Dear ##firstname##,
Please read the below fully. We hope that you and your families are all well have stayed safe during the lockdown period.
We recognise that It has been a particularly difficult time for those frustrated cricketers out there who have been desperate to come back to train and play. Let’s see if we can make that a little better for them and give them a great taste of cricket before things shut down for the season.
We are aiming to start our Junior training program (weather permitting) on;
Wednesday 22nd July at 6.30pm - 7.45pm for Girls training
Thursday 23rd July at 6.30pm -7.45pm for the Under 15’s
Friday 24th July at 6.30pm - 7.30pm for the Under 9’s
Friday 24th July at 6.30pm - 7.45pm for the Under 11’s and Under 13’s
All will take place at Bradfield CC Home Ground Heath Road Bradfield RG7 6HD
Cover 19 rules are changing on a regular basis. Since writing this email they have changed again so please bare with us as a club as we are trying to digest the new guidance as it comes in and amend things to keep the players (and the coaches) as safe as possible and operate within the rules allowed. This means performing health and safety risk assessments, isolation areas at training, sanitising stations, bubble groups and ensuring group size numbers are not exceeded to meet the new guidelines. Saying all that I’m sure you will be fully aware that keeping children completely socially distanced will be very difficult so hand sanitising will also be a priority at training sessions. We are entering a new normal and please remember our soul aim is to give the players the best taste of cricket we can and develop the technical, tactical and mental side of the game and have fun!
The first major change is we will have to pre record the numbers of children at the training sessions and cannot go over the numbers that the ECB have given for guidance. This will mean you will need to send confirmation of your attendance to the required session and then wait for confirmation before you arrive with the player. Players turning up without permission will have to be turned away. I know this may be difficult for some of you but we hope this measure is only in place for this season!
The maximum number per age group will be 15 and will be allocated on a first come first serve basis. Please contact Jim Wheeler at j.wheeler6@icloud.com to confirm your attendance at any of the sessions above. If you have completed an indoor registration form then no further forms will be necessary or any further payment required just confirmation that you will be attending. A register will then be made available at the start of the session to confirm attendance. If you suddenly can’t make it or your child is feeling unwell then please let us know so we can invite other players along as we would like as many to attend as possible. If you have not completed an indoor register or attended indoor then contact Jim Wheeler at j.wheeler6@icloud.com and he will arrange the correct paperwork to be sent.
When you arrive at training sessions it will be a drop and go policy for the next few weeks to avoid large groups gathering so bring your child over to be registered and then you can leave and come back at the appropriate time to collect. If you feel your child is showing symptoms of Covid 19 before the session then please follow the Governments advice and self isolate, if symptoms occur after one of the sessions (or a positive test) then please contact us asap so we can contact all other players in the training bubble.
We are also conscious that the season will be very truncated (as a result of the lockdown) and lots of players have been deprived of a quality training environment and competitive games so we are proposing a possible solution. Training normally stops at the end of July as people tend to be disappear on holiday. What we are proposing is conducting two weeks of summer camps in the middle of August with structured training during the first week and a half and then inter club games and external competitive matches for all age groups at the end of the two weeks. This then gives them the ability to bring all their skills they have learned together and give them the best chance of being competitive, more importantly we think this will give them the best taste of cricket at the end of the season to make them look forward to coming back next year. Added to that the cricket season looks like if will be extended at schools in September, as Rugby will be unlikely to be played due to full contact then this may help them record some better performances at school!
The summer camp will run from Monday 10th August till Friday 21st August at Bradfield Cricket Club, so 10 full days of cricket and will run as follows;
Under 9’s, Under 11’s and Girls - 10.30am till 1.00pm
Under 13’s, Under 15’s and older - 2.00pm till 4.30pm
The Summer Camp will be 10 days of highly focused yet fun cricket training, featuring technical (including video analysis), tactical and mental development of their game, with a series of internal and external games at the end of the second week to show what they have learned during the period. Followed by an award ceremony to reward the hard work that has been put in over the period. It’s a fun environment but we get a chance to spend lots of time in group work and individually working with the players on their bowling, batting and fielding, using different types of bowling machines to add fun and challenge even the most experienced players. The level of development over the summer camp is remarkable.
This gets more and more popular every year because of the results and confidence it gives to all the players who are involved in the process. However, we have lots of coaches available during the camp and we could do split sessions with older children coming to the morning session and making it more intense training for them. So if you can’t make the morning but can make the afternoon (or visa versa) then let us know and we will try and accommodate this as we don’t want players to miss out. If we feel the player could be stretched more outside their own group then we will speak to you first to see if that is possible. The camp lasts for 10 days but you don’t need to attend every session, just attend the sessions that fit for you.
The sessions cost £25 each and if you attend 5 sessions the cost will be reduced to £115 and if you attend all 10 then the cost will reduce down to £220. Please contact Jim Wheeler at j.wheeler6@icloud.com to confirm which sessions you would like to attend as soon as possible as places are limited to maximise the benefit for the players and to work with Covid 19 ECB guidelines.
Sorry for the long winded email but we want to do the best thing for the players and work within the correct guidelines for keeping everyone as safe as we can. Looking forward to hearing from you for confirmation of training and if you would like to book a place on the summer camp.
Kind Regards,
Jim Wheeler
Bradfield Cricket Club & Pangbourne & Whitchurch Juniors CC
The Pavilion | Heath Road | Bradfield Southend | Berkshire | RG7 6HD
e: j.wheeler6@icloud.com | t: 07810880810