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We are pleased to encourage youngsters to take up cricket and to develop their cricket skills. Like many teams we use the term 'Colts' to refer to our junior/youth cricket teams. In order to register with the club you need to complete a Junior Membership form. The Hunts County Cricket Board run colts cricket leagues in 2 year age bands and we organise our teams/squads to match these. These are based on age as at the previous 1st September and are organised as follows;- U9s This group is for boys in school years 3 and 4. They are managed by Simon Jones and play in the Hunts County U9 8 a-side league (Regional League South Division A). At this age they use plastic 'incrediballs' rather than proper cricket balls and don't have to wear pads, helmets etc. (They will need to wear gloves and a box when batting or wicket keeping if they are picked to play in matches.) The training is all about developing the basic skills required and we intend to make use of the national Kwik Cricket Award Scheme this year. We have a small number of places still available in our U9 squad. U11s This group is for boys in school years 5 and 6. We have entered 2 competitions for this age range this year. We have entered a team in the Hunts County U11 11 a-side league and another in the U11 8 a-side regional league (Regional League South Division B). The 11 a-side team is managed by Simon Pepper and the 8 a-side team by Paul Whitworth. We are pleased this year to have been able to offer additional training sessions for this age group on Monday evenings with the County U11 coach, Tom Russell. At this age children use real cricket balls (the smaller 4 ¾ ounce ones) and so need to use helmets, batting pads, gloves etc. Children can either bring their own equipment or can use the club's equipment. All boys need to have a box (abdo guard) to use at training sessions and matches. Unfortunately we are not able to accept any more children into this age range this year as all available places have been taken. U13s This group is for boys in school years 7 and 8. We have entered a team in the Hunts County U13 11 a-side league (Regional League South). The U13s are managed by Jerry Hyde. At this age children again use 4 ¾ ounce cricket balls and need to use helmets, batting pads, gloves etc. Children can either bring their own equipment or can use the club's equipment. All boys need to have a box (abdo guard) to use at training sessions and matches. Unfortunately we are not able to accept any more children into this age range this year as all available places have been taken. U15s This group is for boys in school years 9 and 10. We have entered a team in the Hunts U15 County League. The U15s are managed by Jon Bowland At this age children use full size 5 ½ ounce cricket balls and again need to use helmets, batting pads, gloves etc. Children can either bring their own equipment or can use the club's equipment. All boys need to have a box (abdo guard) to use at training sessions and matches. Some of the stronger U15's will normally get the chance to play in one or more of our mens teams at some stage in the season. We currently have a small number of places available in this age range. Contact Details Contact Details for the team managers can be found under the Contacts section of this website. Much of the administration for our junior teams is undertaken by our Club Welfare Officer, Louise Davies and her husband Peter (our Youth Development Officer). If you need any further information about our clubs junior policies then Louise or Pete may be your best first point of contact. If you are a manager of another club who wants to arrange/re-arrange a fixture then please contact the relevant team manager. Club Policies and Child Welfare The club has adopted a number of policies to try to make junior cricket as enjoyable as possible for all who want to take part. These include an Equity policy, a set of Junior Rules and a Code of Conduct for Parents and Supporters. The club takes child welfare very seriously and follows the guidelines and standards expected of it. This includes requiring CRB checks of team managers and relevant club officials. All senior players who's team may include junior players are also required to complete self-declaration forms. Clubmark The club was pleased to be one of the first clubs in our region to meet the standards required for it to become a 'Clubmark' accredited club. In order to achieve this (and in order to retain it) the club has to show that it has all the necessary policies and practices in place and is being well run. We undergo reassessment every 3 years. Training Sessions Indoor sessions take place indoors on Sunday mornings in February and March. The Outdoor sessions run from mid April until the end of July and take place on Friday evenings at the St Ivo Outdoor Centre. These start at 6pm and finish at 8pm. Children are expected to behave sensibly so as not to spoil the enjoyment of others. Chance to Shine Training courses Chance to Shine is a national scheme to encourage children to take part in cricket. Our club organises training courses in the Easter and Summer holidays on behalf of the scheme. These are normally led by Tom Russell (a county junior coach) and the costs are subsidised by the Hunts Cricket Board. The local co-ordinator for the scheme is Louise Davies and the details of these courses are distributed to our junior members and to other local clubs and schools. What's the difference between 11 a-side and 8 a-side cricket? 11 a-side cricket is much the same as mens cricket, once you're out you're out! Each team gets 1 innings and this normally comprises of 20 overs. There are rules about batsmen retiring if they score a certain number of runs when playing in U11 and U13 matches. 8 a-side cricket again normally comprises of one 20 over innings per team. When batting the team is grouped into 4 pairs and each pair bats for 5 overs. If a batsman is 'out' the batting team lose 5 runs but the batsmen is allowed to continue - he just has to swap ends so that he doesn't face the next ball. For U9 matches each innings is 12 overs long with each pair batting for 3 overs. How about girls teams? We don't have enough girl members to enter a separate girls team but girls are very welcome to come and join our teams. The league rules allow girls to deduct 2 years from their age when determining which age range they can play in. If I'm doing really well, will I get the chance to represent the county? Like other clubs, we get the chance to nominate youngsters for the county trials. These normally take place during the Autumn. Hunts Cricket Board run county representative teams at each of the age ranges. They also run district (i.e. the southern half of the County) teams at U11 and U9 age ranges. The club are pleased to have a number of players in these teams. Is there any cricket in the winter? The county usually organise indoor cricket leagues that run during the winter months. For indoor cricket teams normally comprise of 6 players. During last winter (2007/2008) work on the Huntingdon Leisure Centre meant that it wasn't possible to run these leagues. It's not yet known whether the leagues will run this coming winter. What happens when I'm too old to play in the Colts teams? Once you are in school years 11 or above then you are too old to play for the U15's. There is a fun 6 a-side tournament for U17's each summer but as well as that we'd want to encourage you to play for one of our men's teams. The Club has 4 Saturday teams in various leagues as well as a Sunday league team. If you are under 18 you still need to fill in a Junior Membership form as we need to ensure that we have your parent/guardians permission for you to play. I want to start playing colts cricket with St Ives, what do I do? If you want to join then please email our Club Welfare Officer or Youth Development Officer to see if we have vacancies at that age range. If we don't have any vacancies ourselves we may be able to put you in touch with other local teams that do. I would like to come and help with the Junior Training Sessions. If you are a parent and/or a cricketer who would be prepared to come along and help with our junior training sessions then please contact Peter or Louise Davies to volunteer your services.

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