The Grassroot Magazine February 2014 by Grassroot Media

Contents 5 MD’s Letter 9 JMN Sports Exclusive football deals for member clubs 10 Environmental Sustainability For Clubs Andy Carmichael from www.sustainablecricket.com writes about how being sustainable can benefit clubs in more ways than one 12 The Grassroot Cricket & Football Groundsman Ian Avery talks us through what can be done on the cricket square and now football pitch too this month 15 Cricket Club Corner Nick Begy from Oakham Cricket Club 17 ESU Scoreboards Scoreboard offers for member clubs 18 Player Fitness with Isaiah Barratt Isaiah looks at coming up with a fitness programme for footballers but also transfer to cricketers 21 Owzat Insurance Cricket club insurance from Owzat Insurance - peace of mind guaranteed 22 Sports Psychology with David Harrison Get some tips to change the way you think about the game – this month mental imagery and rehearsal 25 Twitter Directory See which clubs are where on Twitter – if you’d like to be added talk to Mat Court 26 Grassroot Trophies A new launch from Grassroot giving clubs great deals on those usually expensive awards & trophies – our range comes in at over 30% off RRP with free engraving included

27 Sponsor A Local Club A new idea from us to help clubs get more coverage and awareness for their sponsorship opportunities from local businesses 27 Club Funding News A new section each month giving you info on fundraising schemes we’ve found out about 32 Match Minutes FC A great (and free) app that helps you tweet live updates on your club’s games. 32 Alpha Bet A new risk-free way for your club to make money out of being an agent for a brand new book maker 32 Flooding A piece showing you what went on over here during the recent flooding 36 Cricket Coaching with Andrew Beaven Andrew tells us what we need to know about winter nets and how we can make the more effective 42 Grassroot Teamwear If your cricket club is looking for new playing shirts you probably won’t be able to find them this cheap anywhere else 45 VS Cricket A great new cricketing social media tool for clubs, players, members and fans 47 Colin Smith Colin is back to give you details on some interesting loopholes/ideas – this time it’s all about his experiences running events – some great top tips! 50 easyfundraising.org Easy & cost-free way to raise club funds

Grassroot Media Contacts Twitter @grassrootmedia Facebook.com/grassrootmedia LinkedIn search for Matthew Court Office telephone number 0800 8 20 21 22 or 01992 27 44 27 Mathew Court’s email address mcourt@grassrootmedia.com

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 youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve changed them (we send them out in the post to you).

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The MD’s Letter Water, water everywhere. That seems to have been the story over the last few weeks and it also takes up a large chunk of the magazine this month.

First off I have to say my thoughts are with everyone who has been affected at all by the flooding across the country. There doesn’t seem to be a region that’s not been hit in some way shape or form and there are some truly awful tales and photo’s doing the rounds. It’s obviously sad when a club or business is hit but nothing compared to what people who have had their homes flooded have been through, or are still going through. In this month’s issue we’ve got some shameless plugs for our new trophy service. We’ve done a few quotes for clubs already and the savings are pretty good with the range coming in at over 30% off RRP so hopefully you can see why I’m trying to get the message out to people about it. Editorially we’ve got some great content from the Secret Non-League Footballer, a very relevant piece on sustainable sports clubs, a couple of new fundraising ideas to kick off a new club fundraising news section and plenty more from our regular contributors. I especially like David’s piece on mental imagery and Isaiah’s article on planning a fitness programme. And Colin Smith gives us some more great tips on how to run events.

Happy reading,

Mat Court - MD

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

Boyd buoyed after ‘failed’ medical

As luck goes, George Boyd was undoubtedly short of it when he failed a medical in January 2013 and his proposed move from Peterborough United to Nottingham Forest fell through due to an inconclusive eye test. OK, people within the game are fully aware that this “inconclusive eye test” was more down to politics

behind closed doors at Forest. The phrase “utter bullshit” is what springs readily to mind. Subsequently, the deal collapsed, as the then Forest manager Alex McLeish wanted to sign the player but the board pulled the plug and didn’t back their gaffer. Heartbreaking for any player. Boyd had to return to his parent club, devastated, embarrassed and now labelled with a dodgy eye, contrary to his fine form in front of goal.

“... People say that things happen for a reason – in this case, for the better...”

People say that things happen for a reason – in this case, for the better. Boyd later signed on loan with Hull City for the remainder of the season and he helped the club earn promotion back to the Premier League. He then joined them on a permanent basis and is enjoying himself in the Premier, having previously played in nonleague. Maybe the medical that he “failed” was a blessing in disguise.

As medicals go, they all depend on what the physiotherpist at that specific club is like. I have had three medicals in my career. One of them was pretty much non-existent. In fact, the physio performed a few movements with my legs, which looked somewhat robotic, then winked at me and said: “You’ve passed, mate! Go get the paperwork signed.” On the other hand, I was at one club where it didn’t go so smoothly. I had agreed personal terms and entered the physio’s room to undergo the medical when, halfway through his examination, he left the room without saying anything and returned ten minutes later with the manager.

“... I began to sink into a shell and had heart palpitations...” I won’t forget the feeling when they both came in. I began to sink into a shell and had heart palpitations; I knew that they were about to give me bad news. The physio had diagnosed my hernia slightly out of place and said that I would require surgery. Therefore, under his rules, I didn’t pass the medical. The cost of an operation was out of their budget so I left the club feeling deflated. Nightmare. Not every club in non-league have medicals but, when a player is brought in to sign, generally the bigger clubs perform these examinations – especially when they are securing a player on a longer contract or if there has been a transfer fee for him.

I know one particular club in nonleague that signed a well-known and experienced player. And this player used his experience extremely well. He was drafted in on a long-term contract on big wages and he passed his medical.

Web: thesecretfootballer.com Twitter: @tsfnonleague Facebook: /TSFootballer

However, he was fully aware that he had an existing injury, which had prevented him from playing in the past and was, in fact, career threatening.

“...It was rumoured the player had an injection beforehand, to pass the medical...” It didn’t stop him signing his contract … and he went on to make not one appearance for the club! It was rumoured that the player had had an injection beforehand, in order to pass the medical, which he did. However, this wasn’t acknowledged until further down the line when he required surgery after specialists had confirmed the previous damage. He had been caught out but with no evidence, just an indication and hint from the medical team when they finally put two and two together. It was later established that the player had signed the paperwork before any medical was undertaken; therefore, he had done no wrong. Other than conning a big club for a big contract. Web: thesecretfootballer.com Twitter: @tsfnonleague

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

Why Is Sustainability Relevant? Andy Carmichael from www.sustainablecricket.com gives us more food for thought on sustainability and grassroots sport.

In the last 45 years every region of the UK has witnessed increased heavy precipitation as a proportion of winter rainfall, whereas in summer it has decreased for all regions except North East England and North Scotland (UKCIP 2011). Extremes of weather increase the likelihood of flooding and drought. Rising populations and developing nations demand greater volumes of fossil fuels and the ease and safety of extracting them can be difficult to ensure. Between now and 2037 the UK population is projected to grow by 9.6 million (Office for National Statistics 2012). As UK owned oil and gas resources decline there will be greater pressure on UK consumers from rising and more volatile prices (DECC 2010). The need to adapt the way energy is considered and utilised is evident.

Yet the UK consumption of fossil fuels has increased from 147.5 million tonnes of oil equivalent (mtoes) in 1990 to 155.0 mtoes in 2008 (ONS 2011). Resources are under pressure in ways never before experienced. At the same time participation in 19 of Sport England's funded sports (including football, cricket and rugby union) is down on a comparison of once per week involvement (Oct 2012-Oct 2013 compared against Apr 2012 - Apr 2013). Swimming, athletics and cycling are England's most popular sports. The direct income from purely playing (memberships, match fees, etc) will not cover the operating costs of hosting the activity in many cases. The rationale for doing nothing and expecting grass based sports to pay for themselves simply does not make sense.

One recommendation noted from the various club audits I have conducted is that awareness and planning for flood events needs to improve.

In the event there is perhaps very little that can be done to combat the kind of extremes of weather we have seen once they overwhelm defences but if they are to become a more recognisable feature of the climate of the UK clubs need to be prepared to minimise the damage done. Flood policies should be a standard feature of a club's documentation, with a clear set of guidelines as to what should be done, when and by whom. No one is suggesting some sort of King Canute act, please always consider safety when dealing with both flooding and the aftermath, but measures such as moving machinery to a location where it may not suffer damage, regular inspection of any drainage outlets, and simply being aware of the likelihood of occurrence can be achieved.

“...Flood policies should be a standard feature of a club’s documentation...”

“...The Environment Agency clearly faces an enormous task...” The Environment Agency clearly faces an enormous task and provides numerous resources for people to help themselves with pre-emptive action. Mapping on the EA website http://maps.environmentagency.gov.uk/ can highlight areas of particular risk. Their free alert service can warn of conditions and a free to download flood planner is available alongside a community group flood policy pack. In recognising the very real threat to the existence of some of our facilities Sport England now carries a set of guidance documents appropriate to sports clubs, well worth viewing; http://sportengland.org/facilitiesplanning/tools-guidance/floodguidance/ You can find out more about Andy’s work in sustainability on his website www. sustainablecricket.com

The Grassroot Football & Cricket Groundsman

Ian Avery, Head of Grounds at Sutton Valence School talks you through what can be done in February for the 2014 season for both football and cricket groundstaff

Cricket: Fun in February? As the wet weather is in no hurry to depart and some parts of the country have been under water for over a month I thought I’d give you a few ideas what you can do once the water subsides. Unfortunately if your ground has been flooded for over a month there is little chance that the grass plants will of survived and reseeding once the surface has been cleared of rubbish and spiked to allow air back into the profile is your only option hopefully none or only a very few will be in that situation. For the rest of us once the water has cleared and you can walk on it without getting stuck or damaging

the surface you need to remove all debris and open up the surface. For outfields you can use a tractor mounted spiker, if you can beg borrow or hire one on the square, either a sorrel roller or a light forking without lifting the surface. If you’re happy your ground wont dry out to quickly you can spike the square in February however if it dries out quickly you will have cracks across the square not good. Please wait until you can do this work without damaging the surface.

“...The grass will need a feed after all this wet weather...” The grass will also need a feed after all this wet weather and again moss may be an issue so a low nitrogen fertiliser with iron is ideal.

Once you can work on the square and before starting any preseason rolling it’s a good idea to square the square even if like me you mark the corners with pegs etc. It’s worth measuring the diagonals just to check there has been no movement, they should be the same, give or take a little, to allow for tape stretch. If you haven’t done this before stretch a line of 22 yards at the top of your square then at one end run a line at right angles to the end of your square. Run a tape along the top line to 3m and put in a peg, run a tape down the side line and measure to 4m a put in a peg, now measure between the two pegs they should measure 5m if not adjust the lines I would start with the side line. Once this is achieved you have a right angle repeat at the other three corners, place a peg at each corner measure the diagonals they should be the same. This now gives you a square also the correct distance between the stumps and when you come to mark in pitches they will line up square. I mark in ten yard gaps to give me the exact width of a pitch. Here’s to some drier weather in March and April.

Football: Winter Pitches As this nightmare winter continues and the pressure mounts to get matches played on sodden pitches what can we do to help the pitch? Firstly don’t drive any machinery on it where you can see the tracks or bring up water.

“...what can we do to help the pitch?...” Get the trusty fork out and fork around the goal mouths and other hard-wear areas adding sand if you have the money and a few bodies to give you a hand. Line marking can be very difficult if you use a wheel to wheel machine this is when the battery powered jet marker comes into its own, maybe the time to ask the treasurer for some spending money is now. If you have a private school or large sports club nearby they may be willing to lend you one. As we get into March and the season will be extending further and further it may be worth spending some money on a couple

of bags of seed and just before weekend matches spread the seed over the worse areas this is a cheap way of pushing the seed into the soil and covering it. Again, if you can spread some sand over the seeded areas after the match this will help even more. This is a cheap way of semi renovating your pitch if you can’t afford the full works in the off season.

When the weather does turn in March a general turf fertiliser will help boost the grass health improve the look of the pitch and help recovery, a lot of the natural goodness in soils will have been leached away during this winter and the grass will have a yellow colour to it. Avoid fertilising when frost is forecast and of course the fertiliser needs watering-in if no rain (I know not likely) after 3 days. The surface would also benefit from opening up with a spiker if you have the equipment available this will help the grass recover and help drainage if the weather worsens.

“...Rolling should be avoided...”

“...When the weather does turn a general turf fertiliser will help boost grass health...” 14

Rolling should be avoided as this compresses the surface sealing it up reducing the water/air exchange and can cause certain weeds to thrive including Plantigo major. If the pitch is uneven because of divots etc. use a chain harrow this will level lumps out without serious damage. Good luck to you all, Ian

Cricket Club Corner Nick Begy, Chairman at Oakham Cricket Club of Oakham in Rutland, Leicestershire

Tell us a bit about your club... what do you do, where are you, which leagues, how many members etc... Oakham CC are in the newly restructured Leicestershire and Rutland League, with teams in Div 3 and 7, plus a Sunday Team in the Rutland League 3. We also run a junior programme for over 200 kids from U7s up to Colts. We also a midweek and social side. Oakham is the County town of Rutland, the country's smallest county. Have you had any famous players pull on the shirt? We have a number of current county players who have turned out for OCC, but I suppose our big claim to fame was when Jonny Bairstow and Jo Root knocked off over 400 runs in a day to beat Durham in a 2nd XI game at OCC,

with Jonny Bairstow beating the single highest score at the ground of 201, scored by 16 year old Jamie McCormack only the week before. Tell us something interesting about your club... Our proudest claim is that we have been voted the 2nd best ground for pitch, outfield and facilities in Leicestershire and Rutland for the last 3 seasons. Who does what at the club to do with revenue generation/ sponsorship? Most of our revenue goes in to 2 projects. Primarily juniors where we fund coaching and equipment and it is an area we are really proud of.

The other side is our ground, and what is a batting paradise.

Have you got any advice for other clubs in our network looking to be more successful when it comes to generating funds? We have had success in a number of areas. I think the clear strategy is to have a story to sell to potential sponsors. You have to be clear how you can benefit the sponsor, and show that you have a development plan as a club. Get sponsors involved and feel part of your Club. Be clear on how you will broadcast their brand, such as email, Twitter followers, Facebook and off page advertising such as the ground. Also you have to show how your members will support their business I think the other thing we have found, is with limited volunteers focus the effort on to events that make the big money. We focus on one main event making nearly ÂŁ4k profit. Plus when looking to recruit volunteers look for them to run one event, not a small group running many. This really does spread the load. What do you find is the best approach to getting advertisers and sponsors in and around the club? Use their business. Follow them on social media. Plus just invite them, give them an incentive to turn up,

like a lunch and watch a game. We have also found sponsorship in kind works well, such as meat from a butcher. Even large multiples like Tesco are happy to support you but again with goods.

Have you had particular success in selling to particular markets? Local businesses and in particular pubs and restaurants, as it is easy to reciprocate the sponsorship by using their business and running events with them. Are you involved in any other sports? Is there anything our clubs can learn from clubs outside of cricket and football? I also coach rugby, and the principles are the same. The one thing I have learned from rugby is getting sponsors involved in the club where they then buy in to the Club at a far higher level. Have you got a Twitter page our other clubs can make contact with you on? We use this alot, and try to help anyone that asks. Indeed we used Twitter contacts (Thanks Dave at Langwith CC) to build our web site. Our Twitter account is @OakhamCricket

Player Fitness Isaiah Barratt In his player fitness column this month, Isaiah Barratt looks at long term training plans. While aimed at footballers, a lot is transferable to cricket fitness.

Hello and welcome back, I cannot believe it is February already! Over the Christmas and New Year period I hope you found my advice and tips helpful but now it’s back to the reality of hard training and constant healthy eating. So this month I am going to cover why it is important for an athlete to have a recovery phase and why this might benefit you during these few bad months of weather conditions. So to start with ‘Periodization’ is the term we use for a training plan with is divided into periods of training. This is then linked together with progressive training designed to permit an athlete to peak at a time in which there want to achieve their specific goal. A Periodization tend to have 4 phases to the training plan consisting on base building, sharpening, competition and then finally rest and recovery phase

before you then start the cycle again. On the next page you’ll see an example of a Periodization chart, when creating your own suit it best to your needs and be willing to change and adapt it to sudden occurrences such as bad weather which could cause postponed matches. A lot of athletes know that getting enough rest after vigorous amounts of exercise is essential for any high-level performances yet so many of them still over train and feel guilty when they miss a day or two when they take a day off. Which is when the body is simply repairing and strengthening itself between workouts, so by overtraining by continuously training every day you then actually weaken the muscles which then leads to injuries.

Rest days are important to any sport athlete for many reasons, some of those reasons are physiological and others psychological. Rest is physically necessary for the muscles to repair themselves, rebuild and strengthen. In the worst of scenarios too few rest days can lead to overtraining syndrome which is when your performances actually decrease due to lack of recovery to the body. Symptoms and signs of overtraining to look out for are: • Feeling of general malaise • Staleness • Depression • Decreased sporting performance levels

There are two types of recovery to think about, ‘Short’ and ‘Long’ term recovery, which I will tell you a bit of both. The short term recovery is immediate recovery from a particularly intense training session, sometimes called active recovery which occurs in the hours immediately after intense training. It refers to engaging in low intensity exercise after workouts during both cool down phase straight after your intense exercise as well as the days following this intense workout. Both types of active recovery are linked with performance benefits but don’t forget another major factor to remember after training and that is to replenish your energy

stores. With the loss of fluid during training you need to replenish these stores and optimise protein synthesis which is simply the process of increasing the protein content of muscle cells that prevents your muscles from breaking down and decreasing in size by eating the rights foods in a post-exercise meal. This is the time in which soft tissue such as tendons, ligaments and muscles start to repair and the removal of chemicals that build up as the result of cell activity. Always be aware that an efficient amount of sleep is needed as part of a short term recovery, but especially when doing hard training. One or two night’s poor sleep won’t have much of an effect or impact on your performance but consistently lacking efficient amounts of sleep can result in subtle changes in your hormone levels. Especially those related to stress, mood or muscle recovery! No one really understands the complexities of sleep but research indicates that sleep deprivation can lead to increased levels of cortisol (which is the stress hormone), decreased levels of human growth hormone that is active during tissue repair, and some research shows a decrease in glycogen synthesis, aerobic endurance and increased ratings of perceived exertion.

Long term recovery refers to those that are built in to a seasonal training program such as footballers. Most well designed training program schedules will have recovery days and weeks which is built into an annual program. This is also why coaches and athletes change their training programs throughout the year to adapt their changes whether it is intensity, distance, time or any other training variable. Here are some recovery tips: • Replace fluids; water supports every metabolic function and nutrient transfer • Eat properly after to refuel your body - ideally within 60 minutes • Stretch • Rest • Perform active recovery • Have a massage • Have a cold ice bath: helps reduce the chance of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) setting in • Get high quality sleep • Avoid overtraining

Thank you for reading this month’s article I hope it is of some use to you and your training. Or not training! Depends if you choose to have a recovery week due to his terrible weather were having. I look forward to writing for you next month. Isaiah Barratt Personal trainer, Train4Health

TO BE DONE

Sports psychology David Harrison from Pinnacle Performance looks at imagery and mental rehearsal to help your players rehearse their sport in their minds.

Imagery & Mental Rehearsal We continue our look at all things sport psychology and today we looking at imagery and mental rehearsal. I work on this with my athletes as all athletes will do this to differing levels. Imagery or mental rehearsal refer to creating an experience in the mind of the athlete. So Imagery is a form of simulation and is similar to a real sensory experience but occurs entirety in the mind (Weinberg and Gould, 1999). Mental Rehearsal is about rehearsing your sport in your mind.

Imagery/Mental Rehearsal can be used to: • Improve concentration • Build confidence • Control emotional response • Acquire and practice skills • Acquire and practice strategy • Cope and recover with injury As an athlete You want to aim for, and get into your image as many senses and feelings (positive and negative) as possible. The senses are vision, sound, smell, feel, and how your body feels when it completes an action. To improve your ability to mentally rehearse start by rehearsing something like peeling an orange or putting your feet into icy water or even better something familiar like your bedroom. For example See your bedroom and its contents

and where they are in relation to each other. Hear your favourite music playing from your iPod docking station, what other sounds are there and you can hear in the room? What does your room smell like? What does the carpet feel like on your feet? How do you feel when you are in your room?

“...it is important to get a good, clear, controllable image...” Be aware of the different types of types of Imagery/Mental Rehearsal.They are: • Internal – imagining the execution of a skill from your own vantage point. Like Call of Duty on the Playstation. • External – perspective of an external observer. Like Grand Theft Auto on the Playstation. Athletes switch between the 2 types so be aware of which you as an athlete prefer. What is more important is to get a good, clear, controllable image (more on this later). Once you are comfortable with rehearsing something familiar move onto sport specific rehearsing. Again get as many

senses and feelings in there as possible. Make these senses and feelings realistic. When you are comfortable in a sport specific image you need to work on the key elements of successful imagery. These are:

Vividness Make sure you use all the senses and feelings in there. A good way to think of this is to think of watching a 3D film. If you take the glasses off you get a blurry image. The image you create should be with your glasses on. Brilliant, clear, vivid. Work on recreating as closely as possible the event and if you are having problems go back to practicing on things that are familiar (like your bedroom).

“...the image you create should be brilliant, clear, vivid...” Controllability Ensure the images do what you want them to. You want to work on controlling the rehearsal. Have fun with this. Can you make yourself superfast? Can you make the goalkeeper small and the net bigger? Play around with this.What

works for you? Work on controlling image will ensure you see what you want to accomplish instead of seeing errors. To mentally rehearse start by doing it for 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes before you go to sleep. Ensure you are comfortable, relaxed and have no distractions. Once you have done this do it on the bus, in the car to training and slowly increase the time you spend doing it. Your body will think it is doing the skill and you might feel your muscles twitch. This is normal as you can ‘lie’ to your body through mental rehearsal! Overall imagery is a powerful technique to develop and can be the difference between a player that doesn’t make it and one that does. If you have any comments about the article then I would be happy to hear them. Contact me via email at pinnacleperform@gmail.com and visit my website www.pinnacleperformance.co.uk for more information on sport psychology.

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

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 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 FC @worthing_fc

List your clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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 25

Grassroot Trophies: A New Way To Save Money Here’s a bit of background on our newest idea. It’s a trophy shop called Grassroot Trophies. See what we’re talking about here: www.grassroottrophies.com

Trophies, awards, medals, salvers, shields at 33% off RRP A while ago a club came to me and asked if I could find them a discount on trophies. They were spending hundreds of pounds a year on trophies & medals and didn’t think they were getting a great deal. I thought I did a great job finding a retailer that gave us a 7.5% discount off their prices, but now I’ve found out we can do much, much better than this. After visiting the Trophex exhibition at Birmingham NEC last month I found out a little about how the trophy business works and have come up with a new business model with one of the biggest

Trophy manufacturers/distributors that sees us being able to offer big discounts against their RRP’s while at the same time offering free engraving and centre caps, which most places charge for. The delivery is expensive if it’s a small order as it’s a flat fee of £9 or so but this covers you up to 20kg so there’s value in it if it’s more than a few trophies being ordered. Even if it’s a very small order we’re still cheaper than most places, but if it’s more than two or three awards or trophies I’ve not seen any one else in the market offering these kinds of prices.

I’ve built a website in my spare time (well, while the missus was watching Big Brother) and it’s all up and running now. Each night I add more trophies to the product range but if you don’t see what you’re looking for please drop me an email and we’ll come back with some options not yet on the site. Thanks, Mat Court.

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’...

We’re very much in to the sponsorship season for cricket clubs with a lot of you putting yourselves out there to local businesses. While this is great I know how difficult it can be and that any help you can get is, well, help. I’ve had an idea for a page on the website to give you some support, there’s not much I can do from this office for you, but this is something. It’s free for everyone to use, and doesn’t take me any time to run (all I do is copy and paste what you send) it doesn’t cost me anything either. The plan is for us build up a selection of club sponsorship opportunities from all over the country – I can then push this page via social media with a view to getting local businesses going on

there and looking for clubs to sponsor in their area. I have no idea if it will work, I doubt it will bring anything in at the moment as there is only one opportunity on there, but have a look, see what you think and if you’d like to give it a go drop me an email on mcourt@grassrootmedia.com with the relevant details (if you copy and paste and then amend the entry that’s on there already that will do the job).

It’s not going to drastically change the way you do your selling, but it might just bring a couple of quid in for one of you – I can see it being useful once it’s got more entries on there. And remember, it’s free – the businesses will be dealing with you directly, not me so there’s no need for Grassroot Media to take a commission or make any £ from it. Cheers, Mat Court.

Club Funding News Each month we’re going to find a scheme, grant, competition or anything else that we think could benefit our clubs and write about it. As it’s our first month here’s two

Think You Know The Worst Football Pitch In The Country? Then “Pitch To Win”

upon all under 18 amateur footballers, both girls and boys, to nominate their pitch if they think that it is in drastic need of improvement. The winning team shall receive not only the new pitch but also sponsorship throughout the 2014/2015 season and a new team kit. Runners up will win a £500 boost for the club kitty as well as sponsorship and a new team kit.

A nationwide search is underway to find the worst football pitch in mainland Britain.

First ran in 2008, Briggs & Stratton has re-launched the competition to help support health initiatives and to get children active.

Briggs & Stratton, one of the world’s leading producers of petrol lawn mower engines, has re-launched its Pitch to Win competition that offers a £3000 pitch makeover to the worst football playing surface in Britain.

The engine company is calling

Ian Small, UK sales and marketing manager at Briggs & Stratton, said: “Pitch to Win was very popular when it first ran. We received a fantastic amount of entries and were shocked at some of the conditions of pitches in the UK.

â&#x20AC;?With health and obesity warnings in the UK on the increase, particularly for children, it is becoming imperative that playing facilities improve to help raise fitness levels nationwide. Not only that but a successful local football club really enhances a community. We want to really highlight the importance of local football clubs, and the significant contribution that they make to their community.â&#x20AC;? The Pitch to Win judging panel consists of a variety of experts including representatives from Briggs & Stratton, experienced groundsmen, and a selection of turf and football journalists. To enter the competition and to find out more information please visit http://www.pitchtowin.org.uk/. You can also follow the competition on Twitter (@Pitch_ToWin) or search on Facebook. The deadline for the competition is Friday 28 March 2014.

If you know of a cricket or football club that you think could host our panels, please feel free to tell them about us and what we do. We are also on the look out for leagues that want to spread the word of Grassroot Media so again, if you know any then please ask them to get in touch, the more clubs we have on board, the easier it is to sell to advertisers and the more money we can make for each club. www.grassrootmedia.com Tel: 0800 8 20 21 22 Mob: 07795 49 59 69 Email: info@grassrootmedia.com

27 7

Lean Recruitment Enterprise supporting Grassroots Football The following is as article written by Lean Recruitment Enterprise, organisers of a new scheme we’ve found out about... You all understand the importance of funding to ensure clubs’ survival, and to provide adequate equipment and facilities for the members to enjoy. An initiative started by us at Lean Recruitment Enterprise (LRE), an independent recruitment business based in Rubery Birmingham, is giving these clubs to opportunity to bring in much needed funding. Mark Murphy, Operations Director, had the idea to approach local youth football clubs with a very simple yet rewarding scheme: if a club was able to pass on a vacancy within any business that a manager or parent of a player is associated with that LRE could fill we would

donate between £250 directly to that team.

£500

A local youth side are about to benefit from our initiative. Northfield Town U11’s who play in the CWYFL, were approached by Mark who spoke to their Manager Stephen Glenn. Steve embraced the idea as he fully understands the importance of funding to provide these clubs and teams with everything they need and explained that sponsorship was extremely hard to come by in today’s economic climate. A vacancy was passed on and LRE were able to source an ideal candidate that is due to start the new role in March and the under 11’s bank account will benefit with a donation of £500. Stephen who is also Vice Chairman of Northfield Town has passed on all the information to every team manager for them to pass on to the parents of the players. We are keen to offer this scheme to any sports club in need of funding and is enlisting the backing of some very prominent sporting stars who are behind the idea.

To find out more about this fantastic project contact Mark Murphy on Mobile: 07975 500603 Email: mark.murphy@leanrec.com

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Hertford Town FC, a lot of water, and a Flood Defence Officer (me) A new regular feature from Mat Court on preparing for what are probably the worst kind of weather events to hit sports clubs: floods.

As some of you are aware, Grassroot Media works out of the local football club Hertford Town FC. And as those of you that follow either @grassrootmedia or @hertfordtownfc on Twitter will have read about how the recent floods affected the club. While I have an interest in keeping the club as dry as possible in that I go to work there, I also hate it when something happens that affects sports clubs which do such a great job for the local communities they serve. So I’ve put myself forward to be Hertford Town FC’s first ever Flood Defence Manager and I’m delighted to say that my application has been accepted by the Chairman and General Manager. I don’t know if other clubs have a Flood Defence Manager or not, but if you don’t then perhaps think about assigning the post to someone – my plan is over time to develop a flood

defence plan for the club which can be implemented quickly and easily by anyone at the club when there is a risk of flooding. My thinking is that it needs one person to own the plan but that plan shouldn’t be reliant on just one person. What if he/she is on holiday when the next flood hits? What if they can’t get to the ground because of closed roads? You get my point. The idea behind me writing about it each month in this magazine is not to preach, but to hopefully show you how someone with absolutely no experience with flooding can still lend a hand and come up with a viable plan. This month I’ll talk you through how badly we were affected and what we’ve done to try to limit the damage, and some of the learnings I’ve taken from the past week or so...

It all started Friday 7th February as I was driving to work in the morning. I noticed a lot of traffic on the back roads I use to get to the club. I soon found out this traffic was caused by a broken down car. It had broken down because the driver had tried to drive through two foot of water. It was a sign of things to come. A journey that should have taken no more than ten minutes took over and hour. It was just like living in London again. And this was the scene when I finally reached the club:

I’d seen the pitch waterlogged before but had never seen the water flowing in to the ground like it was directly from the river. Here’s a map to show you the position the club is in:

As you can see the club is in an ‘interesting’ position being bordered by two rivers joining in to one, which can’t be a good thing when it comes to water. But there’s not a lot we can do about that is there. It’s how we work with what we have that sets us apart as a species eh? When I made it in to the ground the water started rising pretty quickly and all I could really do was try move everything up a few feet off the ground to protect as much as I could and hope for the best. If I had a plan to follow, had materials and equipment to hand I think I could have at least stopped the water from coming in to the changing room/office area. And this is what got me thinking – can a little bit of work once a month have prevented the scale of the damage to the club? This is what I am going to try to do, work up a plan and stockpile the relevant equipment and materials so that when the next flood warning sounds just on or two people can protect as much of the club as possible in under half an hour.

But getting back to the events of that Friday, as I said, all I could do was move stuff off the ground to try to stop it from getting wet. Big heavy appliances had to stay where they were however.

Above was the scene just before the water started getting really high. By lunchtime the hard standing to the right was a foot under and water was all over the changing rooms and office areas. Below is the office after the water got in. This was when I decided to call it a day and get out of there and go for a pint.

implement some short term measures to try and protect as much property as we could on a budget with little man power.

The carpet has bought it but that’s not end of the world in a boardroom office – it can still function without it and can be replaced when funds allow. But the time spent cleaning up after was something I wasn’t keen on repeating so I set about building some makeshift sandbag defences. My advice to anyone in the same position when looking for sandbags is do not buy the premade ones. They are very expensive and it only takes a couple of minutes to make a sandbag from raw materials, and costs about a 1/5th of the pre-made ones.

The water had receded by Sunday and all that was left to do in the immediate future was clean up and

I found a good article on how to construct sandbags walls to protect doorways, which was the main concern for me and the club but the main issue was not having enough sand. It’s heavy to transport in standard cars so this will

be a major thing to consider when I start work on the flood planning going forward. I lost a lot of time going to and from the builders merchants for little reward in terms of material gathered. Anyway, I was happy with everything until I saw a piece on BBC news on the floods which showed a flood board being used to brace a doorway that didn’t have a door. I looked at one of my doorways and realised if water had hit it would not have stood a chance. I looked at flood board costs and they were a bit too pricey so instead found some very strong wood which fit the doorway with enough overlap to provide support for the sandbag wall. Obviously the other doorways’ walls were supported by the locked door so not too much concern there in the short term.

From what I’ve read the sandbags should be laid perpendicular to the doorway but I have run out of

sandbags and to do it the proper way would me water easily goes over the top. They look pretty well set the way they are so I’m not too concerned. Hopefully I’ll never find out whether they would’ve worked or not as a) I’ll have more sandbags soon to rebuild the wall or b) it won’t flood again. The doorway I mentioned with the makeshift flood board is as well constructed as I could make it but just needs another few levels of sandbags to make sure.

The club has worked the flood hard in terms of trying to get local support and awareness levels up. The twitter account has been very active, club members have been sending the local paper photographs of the scenes, the club photographer has got the club featured on the local radio station and a few photos featured in the paper. All of this led to Sky Sports News coming down and doing an interview piece with the club Chairman. (see next page)

did a few months ago which has more detail on this.

I’m now trying to use this coverage to get the local branch of a large builders merchants involved with the club as Flood Defence Partner. The idea is they give us help, advice and materials to help stop the flooding both in the short and long term and in return they get shouted about by the club along with some pitchside boards and anything else the club can offer that doesn’t cost it money, but that has a value for the builders merchants. This is where clubs can do really good things I think. I know many of you already have partnerships with local firms but if you haven’t, just have a think about who can help you and how you can help them. It doesn’t have to result in money coming in to the club, an advertising deal or partnership where you get materials or expertise in return can sometimes be more valuable. Have another read of the Lewes FC feature we

Where we are now is that the water has gone from everywhere apart from the pitch, I’ll be happy with the building protection if we get another 40 sandbags deployed tonight in advance of the forecast very heavy rain tomorrow, and my thoughts are moving towards how we can potentially stop this happening to such a bad extent again. The main thing I’ve taken from the last week really has been what an effect such a simple thing like water can have. I’d never experienced flooding before and can now start to imagine just how bad some of you have had it, and just how bad some of the people in Somerset and other places have had it, some of them being under water for over a month. My thoughts are with them all. I’ll keep you up to date with how we get on here – hopefully next month I’ll be able to say my little defences have held fast and I’ll do a little piece on building a stockpile of sandbags, how to deploy them properly and keeping them safe and out of harms way until they are needed. Basically they’ll last forever if you do it right is what I’ve learned. Keep dry, Mat

Andrew Beaven This month Andrew Beaven from The Twenty20 Cricket Company looks at getting the most of pre-season netting

Winter nets – more than just hit and hope!

on the off-side for 10 deliveries. "10 off the last four balls" is fine, so long as you encourage effective power hitting, not wild slogging.

Before Christmas I posted an article on ways to get the most from your off-season practice sessions. With the new season in the UK now only two months' away (weather permitting!), I wanted to share a few more ideas on how to make your net practice even more constructive. Competitive matter

nets

–

make

First thought – try to make your net sessions competitive. Set batters specific challenges playing only in the "V" for the first 10 deliveries, say, then hitting only

Do the same with the bowlers – have them bowl to a plan (make them think of a plan, then execute it – more on this later). Challenge the players with different scenarios, and make them think. For the coach and the player – concentrate on outcomes – hitting the ball along the ground and into spaces, for example. This close to the start of the season you would probably want to spend more time accommodating your style to the demands of the game, rather than trying to re-build a stroke, or a bowling action.

Working with a coach in the nets – horror movies As coaches, we have moved on from standing at the side of the net and giving general encouragement or admonishment, as appropriate, before occasionally stopping a session to demonstrate a technical point with the batsman. David Hinchliffe, of PitchVision Academy, advocates "horror movie" net coaching.

“...watch your players [in the nets] closely...say little but...log the information as you go... Then, after the quiet, you pounce on your victim and give the key feedback after he or she has batted.” If you have a coach with a video camera, record the batsman in action, then confront him with the evidence.

“...If you have a coach with a video camera, record the batsman in action...” Review takes no more than a minute. Often, the the batter will recognise the relevant technical

points with little prompting, leaving the coach to devise an appropriate intervention.

“...Make your players think for themselves watching is a great way of learning...” The beauty of video is that it can be replayed (perhaps annotated using a video analysis app) with the batter before he bats in the next session, and reinforced with a short drill or well-placed "statement of intent" e.g. "hit the cut into the ground" or "play the on-drive to mid-on, not midwicket". Then, aside from a reminder before he goes in to bat, leave the batter alone for a couple of weeks to work out how to put the advice into practice. You might need to task the bowlers to concentrate on attacking the technique – see “Head Hunters”, below. Harry Shapiro, Coaching Consultant at Boland Cricket Union, takes non-intervention a step further, encouraging his players to analyse and give feedback on their own performance and of their fellow players before the coach gives any input at all.

Make the players think for themselves – watching is a great way of learning. Head hunter net

This works equally well with a coach, or without, and more directly involves your bowlers – set them the explicit task of identifying and ruthlessly exploiting any weakness they can in the batsmen. The bowlers then have to work to a (realistic) plan of attack (or defence – sometimes, they will work simply to denying the batter the opportunity to smear the ball over mid-wicket). Which in turn makes the batters work harder, and forces them to think about their techniques and how to apply them to best effect. Having a coach, trained to observe divergence from technical models, is ideal, but you don't need qualified coaches to be head hunters – a couple of experienced bowlers will be just as good (maybe even better). In conclusion – look for ways to make net practice competitive, challenge your players to think about their game, but most of all make it fun.

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VS Cricket is a new social media service to cricket clubs, players and fans giving them the chance to discuss all things cricket from international level to local teams

Remember when Channel 4 broadcast the cricket and mambo no5 was what we listened to prior to start of play? Remember the ground breaking graphics and analysis that accompanied the telecasts? Well the company behind those stats and graphics has just launched a social network devoted to cricket and grass roots cricket clubs in particular. Virtual Spectator is an Australian based sports graphics company with offices in the UK and USA and is well placed to develop VSCricket.com, the cricket social network.

revenue share any advertising income back to the grass roots clubs that participate on the network. "The idea is obvious, most local clubs have strong links to their local communities and VSCricket.com now gives businesses in those communities a vehicle by which they can support their local clubs financially" said Peter Lamb, CEO VS Europe Ltd.

It is early days but it is hoped that VSCricket.com will become the Facebook of cricket.

A welcome twist from a multinational company is that a core element of the network is to

A screen shot of a club page on vscricket.com

“... a core element of the network is to revenue share any advertising income back to the participating clubs...” Each club that wishes to can have their own page on VSCricket.com where people can interact, post photos, videos and links related to the club. On each club page there are advertising spots available and for just £10 per month, local businesses can sponsor their club. The business gets their ad seen by all who visit and use the page and the club gets much needed additional revenue (50%). The more people use the network, the greater value it will be to a sponsor. In addition, all clubs that are on VSCricket.com will automatically be entitled to a FREE Ipad based scoring system developed exclusively by Virtual Spectator for VSCricket.com. If clubs score their games using this app, the scores will be

uploaded to the network and displayed in the form of batting and bowling cards on a clubs page. This has a number of benefits: .It means every team can see their results in professionally produced digital content .More people will visit the page every week to check stats .Sponsors will get their ad seen by a bigger audience .It gives the smallest of clubs the same scoring capabilities as broadcast TV

The scoring app is due for release in April 2014. In addition to club pages, major series will be covered. For instance in the current Ashes series, Virtual Spectator has a pundit at every game who is posting match summaries and photos through the day. Feel free to go over to www.vscricket.com and have a look around and see what it could do for your club.

Colin Smith Colin Smith from Elvington & Tilmanstone Colliery Welfare Cricket Club continues his monthly column with more tips for our clubs.

Organizing Fund Raising Events Organising fund raising events is one of my great passions in life. I love to set up an evening or a day time event that will raise money for in some cases more than one good cause or charity. Here I will give you some good tips and advice from the events I have put on in the past. I have learned from mistakes how to put together a well organized event that nearly everybody will enjoy. You will not please everybody so donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t worry about it. Some of my experiences have involved celebrities such as former Chelsea footballer, Ron Chopper

Harris, and England and Kent cricket legend Deadly Derek Underwood M.B.E. I have organised events that have involved an opening presentation or a question and answer session with these two sporting stars. The Ron Harris night also involved a comedian, Mickey Pugh, that compered the whole evening and really made for a great night that everybody enjoyed. Yes everybody this was an exceptional night. I have also put on or helped put on 5 a side football tournaments attended by 1200 people and 48 teams, trips to Wembley to see England internationals, 3km Charity Fun Runs, quiz nights etc., and I have Britain's number 1 Elvis impersonator booked for the 3rd May this year in aid of the Katie Piper Foundation (KPF) - a burns survivors charity. What I really enjoy is if more than one cause or charity can benefit from the same

event. For example the Elvis night will benefit the KPF from the ticket sales of £5 each, and the bar take from the venue will go to Tilmanstone Miners Welfare, another registered charity. Good work I say.

Above: The Elvington & Tilmanstone CWCC committee, Derek Underwood and me Below: Ron ‘Chopper Harris, me, the missus and my son Dan

Tips So some top tips for you are to first of all choose your charity or good cause. Then decide what you want the money for i.e. a new piece of

equipment, money towards a charity in general like my KPF night, money towards a local youth club trip for underprivileged or disabled children, a hospice etc.

“...choose a date near the start of the month when everybody has just been paid...” Once you’ve chosen your charity find the right venue. This can be tricky but in my case my local clubhouse is an obvious choice. Especially as it has a fully licensed bar and a commercial kitchen. Make sure if you are selling 200 tickets the venue can legally accommodate this. Choose a date near the start of the month when everybody has just been paid, like the 3rd May. As this is for charity do some begging – I’m good at it ask the missus. Only joking but ask companies for discounts for the night as it is for charity. I asked a company called Cardzoo for a discount on my Elvis night tickets, which should have cost £85 to print, and they promptly gave them to me for nothing – brilliant and it only cost me an email.

So you’ve got the act booked, date agreed, venue hired, done some begging for the raffle and auction etc. now for selling out the night. Make some posters and display them in the local shop, put them on noticeboards at work, inform local groups, put them on your website, twitter them, Facebook them. All of these will help sell out your evening.

“...once you’ve sold all your tickets, try and enjoy the evening...” Once you’ve sold all your tickets try and enjoy the evening yourself – don’t sit there fretting all night enjoy it yourself. Don’t forget to announce at the end of the night how much you have raised for the cause – the attendees like this as it gives them a buzz as well. It is a great feeling putting on events for charities I’ve done a few and enjoyed all of them. Looking forward to the Elvis night on 3rd May for Katie Piper’s charity. So far I have sold 5 tickets and given out 6 complimentaries, so should be a great night with 11 of us there LOL. Seriously though have a go it’s a way of having fun and raising money and people do appreciate it which is why I do it as an unpaid volunteer.

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 youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve changed them (we send them out in the post to you).