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[richthekeeper]

At my club we have a bit of a dilemma at the moment.

Off the field, the club has a core group of stalwarts from the "young" 18-30 year olds who have a great social life to the oldies who turn up faithfully for every quiz, barbecue and tour event.

On the field though, we're starting to see a slight dip in the number of players we have available.

Our first team is strong and will be challenging for promotion this season, while the 2nd XI is a work in progress with a good group of hard working and enthusiastic (if not so gifted!) players. The 3rd XI is well run and contains a handful of promising youngsters and we usually manage to get a 4th XI and 2 sunday teams out as well.

The main problem is the youth set up. Last season's under 15s finished the season with only 8 players and the majority of last year's under 13s are still under 13 this season.

My question is how do we attract more young players into the club?

[Pitbull]

My old club runs open days and free training sessions during the season on Saturday mornings and invite all of he local schools to bring down some kids and get them involved in cricket and hopefully get them hooked. We tend to struggle to bridge the gap between 16/17 and getting them into 3rd XI cricket though, a lot of them seem to lose interest.

[legger123]

My little sunday village team are having the same dilemma. If I pass my Level 1 I was looking to sort out some free session for School Kids in the local schools, if it's a big hit, then I may put a small charge and all money I get will go to the club.

[richthekeeper]

see we find getting the young players into the 4th/3rd/Sunday teams actually reasonably easy. there were probably 5 or 6 under 15s players playing regular senior cricket last season. having so many senior sides makes this transition a smooth one, as the standard of 4th XI cricket is quite poor.

the problem is actually getting under 15s players in in the first place!

[Pitbull]

Yeah its tough, its more of a on-going project by getting them involved really young and them progressing through the age groups then the ranks. But contact with local schools is probably the best way.

I remember when I was at that age I had to play for the older age group quite often because we lacked in players but they definitely don't have that problem now and they run two U13 teams I think.

[legger123]

I have 3 school currently around me (primary schools) was thinking of giving them all a buzz just to see if any of the older kids would be interested in training sessions. Saw a primary school tournament at the end of last summer term, definately prospect for some of the players I saw.

[Pitbull]

Its definitely worth a try!

[legger123]

They're only small primary school, but i'm going to give it a go. Got the backing of the Club Captain too.
Also I'm sure that some players would be happy to help out.
The only problem I may have is the equipment!

[Pitbull]

You can apply for grants from sport England and local governments for equipment, that how my club did it anyway. Its ridiculous how much money they throw at you for coaching kids and getting them involved in sport!

[mattw]

I was one of those people who stopped playing cricket around the age of around 17. It's hard to explain why, but I didn't continue playing due to how long it was taking up and as I had been playing it from a young age I wanted to do other things on my saturdays and so on. However after a couple of years not playing I realised how much I missed playing. I think it's a hard thing to keep them playing around that age with the allure of many other things.

I'm not sure what would've kept me playing - possibly having good facilities, good training etc would've kept me playing but it's hard to say as especially around that age a lot of people are starting to go out to clubs/pubs etc and enjoying something new in their life.

[Pitbull]

Completely understand what you mean Matt I know so many people who just stopped at age group cricket, I'm nearly 21 but I was the opposite I just loved cricket far too much to not do it, can't imagine not playing. Suppose its because going to the cricket club on a Saturday with my step dad has been such a huge part of my life since I was about 3 years old so mine was just family influence really.

Specific winter nets for juniors is a key thing too, just to keep them interested and to improve them as players.

[mattw]

Yeah I agree, a lot of my friends also stopped playing at that point as well. I prefered playing football at that point as well. Obviously now I regret stopping at that age, however I didn't really know where to go next.

The step from junior to adult cricket wasn't really bridged by the club I played for, so a lot of us stopped playing because of that I guess as we didn't know what to do next. By the sounds of it your club seems to have it right in that sense (in my opinion), however I guess it becomes a bit of a step up from going to junior ranks to adult ranks.

[Pitbull]

Yeah unfortunately I'm not playing there this year as I'm away all summer but the coaches have really worked hard and got a cracking set up, considering how much its changed over the 10 years is remarkable. But its quite a close knit-family club so every body knows every body and the youngsters get their chance in the Sunday 2nd and 3rd XI games (where the standard is lower) and let them experience adult cricket.

[richthekeeper]

we had winter nets for juniors and they didn't turn up in great numbers. most of them play rugby or football as well so cricket is firmly "second sport".

[legger123]

We would like to do indoor nets for adults and for kids, but we as a club, just do not have the funds. Does anyone where we could may be get a grant or something?

This would very much help with setting up of the youth section and also with the continuing of the club thats been going for over a hundred years