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Contents 5 MD’s Letter 7 The Save Grassroots Campaign We talk to David Crausby MP about the campaign 20 Sports First Aid Common Cricket injuries - part two 26 Cricket Coaching With Andrew Beaven Over rates and how to increase them 30 Grassroots Cricket News Harold Wood Cricket Club tell us about their recent 24 hour net marathon 34 Earn Money For Your Club With The Cricket Paper Earn commission on subscriptions
37 The Grassroots Groundsman 3G or not to 3G, that is the question. And what to do on your cricket square this month of course 42 Colin Smith Elvis has left the building, not before raising over a grand for charity! 47 The Secret Non-League Footballer TSFNL’s tips for the coming season 51 Club Security An idea to secure players valuables in changing rooms while they are playing 54 Twitter Directory 55 Blockshop 56 Sponsor A Local Club
Grassroot Media Contacts Twitter @grassrootmedia Facebook.com/grassrootmedia Office telephone number 0800 8 20 21 22 or 01992 27 44 27 Mathew Court’s email address mcourt@grassrootmedia.com No part of this magazine may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted without permission.
The MD’s Letter Hello and welcome to August’s magazine. It’s hot out there isn’t it? I hope your water bills aren’t too high with all the sprinklers that will be on around the country right now, although if they are then have another look at Colin Smith’s article last month on rain water harvesting. It’s something I’m going to look in to in a bit more detail in advance of the autumn.
We’ve also got the chance to heat things up a bit down in Westminster, you’ll find out more when you get to page seven but I really think the Save Grassroots campaign is a chance to get our politicians listening to US for a change. I travelled up to Bolton and had a good chat with the head of the campaign, David Crausby MP. The chat gave me an idea that we could run with: an equipment exchange between us all. So, if you’ve got any grounds, club or personal equipment, anything from boots to bats to pads to mower spare parts to goals then let me know and I’ll start a section in here advertising them. For those of you that are football clubs, good luck for the start of your season, I hope the hard work you’ve put in over the summer is paying off, and for the cricket clubs remember it’s always about how you finish the season!
I hope you enjoy this month’s magazine.
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Mat Court
We make money for football and cricket clubs by putting frames up in changing rooms, selling the space and then paying a rent for you letting us do it. It is easy, does not cost the clubs a penny and all you have to do is take a photo each month of the posters once you’ve changed them (we send them out in the post to you).
If you would like to find out more about what we do at Grassroot Media: Go to our website www.grassrootmedia.com Call 0800 8 20 21 22 or 01992 27 44 27 Email info@grassrootmedia.com Be part of the team...
David Crausby - An MP Campaigning For Grassroots Football Some of you may be aware of the ‘Save Grassroots’ campaign, others may not. We caught up with the man heading it up, a politician!
The ‘Save Grassroots’ campaign was originally launched over a year ago by the man we’re talking to today, and Kenny Saunders who runs a junior football club in Liverpool. They saw the vast amount of money being given to the Premier and the disparity between the elite game and the grassroots of the sport, especially the youth element of football.
The new campaign is already up to 7,500 signatures but there’s a long way to go to 100,000. I caught up with David Crausby MP in his constituency office in Bolton to find out why we should all get on board and sign the petition (which by the way you can access here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/peti tions/66835)...
So between them they started a petition with a view to getting the 100,000 signatures such a thing needs to trigger a debate about the subject in parliament. It didn’t make the 100k but nevertheless Crausby was able to secure a debate anyway and the decision was taken to relaunch the campaign in the run up to the general election next year.
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An MP trying to ‘save grassroots’
MAT COURT: What’s your personal background with regards to grassroots sports and grassroots football in particular? DAVID CRAUSBY MP: I’ve had a long-term interest in football and have been a fan for as long as I can remember. I played amateur football as a youngster and simply love the game. I’ve seen in recent years so many football pitches lost to development and removed, schools under pressure, and I just think it’s sad to see the grassroots game go down. Kenny Saunders, who runs kids football teams in Liverpool, approached me because he knew I had an interest in grassroots football; he made the point that every Saturday morning they are putting on football in Liverpool and scouts from the big professional clubs come down to try to watch every kid in Liverpool every opportunity they get. Then they pick out the cream and then forget the rest.
“...they take the cream away and treat them well but the rest have to carry on getting changed outdoors...”
They take the cream away and treat them very well, they give them very good facilities, great coaching but the rest of the kids have to carry on getting changed outdoors next to the pitch because they haven’t got any usable changing rooms and showers. That just doesn’t seem right to me, especially off the back of the fact that the Premier League are in the process of negotiating what amounts to a £5bn deal over three years. So it’s gone from there really.
“...I see how keen kids are...I see how good the people are that put on football...” I have a grandson who plays grassroots football so I’ll go and watch him and his team. I see how keen they are. I see how good the people are that put the football on and run the game, for nothing, just because they believe in the game in the same way that I do and I just think they need some help and support as they are not getting it from local authorities anymore. I understand why they are not getting that local authority support anymore; our own local authority has to save £60m over the next couple of years out an effective available budget of about £150m
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when you take out statutory requirements such as schools and other core services. Out of this £150m, over £100m of it is to look after vulnerable children and adults and obviously no one wants to cut these, so the cuts have to come from everywhere else. So we can see why the support from local authorities for grassroots football is lower than it used to be, and although they’ve not been perfect over the years we can’t blame them for where we are. That said, they’ve let go of too many pitches across the country to developers and not replaced them with artificial pitches elsewhere which would make a big difference.
So you think artificial pitches are the solution?
“...Artificial pitches cost a lot of money and this money isn’t coming from anywhere quickly...” I think the great thing about artificial pitches is they can get fully used to a high capacity. They are not as good as the old grass pitches in terms of play and feel,
there’s nothing better, it’s a proper football pitch, but I think the reality is that if you want to allow lots of people to play football then artificial pitches are a big part of the answer. The downside is they cost quite a bit of money and this money isn’t coming from anywhere quickly. But then you look around and see the £5bn deal with the Premier League. I’m not arguing for them for the reason of the national team performing better [Germany reportedly has ten times the amount of artificial pitches than the UK]. This is not why I think children should be playing grassroots football, but if we do have more kids playing football we will have a better national team, but as I said that’s not the reason I want better and more facilities.
“...Everybody has the fundamental right to play football...” I’m not in the business of finding all of the really good footballers then creaming them off and then forgetting about the rest. I think that everybody, especially children, should have the right to play football. A fundamental right,
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and our government should in some way deliver it. What governments does is take money from one group of people to give to other people, that’s it’s operation, it takes it from me and you in taxes to give to other people. So why don’t we take it from the Premier League? Now, I’m absolutely delighted that Harriet Harman has picked up on my idea today where the Labour party has come out with a policy where they will take money and put it in to the game. I don’t think they are thinking about taking enough though.
“...the Premier League said it would give 5% of its TV money, but it doesn’t deliver...” The Premier League said it would give 5% of its TV rights money but it doesn’t deliver. They never met their 5% commitment and even when they did make their version of 5% it wasn’t entirely spent on the grassroots, some of it went to the semi-professional game. Anything going in to football is good but I just think true grassroots football,
and the kids that don’t play football very well, are a completely different thing but massively important, not just to the kids themselves but to society because it does so much good. You mention a distinction between grassroots and semi-pro’ everyone seems to have different ideas on what ‘grassroots’ is. I work in a company that has grassroot in its name but even I’m not sure as to what my definition of it is. What’s your definition of grassroots? My view of it is based around this principle of every child should have the right to play. If they want to play, they should be able to. I think that’s the real grassroots, everybody playing, not just the more talented ones. I want children of every ability level to be able to play football, and enjoy it, and get fitter through it. So I see that as the real grassroots. I think other people might see the grassroots as the more talented grassroots that could be a benefit to professional clubs and England team, and I don’t decry that because it would be nice if we could win the World Cup, and there’s no reason why we can’t, but that’s not my version of grassroots.
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I think how your elite teams perform are just an indicator of the whole sport in general. Yes. I also hear this argument that it’s also the fault of the foreign players that have come in. It might be a bit but even with all of those foreign players in the Premier League, we still have the Championship which is as good, or even better, league than they have in a lot of the countries that we are competing against. If the Championship and Leagues 1 & 2 were full of good quality English players it wouldn’t matter that there were no English players in the Premier League as we’d still have a good pool of players to pick from. One of the things I’ve been saying is that it’s hard enough to get the kids off the couch from the X-Box on to the real thing. There is much more to distract kids these days so what we have to do is provide them with absolutely excellent facilities and we will get them off the couch, and that just seems to me a really good thing to do regardless of whether we get a better national side out of it or not. It’s a good thing for society to do. When you talk to people that run kids football clubs they do it for
nothing, they do a fantastic job and they’ll tell you all the time that it brings down youth crime and all sorts of beneficial things, they get misbehaving kids back on track, they connect kids that don’t feel connected and it makes them feel special. All through a little football club. Now you’ve brought up the issue of English players further down the professional leagues I’ll ask you about the FA. Obviously a big piece of recent news has been the proposal for the B Team league which came out of Greg Dyke’s England Commission, do you have any thoughts on that. I’ve got an interest in it, and have an opinion on it but I don’t think it will affect grassroots football. That said it doesn’t seem to have been met with much support. It didn’t sound like a really bad idea to me but the reality is that the professional game is a very different game to the amateur game.
“...the Premier League is there to make money...” 11
The Premier League is there to make money, and to a certain extent so is the Championship; I think the purpose of the Championship is for clubs to get in to the Premier League and then make money. It’s all about cash. With all due respect to the FA, in my view, they are just a little bit too close to the professional game. Their responsibility is to the game but I think they take far too much notice of the Premier League and other professional leagues which effectively fund them who are owned by billionaires from all over the world and who might not have the same interests in grassroots football.
“...with all due respect to the FA, in my view, they are just a little bit too close to the professional game...”
Your campaign shouldn’t need to happen should it? The money is there in the FA isn’t it? I met someone from the FA once and we talked about this issue. His line was “I think what you’re doing is fantastic, we’d love to be able to put more money in to grassroots but we have to be careful about what we say and do.”
“...the FA shouldn’t have to be careful about what they say and do, they should represent the game...” They shouldn’t have to be careful about what they say and do, they should represent the game. But in reality we live in a world that is dominated by big money so therefore we can see why they feel they need to be careful. But I don’t give a damn about whether professional football gets upset with me and that’s what I see as a good politician’s role; I don’t care where the money is, this is what I think is right and wrong. Politicians and the government should intervene on these sorts of things, but I don’t want government to get
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its hand on running the game, mainly because we would make a mess of it! Politicians and government organisations are not famous for running the most efficient of operations. But there are some things we need to intervene on, and of course some things government needs to run, such as the Police and the Army for example, but we don’t want to run football. We should be looking to put other people in the position of providing football.
“...what I want from this campaign is for the money to go right down to the grassroots...” We’re good at taxation, that’s what we do, that’s our job; we tax, hopefully take it from the right people and make sure it goes in the right direction and then let people who know what they are doing get on with it. I don’t want to run the game, I don’t want to be hands-on in any way, what I want out of this campaign is for the money to go right down to those
grassroots. If that’s through the Football Foundation fine, I think the Football Foundation does a really good job but I want to see the money in the hands of those people who turn out week in week out to put football on. I talked to a married couple who come out every Saturday morning to put football on. They run a Saturday league for children. They run their own club too. They are out there in all weathers putting football on. I’m not sure even they know why they do it, but they do. They operate a boot club because some of the kids can’t afford their own boots, the idea being that when a kid grows out of their boots they go to the club for children with smaller feet to have them. That’s a nice idea, I like it. Yes it’s a good idea but I don’t know about you, I never wanted to wear anybody else’s boots. It’s an absolute indictment of the game in this wealthy country of our that people have to do something like this in order to stop kids playing football in wellies. It’s shocking. But they do it and I want to see the money going right down to this kind of club, these kinds of people. These people and others like them
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across the country have to pay for their own training courses and I want to see the money going right to them. I don’t want to see this money going to some corporation and people in flashy offices, it needs to go to the grassroots. OK, let’s say the campaign is a success, you’ve got 100,000 signatures. You then take it to parliament. It then gets enacted and 5% of the £5bn Premier League TV money, £375m, is allocated to the grassroots game. How does that then get distributed and to whom?
There are 650 parliamentary constituencies in this country, about £1/2m per constituency.
“...in a town like Bolton it would be worth £1.5m...” In a town like Bolton with three constituencies within it, that’s about £1.5m. Not an absolute fortune but it would make such a difference to those clubs. Now I would allocate it locally through the local leagues who would then have the power to pass it on properly where it needs to go, to clubs. The allocation of money in this kind of way is always very difficult and needs to be
studied very carefully as some people will try and run off with it. But in the main the vast majority of volunteers out there won’t run off with it, instead they will spend it very, very wisely. We would have to keep an eye on it but not such a close eye that it costs more money to police than what you are distributing. I saw a recent case where a couple were prosecuted for taking a grant meant for their football club and then spent it on themselves, I think they were locked up because of it, but I believe they were found out because of other members or people associated with the club thought something was up. So I think publicising what each club has been allocated would make it self-policing, if the money isn’t being spent where it should be then other club member will have something to say about it. Yes, if we knew there was £1.5m available for grassroots football that has been put in the hands of the local Bolton leagues we would be able to tell very easily whether it’s been spent on the right things or not. But equally we don’t want to be telling people what they should be spending it on as long as it benefits grassroots.
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Going back to government, how has the campaign been received in Westminster? The response I’ve had from the present government has not been fantastic, they’ve been very defensive. When the original petition hit 10,000 we are meant to get a reply, and we got a reply at about 20,000 as they seemed very reluctant to answer. So I put down a number of written questions followed by an oral question which going to be along the lines of “you lot haven’t bloody answered” when surprise surprise at midnight the night before my oral question in the House was going to be asked I received an answer to the written questions. Just a coincidence. But I got an answer regardless and the answer was effectively saying the Football Foundation is doing ok, they put money in to the game and so on and that my campaign is not necessary.
never delivered so we need government to lean on them and say either you do it or we make you do it. I’d much rather they volunteered to do it, I don’t want the Inland Revenue to have to get involved as they’d likely miss half of it and will cost more to collect.
“...it’s in the interest of professional football to do this...” At the end of the day it’s in the absolute interest of professional football to do this. As I say, that’s not my motivation for this but the spin-off to them is enormous from what they will gain. There’ll be no need to buy the Carlos Tevez’s of this world and other multimillionaire footballs if there are more playing at grassroots.
“...the response from the current government has not been fantastic...” I’m not saying the Football Foundation is not doing something, what they do is very valuable but I don’t think it’s enough. The Premier League promised 5% and they’ve
David Crausby MP (right) with Kenny Saunders
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What’s the worst-case scenario if you don’t get 100,000 signatures? Well, last time we didn’t get 100,000 signatures but the petition won’t do anything itself, it’s an awareness tool and I think what the last petition and this petition have achieved is making people aware of the issue. When you talk to people about it they say, as you have this afternoon, that you agree, it’s difficult to argue against and that eventually that gets through to politicians and leadership of political parties.
“...clearly Labour has picked up my idea and noticed it...it can become law...” Clearly the Labour party leadership have picked up my idea and noticed it, and eventually if we put enough pressure on it will become law. Last time if it had got to 100,000 I would have got an automatic debate on it in Parliament. I applied for one anyway and got one, so I did a half hour adjournment debate, and I’ll just keep going with that. I’ll just keep going and we’ll just keep flagging it up.
It’s good that Labour is now at least consulting on adopting it as policy, I’ll contribute to the consultation trying to persuade other people to get in there. I’ll put down an early day motion and get lots of signatures and that makes politicians aware. What politicians are aware of most of all is most and they think people are going to vote for something they’ll get behind it. There must be over a million people in the UK playing football, that’s a lot of votes. Yes, and if you say to them here’s a choice of Premier League clubs paying a player £1/4m a week or some goals for a grassroots club, it’s a no-brainer. And it’s not just about kids. I’ve targeted it mainly at kids but it’s not just about kids. One mother said to me she had two sons and they were quite good footballers and were taken on my Manchester United when they were 13 or 14 years old. When they were 17 they were told they weren’t big enough or strong enough, that they weren’t going to develop so the club let them go. They haven’t played football since because in their area there are no pitches. They went from absolute football luxury to not being able to play, so there is that element as well.
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I’ve read a lot about the psychology of losing that chance of playing pro. If I remember right over 90% kids that go in to a professional academy don’t get a senior contract. And I’d imagine a massive chunk of those don’t play again because they lost their dream. The worrying aspect is clubs like Manchester City who are developing a fantastic set up around the club but bringing kids in from around the world at a young age, which is not exactly in the kids’ best interest is it? It seems to me that bringing a child in from Brazil at 14, no matter how much they are looked after they’d still be better off at home.
If George Best had stayed at home he’d have been in a better position with his family there.
“...clubs should be training local footballers, but if they are not there then they are not there to train...” Clubs should be training local footballers, but if they are not there to train because they haven’t played football then they are not
there are they. Aside from money, what are some of the issues facing grassroots clubs? I think land is an issue, and the value of it. There’s an increasing pressure on land particularly within cities and I think the government should intervene on that. It’s just too easy to say there’s a shortage of housing and we need to put some houses on any green spaces in a city as we don’t want to put them in the green belt. I think green land in the cities is as important as it is in the green belt, in some respects more so. So land is very important.
We’ve got nearly 300 clubs as part of our network, is there anything off the top of your head that you think our clubs could do for you? Sign the petition. Get their families to sign the petition. Get their players to sign the petition. Keep up the campaign. I’ll keep talking about it in the press and in parliament but you can’t really keep repeating yourself saying the same thing. We know that in the media you need a hook to hang things on and
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we just need to keep finding things to hang this issue on so that it’s on the front page of all the political leaderships going in to the next election, and we should be challenging them on what their policy is regarding this leading up to the election. A note from Mat... I enjoyed my talk with Mr Crausby more than I thought I would; I usually don’t have much time for politicians (and never really wanted to meet one) but the passion he has for this campaign is infectious. If I hadn’t already signed the petition I would have done it there and then. But he can’t talk to every single person to persuade them. We can... OK, maybe not personally, but we can help the campaign by not only signing it ourselves but transmitting the message through the multitude of communication routes we have available to us now. We’ve never been as connected as we are today through text messaging, emails, Twitter, Facebook, our own club websites and anything else that makes it easier for us to talk to each other.
Equally, as a society, we’ve never been as disenfranchised with politics as we are right now, I think mainly because we feel as though
decisions are taken that we don’t agree with or feel aren’t democratic. We live in the world’s oldest democracy but it doesn’t feel like it sometimes, whatever your political leanings. I think this is a chance for democracy to show it means business again and show the politicians what we think they should be doing. If enough of us get behind it they will because come May next year they will all be fighting for their political lives canvassing our votes. Wouldn’t it be great if all the main parties said “yep, we’ll do this”, they might even start listening to us on other things! This is a chance to actually change the way the political parties look at something so dear to a lot of our hearts. A chance for us to actually change something. And all we have to do is take a few seconds to sign this petition: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/peti tions/66835 Or retweet something from the @savegrassroots Twitter account.
Or put a news story up on our club’s website. Or a poster in the club window. We can make a difference on this one...
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Sports First Aid
Sophie Hoskins from Physical Sports First Aid continues her column on Sports First Aid. See more at www.physical-sports.co.uk
Common Cricket Injuries Part Two In the second part of this article on the causes, treatment and prevention of four of the most common injuries in club cricket, the focus is on finger and shoulder injuries.
the tip of the finger. The end of the finger is bent forward by the force causing it to hyper-flex resulting in a rupture of the tendon that straightens the end joint (known as the distal joint).
Finger Injuries
In addition to the symptoms of pain and swelling of the affected joint, when a mallet finger injury occurs the tip of the finger will be remain in a downward bent position and it won’t be possible to straighten it.
A cricketers fingers are particularly vulnerable to injuries such as broken bones and dislocations, sprains and strains to the finger joints. These injuries usually result from being hit by the cricket ball. Mallet Finger Mallet finger is a common injury in cricket caused by the ball hitting
Treatment for a Mallet Finger Injury It is not recommended that a mallet finger injury is treated at home, so (as with all of the types of finger injuries outlined in this article) it’s
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always necessary to seek medical attention. Delaying a visit to a doctor for any of these injuries could make the treatment more difficult and may lead to delayed recovery or permanent stiffness and loss of mobility in the injured finger joint.
“...delaying treatment may lead to permanent loss of mobility in the joint...” Treatment for a mallet finger injury will usually involve the splinting the finger in a straight position for up to two months using a specially designed mallet finger splint. Keeping the finger in this position allows the tendon insertion to reattach to the bone. Once the splint is removed the treatment will focus on exercises and therapy to straighten the finger and improve mobility. Finger Joint Dislocation
It’s relatively common for cricketers to sustain a dislocated finger and this type of injury normally happens as a result of the cricket ball striking the end of the finger. A joint dislocation is when a bone in the finger is moved
(dislocated) from its socket causing damage to the tissue around the joint.
“...it’s usually obvious when a finger has been dislocated as it won’t be in a normal position...” It’s usually obvious when a finger has been dislocated as it won’t be in a normal anatomical position: it may be bent at a strange angle or deformed. Common symptoms are intense pain, swelling and a loss of function in the finger. In severe cases symptoms may include tingling or numbness, or a break in the skin where the dislocation has occurred. In these cases the injured person should visit an emergency department as soon as possible. Treatment Dislocation
of
Finger
Joint
The swelling can be reduced immediately using an ice pack and by raising the injured hand above the level of the heart. It’s important to seek medical attention for a full diagnosis and correct treatment of
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this injury.
swelling is usually an indication of how severe the injury is.
The doctor will need to correct the position of the finger be realigning the dislocated bones. The PRICE protocol should be followed for the first few days after the injury. A splint, or buddy taping, will be used to support and protect the injured finger for 3-6 weeks. To help to reduce the chance of decreased mobility in the finger it’s important to carry out any exercises recommended by the doctor or physiotherapist. Finger Injury)
Sprain
(Volar
Plate
The most common cause of finger sprains in cricket is when the finger is forced to hyperextend backwards while catching the ball. The middle joint of the finger (known as the PIP joint) is most frequently sprained and this occurs when the volar plate ligament that keeps the joint in a normal stable position is damaged by the force of hyper-extension. This type of injury may also include an avulsion fracture where a fragment of bone is torn off at the ligament when the injury occurs. The symptoms of a sprain are pain and stiffness in the finger joint with a degree of swelling and in some cases bruising. The amount of
Treatment for Finger Sprains To treat this type of injury immediately follow the PRICE protocol. As soon as possible the injury should be assessed by a doctor who will decide on the appropriate course of treatment.
“... Cold therapy using can help reduce swelling and pain...” Cold therapy using finger cold packs and compressive bandaging using cohesive bandage can help to reduce the swelling and pain. The joint may be rested and supported using a splint in the initial phase of recovery, however, with this type of sprain it’s important to move the joint quickly after the period of immobilisation. Specific exercises for keeping the joint flexible will normally be recommended as part of the course of treatment. Buddy taping may also be recommended by the physiotherapist/doctor as it is a good way of protecting the finger while allowing a normal range of movement.
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Causes of shoulder injuries in cricket
Shoulder injuries are common in cricket due to the repeated action of bowling the ball and throwing and catching the ball while fielding. The most common shoulder injuries are those which affect the rotator cuff because the arm is repeatedly extended up over the head.
“... The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and their tendons that attach to the bones of the shoulder...” The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and their tendons that attach to the bones of the shoulder joint, enabling movement in the shoulder and keeping the joint stable. Rotator cuff tendonitis occurs when the tendons in the rotator cuff become irritated and swollen and this condition usually develops over time due to ‘wear and tear’ or repeated micro-trauma to the tendon. One of the rotator cuff tendons can also partially or fully tear from overuse or from sudden trauma, such as falling with the arm overhead.
Symptoms of rotator cuff injuries commonly include pain in the shoulder which may spread as far as the elbow and across the upper back, swelling of the shoulder area and restricted movement of the arm; the pain will often worsen when the arm is raised or when lying on the affected side.
“...full diagnosis of a rotator cuff injury should be carried out by a doctor...” The full diagnosis of a rotator cuff injury should be carried out by a doctor and may include the examination of the shoulder joint using one or more of the following tests: X-ray, MRI scan or ultrasound scan. Treating rotator cuff injuries The first phase of treatment for rotator cuff injury is normally the same as for other soft tissue injuries; rest the shoulder and avoid any activities that worsen the symptoms and apply ice packs to the shoulder 20 minutes at a time up to every two hours during the first few days. Taking some anti-inflammatory medication, such as ibuprofen, can
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help to reduce the swelling and pain.
The shoulder should be rested until it has started to heal, but doing gentle exercises as soon as it is comfortable enough to do so can help to reduce stiffness in the shoulder.
“...the GP may recommend physiotherapy treatment to build strength around the joint...” The GP may recommend physiotherapy treatment to gradually build strength around the joint and increase flexibility and movement. It may be necessary to wear a sling or shoulder support, or to have the shoulder taped by a physiotherapist. In severe cases where a tendon has been torn, or symptoms are persistent, the GP may recommend steroid injections, to reduce the swelling, or surgery, to repair the tear in the tendon. Preventing shoulder injuries
One of the most effective ways to prevent shoulder rotator cuff
injuries is to ensure that correct form and technique is consistently used during matches and training. Following an exercise programme leading up to and throughout the season which includes exercises for the whole shoulder complex can also help to improve the stability of the rotator cuff and reduce the risk of injury to the tendons. The programme should include exercises to build strength of the muscles surrounding the shoulder joint and stretches to improve flexibility. It is important to gradually increase the amount of competition and training, in particular bowling and fielding practice, so that the rotator cuff muscles aren’t overloaded and they have time to adapt to the increase in workload. It’s also important to rest properly between matches and training sessions.
“...It’s also important to rest properly between matches and training sessions...” 24
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Andrew Beaven
This month Andrew Beaven, Coach at Oakfield Parkonians Cricket Club in Barkingside, Essex gives us his thoughts on over rates!
Over Rates...Get On With It! All too often, as the over rate drops and the game drags, you will hear this cry from the stands, or the lone fielder stationed out on the boundary. England bowled their overs so slowly in the first Test against Sri Lanka that they probably missed the chance to start the summer with a win.
“...England bowled their overs so slowly in the first Test against Sri Lanka that they probably missed the chance of a win...�
Young players (and not-so-young players, brought up on 40- and 50over cricket), get bored when a time game meanders along. So too do more experienced "time" cricketers...but we have the responsibility to do something about this! I have railed against slow overrates before, without ever setting out what I thought needed to be done. Shouting "get on with it", whilst heart-felt, doesn't actually help! Fines for slow rates, or penalty runs, can really only be applied when the game is run by independent match officials. So - what can be done by the players to speed up the game?
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You could try running into fielding position between deliveries and overs, but I find this a little artificial, and ineffective, especially when one player (often the bowler, or the captain) doesn't keep up with the rest of the team. This just leads to frustration for the batsmen, the umpires, and the other fielders, as they wait for the late-comer(s).
“...running between overs can give the impression of a rapid over-rate, but there are better, more reliable methods...” Running between overs can give the impression of a rapid over-rate, but there are better, more reliable ways of keeping the game moving. Between deliveries
1. Have the bowler get straight back to his mark after he has bowled. Don't let him stand at the end of his follow-through, waiting for the ball to be returned - return the ball to the bowler only when he is at least half-way back to his mark. 2. Send the ball back around the inner ring of fielders. Short,
under-arm throws, from hand to hand, via the "designated polisher" if you have one. There is nothing more tedious (or time wasting) than having to run to retrieve a wayward throw. Make it easy for your team mates! 3. As captain, you need to field where you are close to his bowler. Unless you are a specialist slip catcher, get used to fielding at mid-off or mid-on, so you can talk to the bowler between deliveries as he walks back to his mark. No conversations in mid-pitch, please!
“...no conversations in mid-pitch please...” Between overs
1. Consider having a "mirror" field. At the end of the over, cover becomes mid-wicket, mid-off goes to square leg, etc. (and vice versa). We all notice when someone has to run from long-on to long-on between overs, but how often do we still see four or five players crossing the pitch between overs? Save the fielders' legs (and a few minutes in every hour, waiting for players to cross over). One caveat - if you do have only one
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fielder who can be relied on to hold the skied catch at long-on, then you will just have to wait for him to get there. Keep your specialists in position. And that includes the captain himself.
2. Get the ball to your new midoff or mid-on immediately the previous over finishes, and deliver the ball to the bowler at his mark. Have a fielder collect his cap and sweater and take them to the umpire. Don't watch the bowler walk all the way in to the stumps, have a chat with the umpire, then amble back to his mark...
“...save two seconds on each ball and you’ll fit in at least and extra over per hour...” Save just 2 seconds on each ball, 12 seconds per over, and 10 seconds between overs, and you will fit in (at least) an extra over each hour you can do the maths! Keep the game moving, and not only will you bowl your overs quicker, but you will make the batsmen feel as if you want to get on with the game, and get them out. Get on with it!
Looking for:
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Grassroots Cricket News One of our member clubs, Harold Wood Cricket Club in Essex, recently completed a 24 hour fundraising cricket net marathon! Read all about it here...
A group of cricketers from Harold Wood CC successfully completed a gruelling 24-hour net at the club from 8pm on Thursday 10th July to 8pm on Friday 11th July.
The reason for this challenge was to raise funds for new nets at the
club and improve the now ancient practice facilities, which have been at the club for several decades. The group of 14 started out hopefully on a glorious Thursday evening, but come the small hours the group had to deal with heavy
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rainfall and that along with the tough challenge it took its toll.
“...the boys started brightly and people were really bending their backs...” Tom Clarke Harold Wood CC Chairman, “It was a really tough task, the boys started off very brightly and people were really trying to bend their back at the start, but as the hours ticked by so did the enthusiasm wane. We must say a big thank you to everyone who came to support and helped keep our spirits up by bringing refreshments and even just dropping in to say well done.” “Of course we must also thank
everyone who has donated some money to the cause, the club is lucky to be in a beautiful park with a clubhouse which is only 5 years old, but the nets really let us down at the moment and with all the different teams we have, including boys, girls, adult men and women and also our disabled side, new nets will really make the park a great place to play cricket for the entire community.” The club’s new nets are estimated to cost approximately £30,000 with the club looking to raise at least 15% of that money themselves.
If you would like to donate to the cause then you can do so by going to www.justgiving.com/teams/hwcc2 4 or you can text HWCC £2/£5/£10 to 70070
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Earn Money For Your Club With The Cricket Paper We chat with Neil Wooding, Trade Marketing Manager of Greenways Publishing, the company behind The Cricket Paper As many of you will be aware April saw us bring on board The Cricket Paper as our newest changing room poster advertiser. The deal is a nice one as it not only brings money in to your clubs through the poster advertising, but the campaign itself is all about giving clubs the chance to make more money through The Cricket Paper’s new club affiliate scheme so it fits nicely with what Grassroot Media is all about.
I sat down for a chat with Neil Wooding from The Cricket Paper to let him explain how the affiliate scheme works and how it can make your club money... So, what’s it all about? We recognise that grassroots cricket club players, members and supporters are our readers and wanted to give something back to them in return for helping us grow our readership.
We wanted to do something new and we’re not aware of any other publication trying to work with sports clubs in the way we’ve come up with. Can you give us a little background on The Cricket Paper in case our readers aren’t familiar with it? The Cricket Paper is the UK’s number one selling cricket title. It’s all about covering cricket matches from around the world in unique depth. We cater for all cricket lovers, featuring more than 60 match reports in each weekly issue as well as round-ups from all 26 ECB county leagues and featureled interviews. How does the affiliate scheme work? We are giving clubs the chance to earn a commission on all subscriptions with The Cricket Paper .
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We’ve tried to make it as simple as possible – either download our manual order form or process orders on-line via Affiliate Future. To do it manually ‘offline’, download our form here. You can then collect orders and payments from individuals, deduct your club commission and return the form to us, along with a cheque made payable to The Cricket Paper Ltd, to the address provided on the form. The same commission rates apply whether you do it manually or via your website. To run the scheme on line follow these three simple steps: :
1. Sign up for a free Affiliate Future Account: here http://www.affiliatefuture.co.uk/ registration/affiliates.asp 2. Visit The Cricket Paper’s Affiliate programme either by finding us in the Affiliate Future Merchant Directory or by clicking here: http://afuk.affiliate.affiliatefutur e.co.uk/merchants/AddProgra mme.aspx?id=6278 3. Then click on “Get Link” and choose website banner/s to embed on your website. Once the banners are live on your
website, you can then start promoting to your members and supporters straight away and begin earning a minimum of 10% commission on all referred subscriptions. Commission increases to 15% on five or more subscription orders per month. Do you offer any help to clubs in terms of them promoting or marketing the opportunity? As well as investing in the changing room posters we are also keen to help you as much as possible. As I mentioned previously, we have the web banners & adverts that clubs can place on their websites, and we have also made posters and flyers available for clubs to download and print off, just click here: A3 Poster & A5 Flyer. And of course if you’ve got any other questions at all on the scheme then feel free to get in touch with us directly by emailing: subscriptions@thecricketpaper.com
If our football clubs are feeling a little left out have you got anything for them too? Yes - we have,. Our three football titles (as well as our other sports publications) will be running similar schemes soon. You can keep to date on the progress of the other titles’ schemes if you follow @GreenwaysP on Twitter.
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The Grassroots Groundsman Ian Avery gives us his thoughts on artificial football pitches and tells us what we need to be doing on our cricket squares this month.
Artificial Pitches = All Weather Pitches? Not Really... Football
Having just hosted a IOG course on artificial pitch maintenance I thought I’d talk about the use of artificial pitches in sport, especially football as Maidstone United have their ground just a few miles from me. As you go past you can see the pitch in use every evening, something which is impossible with natural turf during the winter. This obviously is a great funding stream for a local town club from hire and bar takings and the playing characteristics stay the same. However, there are drawbacks and many in sport believe (wrongly) that artificial
pitches are all-weather and nonmaintenance; nothing could be further from the truth. To maintain a 3G pitch in tip top condition one hour of maintenance for every 10 hours of use is needed. These pitches rely on a rubber crumb to keep the filaments upright and reduce possible damage and this infill gets moved around during usage and needs brushing back into position, especially around the goal mouths. As usage continues the infill becomes contaminated from such things as leaf rubbish dust and, yes, blood & skin. This needs to be removed with specialist equipment and the infill replaced in situ.
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There also needs to be strict control on footwear. Not long ago we had footballers wearing boots on our hockey-only pitch - the risk of damage not only to the pitch but to the players’ ankles etc.
Therefore as a club making a big decision on its pitch maintenance needs to be implemented from day one as does a system of control on access and usage. Also in some parts of this country you will be closing the pitch at times in the winter as snow and ice cannot be cleared easily. A frozen artificial pitch is dangerous and the fibres become very fragile.
“...a frozen artificial pitch is dangerous...” The other decision is how far up the footballing ladder your club is planning to go as only leagues below the conference level currently allow a home pitch that’s not natural. Premier league clubs in the main have hybrid pitches which are grass but have artificial fibres sown into the root zone and as the fibres are green give a natural green tinge even in the middle of the
winter.
“...only after a few more seasons will we know the effect of 3G pitches on player injury rates...” Only after a few more seasons and clubs laying 3G pitches will we know if injuries increase or decrease or just the nature of injuries change so the long term future of artificial pitches is unknown. However they will never disappear even if they are just used as a great training aid, and for hockey they are the permanent way forward.
“...for hockey artificial pitches are the permanent way forward...” These pitches also have a finite life span of around 10 to 15 years and with a replacement carpet in the region of £150,000 (new instillation including lights of £600,000) you need to keep the money rolling in and maintain it properly. No maintenance on a pitch could cut the life span down to five years.
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Cricket Now with the season entering the penultimate month the autumn renovations are looming and you need to sit down and programme the work and ordering of materials. I keep a diary of notes on each pitch now is the time to look back and recognise any issues also look at your square, check levels etc. If you have weeds and moss treat now before the season ends also if finance will stretch to it a low nitrogen feed with seaweed extract will give it a boost and help seed germination after the repairs.
If you have high points then hire in a spiker. In the autumn use a hollow tine and remove the cores, soak and then roll this to be done before seeding and spreading the top soil making sure of the levels. If you have recognised a major issue then now is the time to plan a way out of it if you have a problem which you’re struggling with I’m happy to advise on possible solutions. My email ianaceavery@hotmail.com
is
Looking for:
TROPHIES AWARDS MEDALS SHIELDS SALVERS And want 30-40% off RRP? And free engraving? And free centre caps? Go to grassroottrophies.com Or email Mat at Grassroot Media on mcourt@grassrootmedia.com
Colin Smith Colin Smith from Elvington & Tilmanstone Colliery Welfare Cricket Club continues his monthly column with more tips for our clubs.
Elvis Raises £1,100 For The Katie Piper Foundation And Eythorne Rovers I recently organized an Elvis themed fund raising event at my local club Tilmanstone Miners Welfare Institute, based in Lower Eythorne, near Dover in Kent. I am proud to say my event was a complete success and raised £900 for the Katie Piper Foundation, £200 for Eythorne Rovers Youth Football and Activity Club and we took a record bar take at the club. We actually beat the previous record bar take by £600, so yes we did have a merry evening.
seven months in the planning starting with booking the venue, organizing tickets and advertising the event locally.
Raising funds for good causes can be hard work but the rewards far outweigh the stress involved in putting on an event. My event was
[Advertising is all about results, and that’s a great result so the advertising must have been great! Mat Court]
Talking of advertising I think our MD at Grassroot Media, Mat Court, knows a lot more about this than me. My advertising consisted of putting up three posters local shops and at work. I ended up selling out the venue with a week to go. Just the 185 people attended – scary I know.
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Here’s a top tip: set the ticket price low. I charged just £5 for the Elvis event which ultimately meant I managed to have 185 people attending.
tickets on the night and had 22 donated prizes. The second prize was a new mountain bike, the third was a meal for two at the Abode (Michael Caine’s restaurant).
“...top tip: set the ticket price low...”
“...with a raffle you must have a star prize...”
Now as all good fund raisers know, once you have a crowd that is when you can really make your money. Not only via the bar takings but on the raffle. Another top tip: have a star prize and I would now go as far as saying pay for it. I had a holiday for two in September with flights and 4 star accommodation as first prize. I was lucky enough to have a local business donate the money to pay for this. This came to £400. This enabled me to sell the raffle tickets at £10 each for one number.
So you do the math as they say, donated prizes and £800 raffle receipts alone. In hindsight and next time I might try a £5 raffle and see if I make more money, but you must have that star prize i.e. the holiday.
Another top tip: do not sell any tickets before the night so all raffle prizes are won on the night in the room. This will help you sell them as £10 is a considerable purchase for one raffle ticket. My answer to this is announce the raffle early and explain that the first prize is not a packet of biscuits – it is a holiday for two and you could win it for a tenner. A no brainer as they say. Now some people still won’t have a go – just move on. I sold 80 raffle
On the night my holiday was won by a very kind man called Tony Condon who donated the prize to a family member called Mary and her husband Terry. I booked the holiday for them after the event through onthebeach.co.uk, who I can recommend, and I spoke to a very helpful young lady called Sophia. Being a fellow fundrasier Sophia gave me the best deal she could including a room upgrade for Mary and Terry for their chosen holiday of 5 nights in Rome. The reason Sophia gave me a good deal was I sent her a signed copy of Katie Piper’s book, Beautiful, for a fundraiser she was organising in
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her home town of Cheadle for Cancer Research. See us fundraisers have got to stick together and help each other out. Thanks Sophia. As I have said previously a great night was had by all. My work was not however finished after the night. I not only booked and paid for the holiday for Mary and Terry but I had to arrange for thank you letters for all the raffle donations and discounts I received along the way. This included companies such as Balloonarama and Partyarama for discounts on balloons, backdrops, invitations etc. I also have to deliver these letters from the Katie Piper Foundation to the many shops that donated prizes in the nearby city of Canterbury. This is all enjoyable work though and the glow of the success of the evening is still with me.
So go ahead organize an event but remember these Top Tips:
• Give yourself enough time to sell out the gig. • Book a good popular act with a local following. • Book a local suitable venue with a licensed bar. • Theme your evening. • Dress the venue accordingly. • Ask for discounts for invitations, balloons etc. • Get a star raffle prize donated and other good prizes ( not biscuits). • Only sell the raffle tickets on the night for either a £5 or a £10 to encourage people to buy. • Announce on the night several times the star prize which you might win for a fiver and tell them over and over it will be somebody in the room. • Have two sets or even two acts and draw the raffle at half time after the first set. • Don’t stress on the night – ENJOY IT YOURSELF. If you follow these top tips you cannot fail to have a great night of fun and raise lots of money. “Ladies and Gentlemen Elvis has left the building.” Colin Smith
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Looking for 40% off: TROPHIES AWARDS MEDALS SHIELDS? We have recently supplied trophies for the Gloucestershire Cricket Board Golf Day
Go to grassroottrophies.com Or email Mat at Grassroot Media on mcourt@grassrootmedia.com
The Secret Non-League Footballer Each month we print an article from the excellent Secret Footballer website – you can see more at www.thesecretfootballer.com
Key Signings Can Boost Gateshead Promotion Push
After tipping Cambridge United as the “dark horses” of the Conference last season, I hope I’m ideally placed to pick out the teams to get promoted this season. I have taken some time to look at
the clubs in the Conference and how they have strengthened their squads during the summer. Each year, the league becomes stronger and makes it even harder to get out of.
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I still believe the rules for automatic promotion should be changed. It baffles me to as why only one team can get promoted automatically.
they will certainly challenge.
Yet, above in League 2, it is three that go up with an extra team in the play-offs. It doesn’t make sense.
He scored 45 goals in two seasons previously at the club before moving on to Luton Town, where he gained promotion to the Football League.
This needs to change. Rant over … on to my predictions. I feel the two favourites for promotion are Gateshead and Forest Green Rovers. With Gateshead’s dreadful start to last season, if only Gary Mills had been manager from the start of the campaign. I’m sure, then, they would have been close to automatic promotion.
“...they went on a strong run and reached the play-off final at Wembley...”
Looking at the signings that Mills has made, the one that stands out for me is Jon Shaw.
The other stand-out player is Alex Rodman. The winger was at Grimsby Town last season but turned down a new deal. A friend of mine informed me that Rodman had agreed a deal at Scottish Championship side Hibernian and had signed the player’s agreement form only to receive an email saying that he was no longer wanted and would not be joining the club. I believe he is in talks with the club over taking this to court as he is legally allowed due to the contractual agreement between the club and player.
Nevertheless, they went on a strong run and reached the play-off final at Wembley, only to be defeated by Cambridge.
However, with his addition, I fancy Gateshead to upset a few people next season.
With Gateshead making seven key summer signings, I believe that
With Forest Green’s constant and generous input of money from
Web: thesecretfootballer.com Twitter: @tsfnonleague Facebook: /TSFootballer
multimillionaire owner Dale Vince, maybe this is third time lucky for the Gloucestershire club.
“...maybe this is third time lucky for the Gloucestershire club...” They certainly aren’t shy when it comes to opening the cheque book and recruiting players. With the big budget that they have, they have enticed a lot of big-name players – Lee Hughes, Luke Rogers and Jon Parkin, to name a few. Manager Ady Pennock clearly is an ambitious and loyal man after opting to stick with Forest Green when he was offered a job as a coach at Crystal Palace, when his pal Tony Pulis called him last year. This demonstrates the vision that he has for his club and players. He has a huge playing budget but it has been shown in the last two years that money doesn’t necessarily buy you success.
Forest Green struggled under former boss Dave Hockaday but, with some strong and influential signings this summer, I predict that they will ultimately be successful.
The team has a wealth of experience and big names in the dressing-room so I’m confident that they will be up there.
“...my dark horse team for next season is FC Halifax Town...” My dark horse team for next season is FC Halifax Town. OK, maybe they shouldn’t sneak into the category of dark horses as they reached the play-offs last season. Nonetheless, they are a part-time team who are still looking to develop their squad and club after re-entering the Conference in the past few years. With top scorer Lee Gregory departing for Millwall, some may say that Halifax will struggle after losing the striker who notched 31 goals last season. However, I firmly feel that Halifax will continue to strengthen, with a few astute signings from manager Neil Aspin during the closeseason. You can download the TSF app for iOS and Android.
Web: thesecretfootballer.com Twitter: @tsfnonleague Facebook: /TSFootballer
Club Security After searching for a while I’ve found a company that offers not too expensive safes - the idea is that safes inside changing rooms could prevent a lot of thefts.
Has Your Club Been Victim Of Valuables Theft? Players know they should take as much care of their valuables as possible, but sometimes people forget leaving wallets and car keys in trouser pockets, not locking the changing room door, or leaving the valuables bag near the pitch within easy reach of passers by.
“...I’ve played in a few games where things have gone missing from changing rooms...” I've played in at least a few games where people have had things stolen from inside the changing room and I reckon it's a common occurrence across the country.
I've even read stories during 2014's cricket pre-season of players turning up for a trial, claiming to have to leave early and then making off with a player's car and several wallets. While we can't do much about that form of crime from here at Grassroot Towers, we think we have come up with something that could help with the issue of opportunistic thieves going in to changing rooms while the game is on looking for something that isn't theirs... Safes...
“I’ve never seen a safe at a club I’ve played at and I wondered why...” 51
I've played at many football and cricket clubs and never seen a safe and I'm not sure why as it seems a relatively simple thing to install to prevent crime.
From the research I've done it seems as though the price is good on what they are offering.
“...As with everything, shop around, perhaps on your local high street, to compare prices...”
“...Maybe it's because keys get lost, maybe it's because it's expensive, as I said I don't know. ...” Maybe it's because keys get lost, maybe it's because it's expensive, as I said I don't know. But, if it's the latter then I've found a company that is willing to help reduce the cost of small safes for clubs to put up in their changing rooms: Simply Safes (you've guessed it, they specialise in safes). They've got together a special deal to get more safes inside club changing rooms - and by the way we aren't making any money out of this, we're promoting them because it's a good idea and I think it’s a good deal that we have negotiated for you. Each month we'll be running an ad for them, this month’s is on the next page, so don't worry about keeping hold of this so that you've got their details.
But of course it’s always a good idea to shop around, perhaps on your local high street, to compare prices.
They come with everything you need to put them on the wall, the only thing you'll have to worry about is making sure the keys are kept safe! (Although if you lose them Simply Safes can supply replacements on models). Keep Safe... Actually while I’ve got you, if you are thinking of getting some safes but don’t like these ones advertised, whatever you do don’t get a digital hotel-style safe, they are incredibly easy to break in to; I’ve done it. Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies...
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Twitter Directory Birmingham County FA: @birminghamfa Bosham FC: @boshamfc Bronze CC: @bronzecc Clifton CC: @cliftoncricket Clifton CC ground: @cliftonccdevt Crawley Down Gatwick Football Club: @officialcdgfc Epping CC: @eppingcc Gateshead Fell CC: @gatesheadfellcc Hailsham Cricket Club: @hailshamcc Lodway CC: @lodwaycc Marsden CC: @cuckooscricket Old Parkonians Association: @oldparks Old Parkonians FC: @oldparksfc Parkfield Amateur AFC: @parkfieldafc Rotherfield FC: @rfc1983 South Loughton CC: @southloughtoncc Southgate Compton CC: @sccricketclub Stapleton CC: @stapletoncc Steeple Langford CC: @steeplelangford Sussex County FA: @sussexcountyfa Thaxted CC: @thaxtedcc Tynedale CC: @tynedalecc Westinghouse CC: @westinghousecc Whickham CC: @whickhamcc Winterbourne CC: @winterbournecc Woodnesborough FC: @woodiesfc Worlington CC: @worlingtoncc Worthing CC: @worthingcc Worthing FC @worthing_fc
List your club’s Twitter account in here so everyone else can get following you. Only those clubs that are members of the network like yours are allowed on this list. To get listed just drop Mat a note at mcourt@grassrootmedia .com or on Twitter @grassrootmedia Grassroot Media recommends: @birminghamfa @fvhtweets @sussexcountyfa @meadonscricket @4grants @chance2shine @vscricketsn
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Help players look after their skin while making money for your club We’ve found out about a new entrant to the sun block market, called Block Shop – and they’re keen to be stocked in your clubs – and you can make money out of it
I came across a company called Block Shop on LinkedIn – if you’re not on LinkedIn I’d recommend it, especially if you’re involved on the coaching side of things, yes there’s a lot of rubbish but every now and then you see something that’s incredibly useful. But I digress. I ended up having a chat with a new company called Block Shop about their zinc sun block and whether we could get it stocked in some of our clubs. Well James was already ahead of me and had already got the product in a few cricket clubs and the model was working well.
We all know the damage the sun can do to our and our kids’ skin, and it should work well being stocked behind your bars or elsewhere in your clubhouse; I remember constantly having to borrow other people’s when I’d forgotten to pick some up on the way to a match.
So I’ve agreed to promote the product to you, our clubs.
You can see a bit more detail on the page advert we’ve put in towards the front of the magazine, but you can always take a look at their website here: www.blockshop.co.uk or drop James an email on james@blockshop.co.uk or give him a call on 07900338863. They are also on Twitter @blockshop01
Being mostly blokes we are mostly pretty rubbish at remembering to buy things, especially products like sun block so I think that clubs stocking this is very much making the right product available to the right people at the right time.
The deal for you guys is quite simple, if you want to stock the product, you buy it at £2.50 per tub and then sell it to your players at the RRP of £5.95, or whatever other price you want.
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Use grassrootmedia.com to showcase your sponsorship opportunities A quick update on an idea I’ve had to help you sell sponsorship and advertising in your clubs to local firms. I’ve imaginatively called it ‘Sponsor A Local Club’...
Just another quick reminder on the “Sponsor A Local Club” page on the website we launched last month. We’ve got a few opportunities up on there but space for plenty more. What we’re trying to do is build up a portfolio of sponsorable opportunities that businesses can have a look through and hopefully find something they want to buy. I’ve no idea if it’s going to work but it feels like a good idea. I don’t want Grassroot Media to make anything out of it and all we’ll do is effectively put the idea in the shop window and then market the shop window. You guys will still need to talk directly with the companies that show an interest but my plan is that if we can get plenty of ideas on there I can go to organisations such as the Federation of Small Businesses, the Chamber of Commerce and other small business organisations and try to
get them spreading among their members.
the
word
So if you want to get your club listed up on there just drop me a line with what you want (try to keep it as short/punchy as possible) and one or two images and we’ll get you listed. We’ll never charge for it and will never look to take a cut of anything you end up selling off the back of it - that’s not what this is about. Instead it’s about promoting the fact that small businesses can really benefit from getting involved commercially with the one of the most important hubs of their local community, their sports clubs. If you’ve got any questions/comments/concerns please give me a shout in the usual way, you can see the page itself here: http://www.grassrootmedia.com/s ponsor-a-local-club
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Looking for 40% off: TROPHIES AWARDS MEDALS SHIELDS? We have recently supplied trophies for the Gloucestershire Cricket Board Golf Day
Go to grassroottrophies.com Or email Mat at Grassroot Media on mcourt@grassrootmedia.com