically targeted at 5 to 8 year old boys and girls, the Chance to Shine programmes in schools and Street Cricket, we want to ensure that as many of the young people in those schemes and programmes are enthused to continue playing and find their way into thriving youth sections in our clubs and teams. And then we must do everything we can to keep them involved into adulthood. Linking that to the ever increasing number of women and girls who want to play, and attracting and engaging more people from a South Asian background to play and participate in clubs and teams, we will offer improved and increased practical support to our affiliated clubs and teams, and we will work with them, and our local authority and other partners to develop improved and new facilities to support increased participation. Whilst we will continue to support and encourage more play in our existing affiliated clubs, teams and partner leagues, we will focus attention and resources in Coventry, Inner City and West Birmingham where interest in cricket has dwindled or it is not the sport of choice for many. The diagram below shows how our Strategic Priorities, what we call the four pillars (of success), link together with clubs and teams at the centre. With additional funding likely as a result of the recent ECB media deal, which will almost certainly require improved outcomes and increased outputs, and which may well lead to changes in our relationships with the ECB and other partners and stakeholders, our strategy needs to retain sufficient flexibility to be able to respond to whatever changes will be required in the next few years. Warwickshire Cricket Board is determined and fully committed, as Cricket Unleashed says, to put a bat and ball into more hands, create great teams and inspire new and existing fans. Mike Williams Warwickshire Cricket Board
Governance The activities of WCB will continue to be overseen and managed by the Board of Directors which meets bi-monthly. The Board will run an ongoing Risk Management register, monthly accounts, annual budgets and updated Stakeholder and Customer engagement and consultation strategies to ensure we are in the best possible shape to inspire a new generation to play. Our aim is to provide principled and strong governance to enable the staff to work with confidence and panache to deliver the aspirations in this Strategy. Directors Michael Williams, Chairman Danny Longhorne, Vice-Chairman Bobby Gupta, Financial Director Amil Khan Catherine Muth John Winspear Michael Hepburn Neena Dogra
The four over-lapping components of the Strategy 1. The development of great clubs and teams is at the centre of this Strategy 2. We will place huge emphasis on the More Play element of Cricket Unleashed and get thousands more children playing the game 3. Our aim is to make cricket a Game for All and in the period of this Strategy we will make a fundamental shift to provide more and better opportunities for female participants in particular 4. We will work with clubs, partners and Local Authorities to develop improved and new facilities to support the planned increases in participation The development of great clubs and teams We need strong clubs and teams to accommodate rises in participation. We shall seek to extend and develop the contact, advice and general support for clubs and we shall allocate significant more staffing time to them. Our efforts will be directed towards: Club youth competitions with continual review and analysis of the formats to attract, retain and develop young players in collaboration with ECB Coach Education and the qualification of approximately fifty new Level 2 coaches and 50 Coach Support Workers annually The fulfilment of the Clubmark process to ensure clubs are robust and well-managed
Youth coaching workshops for current club coaches and more input into club coaching nights with support from WCB CA Understanding of other funding opportunities and facility project development knowledge High levels of support for Safeguarding and Child Protection which will involve the appointment of a new County Welfare Officer to support the present incumbent Reward and recognition events for volunteers such as the OSCAs, WCB CA Coaching Awards and the Warwickshire Groundsman Association Awards Youth coaching workshops for current club coaches and more input into club coaching nights Adherence to the ECB s Get the Game on philosophy and the continuing engagement of league personnel in developing the best playing formats for attracting and retaining cricketers In terms of developing teams sometimes falling outside a club environment will see renewed efforts in the following areas: The provision of Indoor Leagues in Birmingham and Coventry with a will to innovate to raise participation. This will include open age leagues, Chance to Shine Young Adults Street leagues, Women s festivals Support to South Asian based leagues, particularly in terms of Local Authority liaison to lobby and protect their interests The running of and commitment to Warwickshire Access CC (Warwickshire s disability team) To develop a comprehensive needs-analysis for 100 affiliated clubs and open age teams More Play Youth Cricket Development We have a great opportunity to inspire tens of thousands of children to start playing cricket. We will specifically focus our attentions in the following key areas The ECB s Entry Level Programme for 5-8 year olds, All-Stars The school population and Chance to Shine South Asia Communities And our whole Strategy will be underpinned by a desire and philosophy of working to inspire all young people to play the game and to develop their potential with high quality coaching and the enthusiastic delivery of youth cricket by all involved, team managers, activators, volunteers, coaches, officials.
All Stars In 2017 Warwickshire had 49 clubs delivering All-Stars and we will look to increase this number in 2018, 19 and 20. We will work to create more All Stars opportunities in inner City areas of Birmingham and Coventry. This will mean exploring ways to make the programme more financially accessible in collaboration with ECB. Our aim will be to get 20-30 children on each course. In 2017 we have witnessed the development of some very well attended club centres such as Kings Heath, Wellesbourne, Claverdon and Warwick but there is clearly a need to support other clubs to get higher numbers of registrations in areas such as Coventry, North Warwickshire, Aston and Handsworth. We will work closely with clubs to assist their plans to maximise the opportunities presented by having lots of new children. We should be looking to qualify new coaches and develop more localised competitions for Under 8s and 9s. We will set up all girls centres in 2018 as pilots. WCB will promote All-Stars to clubs which did not register in 2017. It will be important to ensure there is an even distribution of centres so that All Stars is geographically accessible to all. We will also help set up All Stars Centres in Community settings in Birmingham and Coventry in venues such as leisure centres, facilities attached to places of worship and parks. To increase the number of participating All Stars children from 1309 in 2017 to 3,100 in 2018 through 84 Centres. This is in line with our agreement with ECB. School Cricket Offer We will work closely with Chance to Shine to deliver their new Primary Schools Play & Learn programme getting more schools access to more meaningful cricket programmes. We can reach huge numbers of pupils and get bats and balls into thousands of young hands!
We will also run our own Secondary Schools programme utilising potential grants and school affiliation fees. This will mostly be based around an improvement in competitions, both indoor and outdoor. Our aim will be to keep up the best traditions around long-standing local cup competitions whilst also offering matches to a wider market with modern, relevant formats. The schools offer needs to link into the strategic delivery of All Stars and there will be particular emphasis on targeting areas where All Stars centre registrations were low, such as Coventry, Bedworth, Nuneaton, North Warwickshire and inner city Birmingham. 132 Primary Schools to receive Chance to Shine coaching and 93 schools receiving roadshow visits Diverse Communities WCB will focus potential ECB revenue investment into providing youth coaching schemes in areas with high South Asian populations and Socio-Economic disadvantage in Birmingham. We will utilise the funding to create more participation and development pathways. There are some potentially excellent hubs where we can look to achieve this: Holford Drive Sports Hub/Broadway Academy in Aston Edgbaston Foundation Sports Ground (with Lord s Taverners Wicketz programme)/ss Cricket Centre in Cape Hill Waverley Academy, Belchers Lane/Saltley Leisure Centre in Bordesley Green Edgbaston Cricket Centre/local clubs near Balsall Heath We will strive to make this scheme accessible for Coventry too with a focus on inner City areas, Foleshill and the North-East corridor across the City. We will also continue to develop and promote workforce qualifications and ensure the funding opens opportunities to qualify new coaches and umpires. It will be a key aim of this Strategy to establish girls projects which are free to participants and run all year-round in partnership with Chance to Shine (Street). We will liaise closely with Warwickshire CCC and explore the potential for added value to help meet WCCC s Community aims and objectives in education and social cohesion.
We will also continue to commit to Excellence in Cricket Development with the following schemes and activities: Chance to Shine Street and the provision of free all year round coaching to children and young adults in areas of high socio-economic deprivation We will continue to support the Lord s Taverners Wicketz scheme in Cape Hill The provision of free all year round cricket and coaching to players with disabilities, primarily in partnership with the Lord s Taverners across five Centres Holiday coaching camps at Edgbaston Support for Warwickshire CCC initiatives to engage and inspire children to not only play but also attend domestic and international fixtures in particular with the provision of Player Appearance events. Specific focus will be on Birmingham Bears T20 and links to All Stars and the maximising of opportunities to inspire the next generation In the period of this Strategy we commit to the continuation of District Cricket based on the current four areas (Birmingham, Coventry, Warwick and Solihull) as our premier cricket product. This will support the County Club s Age Group programme. We will continue to seek to develop talented inner city players aged 16-24 with a renewed commitment to the ECB City Cup competition. To involve 2,500 Birmingham individuals from South Asia communities in cricket in line with our ECB agreement
Women s, Girls Development To ensure we create a step-change in the delivery of more and improved female cricket we will add dedicated female officer staffing resource to our structure. We will also train, develop and deploy more female coaches and activators. We will act with passion to ensure the engagement of strong role models for our diverse communities. Girls Cricket Development We will continue run Under 11 & 13 girls softball cricket festivals for clubs and look to increase the number of teams playing at these age groups. As a bridge between softball cricket and the Women s league we shall continue to run Under 15 hardball cricket for girls club teams but we shall add coaching and officiating resource to this competition in a bid to raise the standard and, in time, participation levels. We will also continue to run winter coaching hubs in the districts for girls aged 11-15 to help raise standards and facilitate hardball cricket development. We will seek to utilise high-quality coaches and role models. Women s Hardball We will support the Midlands Women s League to help establish West Midlands divisions of the league playing shorter formats in the lower divisions and offering an entry level standard. We need to see an increase in the number of Warwickshire club teams playing in this league. There is also an aim to start and consolidate annual indoor hub sessions for women, winter leagues and festivals. To increase the number of Warwickshire club teams in the Midlands Women s League from 5 in 2017 to 8 in 2020 50 + girls to be nominated for the Under 11s age County Trials in every year of the Strategy To grow the number of participating teams in the U11/13 Softball Festivals from 8 to 16
Women s Softball Festivals We will run a baseline of ten women s six a side softball festivals each summer throughout the period of this Strategy with the simple aim being to provide fun participation opportunities where they had simply previously not existed. Clubs will be encouraged to set up weekly sessions and the interest and momentum gained from the festivals will be utilised to raise participation levels in Women s club hard ball cricket. We will gauge interest in softball festival leagues. To increase the number of participating teams in 2017 (25) to 40 by 2020 (ECB target tbc) New & Improved Facilities WCB will write a detailed action plan targeting opportunities for investment into cricket facilities in clubs and community settings across the County. Areas of need will be identified by conducting an audit in late 2018 in conjunction with the local cricket leagues. It is anticipated that there will be various project needs but specifically more of the following, which we will be committed to supporting: A need to improve the provision of female changing facilities in clubs A desire to develop non-turf practice areas (nets) An on-going need for better machinery There will be an emphasis on maximising the opportunities presented to us by ECB Grant Aid and we will prioritise projects with potential to create new participation by the creation of new cricket grounds. There needs to be close collaboration with Local Authorities to offset the rationalisation the Councils will be making with their cricket maintenance programmes. The period of this Strategy will see the instalment of approximately ten ECB funded new Non Turf Pitches in Coventry and possibly fifteen in Birmingham. Hand in hand with this process will be the need for WCB to facilitate the right participation programmes and usages.
WCB will create a more active Groundsman Association and part of the audit process will pick up the names, experience, quality and qualifications of club groundsmen across the County with a view to offering targeted support. To produce a comprehensive database of Club Groundsmen to enable regular contact and support To ensure the club facility audit is collated To fully utilise the ECB Small Grants allocation annually
Bringing the Strategy to Life in communities around the County In order to make a difference for all aspects of the Strategy we will need to focus attention and resources in targeted areas and we commit to ensuring our work is for the whole of Warwickshire and not Birmingham-centric. Identified areas of need for cricket development for specific plans in this period are: Coventry, in particular Foleshill Inner City Birmingham, Aston, Sparkhill, Bordesley Green and Handsworth West Birmingham, Edgbaston, Cape Hill Nuneaton & Bedworth The Values underpinning the Strategy All of our work will be underpinned and driven by our team and organisational values To be transparent and open to scrutiny in all we do To value and aim for great team-work To strive to create a Game for All To show commitment and respect to volunteers and employees To strive for excellence in cricket development Working hand in hand with Warwickshire CCC we shall work with a commitment to the additional values of Passion, Respect, Innovation, Diversity & Excellence (PRIDE) in all we do.
WCB Staff General Manager Ed McCabe edmccabe@edgbaston.com Participation & Growth Andy Wyles andywyles@edgbaston.com Manager Cricket Development Danny Maskell dannymaskell@edgbaston.com Manager - Schools Cricket Development Eaton Gordon eatongordon@edgbaston.com Manager - Community Participation Office Manager Angela Durndell angeladurndell@edgbaston.com Cricket Development Alex Roslyn alexroslyn@edgbaston.com Officer All Stars Cricket Chris Kenny chriskenny@edgbaston.com Development Officer Women & Girls Cricket Nadia Bacciochi nadiabacciochi@edgbaston.com Development Officer Disability Cricket David Malcolm davidmalcolm@edgbaston.com Development Officer (Lord s Taverners) Diverse Communities Minahil Zahoor minahilzahoor@edgbaston.com Cricket Officer Cricket Development Andy Turnbull Andyturnbull@edgbaston.com Coach Cricket Development Zak Sinkinson zaksinkinson@edgbaston.com Coach Cricket Development Shozair Ali shozairali@edgbaston.com Coach Competitions Christine Phillips christinephillips@edgbaston.com Administrator (PT) Lord s Taverners Harry Kitchen Harry.kitchen@wccc.co.uk Wicketz Officer (PT) Warwickshire Cricket Board Edgbaston Stadium B5 7QU 0121 446 3637 0121 3691994 www.warwickshirecricketboard.co.uk
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