Contents 4 MD’s Letter 5 Cricket Coaching With Andrew Beaven Introducing youth cricketers to the senior game 9 Cricket Club Corner Richard Dawes from Pembury Cricket Club 12 Grassroots Cricket News News from the England Cricket Association for the Deaf 15 Club Funding News News from Dunster Cricket & Football Club on club improvements, and they were funded 25 Earn Money For Your Club With The Cricket Paper Earn commission on subscriptions
28 Colin Smith Colin talks about rain. Rainwater harvesting to be precise 32 Club Funding News News on the winners of Pitch To Win’s competition to find the worst pitch in the country 36 The Secret Non-League Footballer Life’s a beach for TSFNL this month 40 Sports First Aid Common Cricket injuries - part one 45 Sports Psychology What does it take mentally to win the World Cup? 49 Twitter Directory 50 Blockshop 51 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 July’s magazine. Yet again it’s been a busy month, as you’ll be able to guess from the amount of emails I’ve been sending you. The issues surrounding the new phone have been sorted meaning the photo reporting will never be as complicated as it was this month, turns out it was a simple set up option I missed when I was rushing. Sorry.
Anyway, we have got quite a bit of good news in this issue from clubs that have been successful in funding various things, some good ideas too which I’ll be using when I look at some projects in and around my football club. Going forward I’m going to try really hard to get this magazine out on the first of each month, I may pull it off, I may not, but I’ll try my hardest to give you all something consistent. If you’ve got any stories that you’d like to share with everyone else feel free to give me a shout with them, I’ve learned a lot writing this magazine over the last year so if nothing else the stories help me! I hope you enjoy this month’s magazine.
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Mat Court
Andrew Beaven
This month Andrew Beaven, Coach at Oakfield Parkonians Cricket Club in Barkingside, Essex gives us his thoughts on young players in senior cricket.
Introducing Young Players To Senior Cricket How did you first play senior cricket? I suspect that for many of you, you just happened to be in the right place at the right time. We all know the story.... The lad who always brings his bat to watch the adults play, who one day makes his debut to when one of the seniors has to drop out at short notice. The youngster spends his afternoon running around in the outfield and (hopefully) thoroughly enjoying himself. Gets invited to come back next week, perhaps gets a chance to bat, or maybe to bowl an over or two, and slowly, over the course of the season, proves his worth and becomes part of the team.
I am sure many of you will have had a similar experience. And now you sit on committees, for your Club and maybe even for local leagues. So the "lucky break" model for introducing young players to senior cricket certainly works. But how many of your contemporaries never got that lucky first break? Or spent a few afternoons fielding for the adults without ever getting a chance to bat or bowl, and lost interest in the game as soon as they outgrew "Colts'" cricket?
What a waste of cricketing talent. What a waste of annual subs never paid.
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There has to be a better way of bringing young players into senior cricket. And there is... Official guidelines The ECB has published "Guidelines for Junior Players in Open Age Group Cricket" [1]. And there are also some very important welfare requirements in the ECB's Clubmark process [2].
“...this is a useful document for defining what to do to help young players adapt...” This is a really useful document for defining the "what" to do to help young players to adapt to senior cricket. In the next few paragraphs, I hope to address the “how” in a little more detail.
At what age? The ECB currently set the age for young players to be eligible for Open age cricket as 11 for players in county U12 age group squads, and 12 for others. This should really be the extreme limit, though, as only an exceptional 12 year-old will really be able to hold his own against adults. And we are talking about youngsters actively playing
in senior cricket, not making up the numbers.
simply
Many Clubs experience a very high turn-over of Colts at 16 - many stop playing to concentrate on GCSEs and never come back to the game. So the time to get the young players involved is probably school year 9 and 10 (3rd & 4th year of secondary education, in "old money") before the main GCSE year. Before you pick your young players, pick your teams and captains Best, perhaps, to avoid the "social XI". Yes, it will be friendly and the opposition perhaps not too strong. But with no disrespect intended to the players in your Social XI, this might not be the best environment for a young player to learn good cricketing habits.
“...the Social XI might not be the best place for a youngster to learn good cricketing habits...” Best also to avoid a highly competitive team that is intent on winning games. Your young player needs to be involved in the game,
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not left standing at fine leg all afternoon, and in a seriously competitive match it can be difficult to find the opportunity to include the debutant. Your captains will need to be a little creative at times, as they will be charged not only with trying to win the game but also with the development of the younger players. If you have an inexperienced skipper, perhaps nominate a senior player to be mentor to the youngsters (and to the skipper). Agree the role of the young player Most important is that young players have the opportunity to participate fully, and not to spend most of the afternoon merely spectating. They should get the chance to bat and to bowl as well as to field; they should expect to umpire or score for a while, in the absence of match officials. They need to feel involved throughout the day. You could even create a temporary position of "assistant vice captain" so they get to understand some of the work that goes on simply to make a game happen. Club Policy...and what really happens This approach requires a club policy (explicit or implicit), agreed
on by the Selection Committee, to consciously introduce young players to the XIs, rather than an ad hoc process of bringing in a youngster to fill a last minute gap. Have your selection committee discuss and agree this – it doesn't need to be a formal document, just a simple agreement to consistently do the best for young players. Now, I can hear you saying "OK, in an ideal world we would create and follow such a policy that...but the 3s are short and I need someone to make up the numbers on Saturday." And the chances are that most senior debuts will still be made because a team is short of a fielder one day. Well, there is nothing wrong with that, so long as your Club has in place a policy for how your young players' development post-debut will be managed as they make the step up to senior cricket, and how they can be encouraged to stay in the game. [1] ECB Guidelines for Junior Players in Open Age Group Cricket: http://static.ecb.co.uk/files/ecb-guidelinesfor-junior-players-in-open-age-group-cricket12678.pdf
[2] ECB Clubmark: http://www.ecb.co.uk/development/clubcricket/clubmark/
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Cricket Club Corner Richard Dawes, Club Captain of Pembury Cricket Club in Kent gives us the low down on the club.
Tell us a bit about your club... what do you do, where are you, which leagues, how many members etc... Based in Pembury, on the borders of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, we field two senior sides in the Kent Regional Cricket League in addition to our Sunday XI, and have U-15, U-13 & U-11 teams in the Mid Kent Youth League.
Have you had any famous players pull on the shirt? James Seymour (25 October 1879 30 September 1930) played for Kent from 1902 until 1926, having previously played for W. G. Grace's London County Cricket Club in first-class matches in 1900 and 1901.
A right-handed batsman, he was part of the Kent side which won the County Championship in 1906, contributing 1,096 runs. He passed 2000 runs in a season in 1913 with an aggregate of 2,088 runs.
We have over 100 members of all ages and abilities, and have played at our historic Chalket Lane Ground for over 100 years.
Against Worcestershire in 1904 he became the first ever player to score a century in both innings of a match for Kent. His innings of 204 against Hampshire at Tonbridge in 1907 was at the time a record for Kent, a record which he went on to twice exceed.
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He finished his career with 26,818 runs for Kent which puts him 4th on their all time run-getters list. He is also one of only six players to have scored more than 50 centuries with Kent as of 2008. He made 1,000 runs in a season 16 times. In 1920 Jim was granted a benefit by the county, this amounted to ÂŁ1492.00, a considerable amount in those days. However, the Inland Revenue ruled that the money was taxable! Jim challenged the Inland Revenue in the courts and eventually the case landed in the House of Lords. There, with the help of Lord Harris, chairman of Kent County Cricket Club, the Lords decided in favour of Jim Seymour. Since then county cricketers have not been taxed on their benefits. A debt owed by today's professionals to an old Pembury player!
Who does what at the club to do with sponsorship? We actively promote to the local community for sponsorship, and investigate various avenues for grants from the local authorities, focusing on promoting and supporting youth cricket.
Have you got any advice for other clubs in our network looking to be more successful when it comes to generating funds? Communication through a variety of forms of media. What do you find is the best approach to getting advertisers and sponsors in & around the club? Face to face communication, and invitations to club events. Have you had particular success in selling to particular markets? No but we have found maintaining links with retiring players and old members of the club is essential. Which brand would be your perfect sponsor and why? One with a cricket connection, who financially support the grassroots of the game. Have you got a Twitter page our other clubs can make contact with you on? @PemburyCC
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Grassroots Cricket News The first ever county vs. county cricket fixtures took place in July, opening up new opportunities for deaf cricketers in the UK.
The first ever county vs. county cricket fixtures for deaf cricket took place in July in an event which promises to open up new opportunities for deaf cricket in the country.
The event was staged at Rokeby School Playing Fields, River Hill,
Old Malden in Surrey, and saw Surrey Deaf, Lancashire Deaf and an ECAD Development XI compete in a triangular tournament played across the Sunday 6th July. Chris Radclifffe, Chairman of ECAD said “The English Cricket Association for the Deaf is
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delighted to see the first county v county fixture for deaf cricket and we are grateful to Surrey CCC and Lancashire CCC for making this possible. For talented deaf cricketers this is a great opportunity for them to be noticed with the view to breaking into the England Deaf Cricket set up’ Stuart Cope of Surrey Deaf Cricket, said: “It is refreshing to see that cricket has moved on so much over the last few years, the sport is making strides in breaking down barriers to become inclusive for all. Surrey CCC are committed to offering opportunities for all participants within South London and throughout the county and I would like to personally thank all involved within our deaf county cricket club who have worked so tirelessly to form a professional all year round programme.
“Our aim is to provide England with as many players as possible and hopefully we can continue to do these for many years to come in every area of the game.” Ratcliffe added, “We hope that other County Cricket boards will take note and go on to create development opportunities for deaf cricketers to compete against one another.”
The tournament kicked off with the first ever county-versus-county Deaf match between Surrey and Lancashire. Put into bat Surrey scored 137-2 off their 20 overs, thanks in the main to an opening stand of 114 between captain Mike O’Mahony and England Deaf squad member Simon Lycett who both passed 50. Lancashire fielded a very young side include three very promising under 14 Deaf cricketers who more than held their own against more experienced opposition. 13 year old Chris Flynn in particular stood out removing O’Mahony and picking up the young player of the tournament. In reply Lancashire fell 33 runs short despite a halfcentury from Derek Grabham. The ECAD Development XI easily pushed aside Lancashire in the middle match by 8 wickets leaving the final game of the day as the decider. In the event Surrey proved far too strong scoring 180-3 with another half century from player of the tournament O’Mahony and 51* from David Baker. In reply ECAD Development XI ended 107-6. Visit to www.ecad.hitssports.com for more information on ECAD.
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Club Funding News This month James Webber from Dunster Football & Cricket Club talks us through their recent club improvement project.
Dunster Football Club was reformed in 1983 and Dunster Cricket Club in 1998 with an under 13s team. The Football club constructed its own pavilion in 2001- 2004 to meet the required league standards as we had been unable to us the ground for the previous 3 seasons. At the same time the cricket club extended the
field to enable us to build a junior size cricket ground. Up until this time the cricket team had played all their games away from home and had only a practice net at their home ground. In 2004 an adult cricket team was formed to play friendlies only due to the size of the ground not being big enough for league cricket.
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The aim of the project was to double the size of the field and improve the facilities on offer. There were 2 stated main aims to install a full size adult cricket pitch including an artificial wicket which would be up to league standard, and secondly turn the football club pitch through 90 degrees so we could watch from the pavilion and to improve the quality of the football ground.
cricket club and the local school. We acquired the extra land finalizing in 2009 and set about specifications. During this process we heard about a new funding project called “inspired facilities places people play” from Sport England this was part of the legacy funding from the 2012 Olympics. This allowed us the chance to apply for a greater amount of money and build even better facilities.
Anything else we could afford to do to improve the quality of our facilities at the same time would also be carried out.
“...’inspired facilities’ gave us the chance to apply for a greater amount of money...”
In 2010 we installed photovoltaic panels to the roof of or pavilion. This was with the help of an interest free loan from the Exmoor National Park Carbon neutral Project. This will give us an extra income for a minimum of 15 years and reduced electricity bills for the duration of the panels.
“...the solar photovoltaic panels will give us an extra line of income for at least 15 years...” A lot of the project was carried out through Dunster parish council and DAVSCA a committee made up of members of the football club,
DAVSCA decided to install a 5 wicket grass square and an artificial wicket, reposition the adult football pitch, build a new junior size football pitch, an external disabled toilet and an access ramp. The project was priced at £48,000 with an application to Sport England for £26,000 and with support from Dunster Parish Council for £13,000 and £5,000 from a local trust, the rest was raised from fund raising and donations from club members and local residents. This was successful in early 2012.
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Grant Presentation Day. Top: Paul Toogood (Chairman Dunster Parish Council), Dunster Cricket Club Members in the background. Bottom: front row Paul Toogood (Chairman Dunster Parish Council), Philip Webber (Chairman DAVSCA), Ian Liddell-Grainger MP (Bridgwater & West Somerset) and Andrew Hanson (Sport England).
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The first work to commence was the removal of the Hawthorn hedge (which had claimed many footballs over the years) to enable the field to become one large field. A sign of delays to come were that during this process the digger caught on fire! Obviously everybody remembers the summer of 2012 for being the wettest for 100 years which is not perfect for carrying out work outdoors involving soil and machinery, nevertheless work started as soon as we could; in April & May a local contractor ploughed and levelled the outfield to allow installation of the grass and artificial wickets.
were able to drive across the ground and deliver the loam right on the edge of the new square. On the down side of it being so warm it made it very tiring to move 48 tonnes of loam and unfortunately we didn’t get it all finished in the two days we had originally allowed. This left us with around 8 tonnes in a pile to shift at a later date. With hindsight a third day would of allowed us to get the square finished and seeded and saved a lot of delays and issues later on in the project. Most of the loam was moved onto the square by September but some was put into storage and not laid until the following spring
Once we had finished the specification for the wicket we decided to carry out the construction of the wicket ourselves, mainly to save money to allow it to be spent on other parts of the project. With our fingers crossed and keeping an eye on the weather forecast hoping for some dry weather we booked in delivery of the loam for Wednesday 25th July. Luckily for us this turned out to be the driest and hottest week of the whole year. This allowed us to carry out all the work exactly as we had hoped and had the added bonus that the delivery lorries
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Due to the delay in the laying the square we missed our original booking date for the artificial wicket which also meant the work to finish the outfield was pushed back. Due to the wet weather the ground wasn’t dry enough until September to allow the artificial wicket to be installed this was done on September 21st. As can be seen in the pictures the outfield had become quite overgrown by this stage and required further work to get it levelled and ready to be sown. The work on the outfield was carried out in early October and although conditions weren’t ideal the work was done and seeded on Sunday 7th October, thankfully the contractor did everything possible to get the work done this chose to be a very good decision as it rained for the next 3 weeks.
The third image down on the left is one week after seeding. The fourth is six weeks after seeding at the end of November; although it was wet it was also mild which allowed the grass to grow The weather was very different at the start of 2013 compared to the previous year with a very cold and dry spell affecting the grass seed growing. The work on the square was eventually finished in 2013.
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This involved the laying of the last of the loam once we had sprayed the square to kill any weeds which had grown over the winter. We were then in a position to seed the square, the same one we had started to lay in July the previous year. The square was first sown in early march which was followed by a very cold and frosty fortnight so we took the decision to reseed at the start of April once conditions had warmed up a bit (this then brought different problems). Once the weather had warmed up it was very dry so we ended covering the square with fleece for six weeks to help protect the young grass and also to help hold moisture in. Due to growing in a nice warm and dry summer it meant we had the sprinklers on almost continuously for 6 months which resulted in a large water bill, but the square was finally finished.
During the summer of 2013 we had the disabled access ramp constructed this was to replace the temporary wooden ramp which had lasted for ten years since the pavilion was first built. This allowed work to start on the external disabled toilet which was built and finished over the winter in time for the new cricket season. The adult football pitch was repositioned in time for the start
2013/14 season which would be the first sport to take place on the newly extended ground. The grass cricket square had its first autumn renovation carried out in September which, in line with the rest of the project, wasn’t finished until October due to machinery breaking down (and the weather of course). The work was completed on the same day as Angus Fraser visited for a sportsman dinner. During the winter of 2013/14 worked was carried out on the groundsman’s shed for our new mower and to allow us to collect rain water for use on the ground meaning we are more environmentally friendly across the whole site. This is in conjunction with a reduction in the artificial fertilisers we use and changes in the pavilion. Finally the big day arrived where the majority of the work had been finished and we were able to host our first cricket match on the new ground. It was decided that our annual memorial match would be brought forward and be the first game on the new pitch. Sunday 4th May 2014 was a fantastic day; the Football Club had made it to their first cup final since being reformed and this was followed by the cricket match all which took part in glorious sunshine!
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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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Colin Smith Colin Smith from Elvington & Tilmanstone Colliery Welfare Cricket Club continues his monthly column with more tips for our clubs.
11 year old Sam’s £4k Lottery Funding Success! Eleven year old Sam Jones, an Eythorne Rovers U12 footballer, has inspired the installation of a rainwater harvesting system at his local sports ground. Sam who lives in a nearby village to his club in Lower Eythorne, near Dover in Kent had the original idea for recycling rainwater from the clubhouse roof. This will now be collected from the 238sq.m roof into a 7,500 litre underground tank and pumped back out to be used to flush toilets and urinals and eventually feed the cricket square in the summer months. The registered charity Tilmanstone Miners Welfare Institute and Recreation Ground has 6 hectares of grounds encompassing three football pitches, a Bowls Club and a nine pitch cricket square.
This will in turn be good for the environment and reduce the annual water bill by at least a third. The Lottery funding bid made by yours truly was to Awards for All who obviously found it very difficult to turn away an 11 year old boy’s vision for a greener sustainable future for a rurally isolated club. The bid was entitled ‘Sam’s Vision’ and the story has received publicity via the local Mercury Group of newspapers. The objectives for the project were to improve the rural environment by recycling and to pass on savings made by reducing membership fees. In a socially deprived area with many families on low incomes this was seen as an obvious plus in the bid’s assessment. It also helped that the site is in a ward that is in
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a ward that is in the bottom 20% of the most deprived areas in the Country according to the National Indices of Social Deprivation. As I have said in many of my articles proving the need for the project is the key to funding success.
“...as I have stated in many of my articles, proving the need for the project is key to funding success...” The installation went smoothly and we chose a firm called rainwaterharvesting.co.uk as our rainwater tank manufacturer. This is a company who really know what they are doing. The technical support was superb from the start and continues to be the case. In particular Mike Bayley was more than helpful. They really go the extra mile for their customers and don’t just take the money and run. I can thoroughly recommend this firm to anybody thinking of a similar system. The obvious benefits as stated to the environment and reducing club running costs make these systems a long term solution. In addition everything from our installation
was recycled. This included the concrete slab that was broken up which was used as a soak away base, and the excess excavated soil was used as landfill to extend the car park ground.
“...everything from our installation was recycled, including a concrete slab that was used as a soak away base...” We have a multi use sports ground and are very proud of our recently renovated clubhouse that has a 140 people function capacity. Sam, who is seen in one of the pictures, has been rewarded for his idea with a new Chelsea kit purchased from the proceeds of a case study fee from the tank supplier. It gladdens the heart to see good news stories like this and further plans include a six-set pop up sprinkler system to water the cricket square during the summer. This will be operated from a second water pump in the underground tank. This control panel for this will be housed in the nearby clubhouse, and can even be timed to operate at night if needed. In reality as we are only a
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small club so I am sure the groundsman and I will probably push the button, buy ourselves two pints from the bar and watch the sprinklers do the business. Can’t be bad, cheers Sam.
This is seen as the final piece in the jigsaw and will further enhance our overall project. If anybody needs help with a funding bid of this sort I have recent success to crib from and I am more than happy to help. I have
already helped clubs in West Sussex, mid Kent, a club in Shepherdswell and I am involved in an ongoing consultation with a club in Wales. The distance between where I live in Kent and where you are is not a problem if you have the commitment for your project, can follow guidelines and are willing to act on my feedback.
If our 11 year old Sam can ‘win the Lottery’ so can you. Colin Smith
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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...
Club Funding News You may remember a few months ago we ran a piece on ‘Pitch To Win’, a competition to find the worst football pitch in the country. Well, they did...
The worst amateur football pitch in the UK has been found in Salisbury. Pitch to Win, a nationwide competition ran by petrol lawnmower engine manufacturers Briggs & Stratton, aimed to find a
team whose pitch was in need of a £3000 pitch makeover and South Newton and Wishford FC pitched and won! South Newton and Wishford FC from Salisbury was the unanimous
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winner among the judges. The team had an incredibly difficult 2013/2014 season and struggled to fit rearranged fixtures into the season, eventually being forced to forfeit games and having the expense of indoor practice or travelling to other grounds – all because of the bad pitch. The flooding at South Newton and Wishford’s ground meant that the pitch was unusable for most of the season, when the waters receded the extent of the damage became visible leaving behind dead grass, potholes and an incredibly uneven, hard surface. The competition was spotted by under 13 player Harry Russell, who thought this could be a life line for the pitch and persuaded his dad and assistant team coach Paul to enter. Paul said: “Winning Pitch to Win is a brilliant way to turn round what has been a very tough season. The state of our pitch meant that we simply couldn’t play on it – it really put our season in jeopardy. It was only thanks to the tremendous hard work of our groundsman that we managed to finish the season at all. “South Newton is a relatively small club, with a long and celebrated history and great ambitions for the future, but we have extremely
limited resources. Briggs & Stratton’s help is the answer to our prayers as it will allow us to improve the drainage and cure the problems so we can create a great playing surface and hopefully have a much better season next year.”
“...the team came up with its own ‘flood proof football kit...” To help the entry the team came up with its own “flood proof football kit” (picture on the next page) to help them face the wet conditions with the players turning up to practice with snorkels, rubber rings, flippers and even a surf board! As well as the £3000 pitch makeover, the team will also receive a season’s sponsorship and a brand new kit to replace their flood proof option! Ian Small, UK sales and marketing manager at Briggs & Stratton, commented: “We were inundated with entries for Pitch to Win, perhaps as a result of the bad weather and flooding at the beginning of the year. The standard of entries was really high and judging was not easy, but South Newton and Wishford’s entry really stood out.
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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
Seeking A New Club? Life’s A Beach Sometimes.
As my holiday draws to an end, I’ve had the past seven weeks to relax, unwind and reflect on last season. This is normally a good time to give the body a rest from the intense campaign it has endured, travelling up and down the country and pushing yourself through that pain barrier.
I’m doing the same thing again as I prepare for the joys of pre-season training. The words “pre-season” are almost obscene and it is the month that every footballer dreads.
While I was having a welldeserved rest, I also took a break from writing the articles that I had been producing weekly for TSF throughout the past season.
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It has been a great passion of mine to write and express my opinions and I’ve now had a bit of spare time to put together a few more thoughts … as I sat around the pool soaking up the sun!
During my time off, I also managed to attend the Conference play-off final at Wembley, in which Cambridge United defeat Gateshead 2-1 to earn a place back in the Football League after a nineyear absence. It was the U’s who I tipped as the dark horses before the season started, so I’m keen to mention my tip in this article! See TSF questioning my tip below…
Watching the game from the stands, and seeing players I have once played with and against perform in one of the best stadiums in the world, was tough. “...playing at Wembley has always been a dream of mine...” But it has me chomping at the bit now. Playing at Wembley has always been a dream of mine, from when I was a young kid. It is something that I would relish and it will give me extra fire in my belly to achieve this at some point before I hang up those boots.
Who knows? Next season, it could be me. That’s everyone’s objective, surely? This summer has been rather quiet in terms of activity at clubs. Not much business has been done, which must be quite daunting for a lot players out there. I can speak on behalf of many of those who were – or still are – out of contract. It’s the worst time of the year for any player who faces that uncertainty. It raises huge cause for concern, if you have yet to find a Web: thesecretfootballer.com Twitter: @tsfnonleague Facebook: /TSFootballer
club, but this is how football is in today’s modern game further down the football pyramid. I am fully aware that clubs work a strategic process these days. They wait patiently for players, knowing that the closer it gets to pre-season, the more the players panic. This can result in the club signing players on a cheaper contract than they could have done four to five weeks earlier. Having been out of contract at the end of last season, I was fully aware of the issues I may face – like thousands of other players in the same position. It becomes a cattle market of free agents all chasing the same goal. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried that, if I hadn’t found a club by the end of June, I would be in a position that could potentially see me unemployed and not knowing how to pay the mortgage.
It is a time filled with mixed emotions. Fortunately, I had calls from a few managers that gave me the option of deciding where to sign next. Nonetheless, for two weeks, my phone followed me everywhere. I was waiting for it to ring with good news. Conversely, there are still players
without a club, with pre-season training already started for some clubs and the rest starting next week. I know how they feel. The clock is ticking down and the longer it goes on, the weaker their position becomes and the weaker the deal on the table. That’s the harsh reality. As positive and strong as you may be mentally, there comes a time when it starts to hit home. In my experience, a lot of clubs are messing players around. They’re waiting for the player who will accept their first offer on the terms that they have offered him. This is usually the younger player, a 21- to 22-year-old who will jump at the chance of signing for a full-time club. The financial side won’t be an issue as they have no commitments, a mortgage or family to feed. I know one player who was offered a contract from a manager and was given a few days while on holiday to consider whether or not to accept. After returning from holiday, he was informed that the offer had been withdrawn and that the manager had signed another player. This lad had already made his mind up as soon as he received the
Web: thesecretfootballer.com Twitter: @tsfnonleague Facebook: /TSFootballer
offer but just needed a few days to decide. He also anticipated another club making a rival offer. Nothing came through and, three weeks later, he is in the same boat. One or two close pals of mine are in this position.
decision and be totally honest. I’m aware that it isn’t a bad position to be in, having two clubs wanting you and offering you an healthy deal. However, I knew that it was a life-changing decision, one which would include relocating to another part of the country away from my family and home.
“...There comes a time in your career when you “...it was a life-changing have to make big decisions, one which decisions...” would include relocating to another There comes a time in your career when you have to make big part of the country...” decisions. Your head tells you one thing and your heart tells you another. You have to weigh up the pros and cons. Do you do what’s best for yourself and your family? Do you do what’s best for your career, your development and progression? Do you relocate in order to secure a lucrative contract that will be financially better and give you the security and stability you crave? These are the questions I was asking myself when I was left with a decision between two clubs – an ultimatum. The decision I made four weeks ago was the hardest I have had to make in my career. And when I made the call to both managers, I knew I had to fully believe in that
Football is such a short career; the average shelf life of a player is eight years. Which is nothing, considering I left school at 16 thinking that I would retire at some age between 35 and 40. Maybe Ryan Giggs is a one-off, after all. To put matters in perspective, it may sound rather glamorous having the chance to jet away to a sunny beach and put your feet up for seven weeks. However, it can go the opposite way and dictate the rest of your career – as you sit in the frustrating limbo of waiting for a club to make a decision on you and your future. For some players, you can wait and wait and...
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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 One Injuries in cricket are quite common, even though it is a noncontact sport. The most frequently occurring injuries are those resulting from collisions, which include being hit by the ball, or collisions with other players or the boundary fence. Other common injuries sustained during cricket activities are strains or tears of muscles or tendons in the leg, shoulder and ankle. Proper sports equipment, general fitness and good technique are key to avoiding injuries in cricket. A good warm-up and cool-down programme for before and after play, and conditioning, cardiovascular fitness and technique training before and during the season, are very important to help prevent injury.
Cricket is predominantly played in the heat of summer, which means that there is an increased risk of dehydration, heat exhaustion, heatstroke and sunburn. Wearing a hat and using a high SPF suncream will help to protect the eyes and skin from the damaging effects of the sun. Avoiding playing in the middle of the day and regularly drinking fluids will reduce the risk of heat related illness. At all levels it is important that appropriate first aid is available at matches and training sessions. The ECB recommends that it is good practice to have a first aid kit for all teams, including senior teams. The ECB does not provide guidance on the required contents for first aid kits; it’s down to the cricket club to determine the most appropriate
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contents for their teams. In this two part article, we’ll look at four of the most common injuries in club cricket. In part one the focus will be on the causes, treatment and prevention of hamstring injuries and sprained ankles. In next month’s article we’ll cover shoulder and finger injuries.
What causes hamstring injuries in cricket? Hamstring strains sustained while playing cricket are caused by excessive stress on the muscles during explosive bursts of movement while bowling, or quick changes of direction while batting, or lunging or jumping while fielding the ball. Because of the sudden forceful acceleration, the hamstrings can be stretched beyond their limits and the muscle tissue can be torn. Cricketers are prone to hamstring strains because they are often required to sprint after a long period of standing relatively still.
“...in severe hamstring injuries the injured person may feel a popping sensation...” The symptoms of a hamstring strain may include pain, swelling
and skin discolouration. The muscle will often spasm (seize up) and feel tight and tender. In severe cases the injured person may feel a popping sensation accompanied by a high level of pain in the affected leg. Walking may be restricted due to tightness in the muscle. How do you treat a hamstring strain? Mild hamstring strains can be treated by following the RICE protocol: • Rest – avoid physical activity during the first few days after the injury. • Ice – apply an ice bag or instant cold pack to your stretched hamstring for about 20 minutes, up to every two hours for the first three days (don’t apply ice directly to the skin). • Compression – a compression bandage, such as cohesive or crepe bandage, can help reduce bruising and swelling. Apply the bandage from below the injured area and extend above the injured area. Compression can be applied while cooling the injury by wrapping the cold pack in place. • Elevation – keep your leg slightly raised while sitting to help reduce swelling.
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It’s important to seek immediate medical attention for any form of hamstring strain for a full diagnosis of the injury. If a mild hamstring strain is diagnosed, the doctor may prescribe pain relief medication and refer you to physiotherapist for treatment. In severe cases, where the hamstring has ruptured, the doctor may recommend surgery to stitch the damaged tissue. How do you prevent a hamstring strain? In cricket, where a match can be played for hours at a time, it is important to keep the muscles warm and the joints loose, particularly just before batting or bowling, as players are often inactive before this, making them more susceptible to injury. Undertaking thorough warm-ups including dynamic stretches and sport-specific drills can help reduce the risk of injury and these exercises can be undertaken throughout the game. It’s particularly important that the warm-up sessions include hip extension exercises to wake up the muscles involved in hip extension before you play. Strengthening the hamstring muscle can also improve your performance and reduce the risk of injury.
What causes sprained ankles in cricket? Ankle sprains can happen when bowling, batting or fielding, so they are among the most common cricket related injuries.
A sprained ankle is caused by a sudden forceful twisting motion which over stretches the ligaments on the outside of the ankle. This sprain injury usually results from the ankle being twisted inwards, following a sudden change of direction (such as turning at the wickets, or fielding a ball), or on an uneven surface (such as accidentally standing on a cricket ball). The foot may also twist inwards if it doesn’t land properly during the bowling action.
“...common symptoms of a sprained ankle include tingling pain, stiffness, a feeling of weakness in the joint and swelling and bruising...” The most common symptoms of a sprained ankle include tingling pain, stiffness, a feeling of weakness in the joint and swelling and bruising around the ankle (this may take several hours to develop).
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If the ankle is sprained, movement of the foot will be restricted and the ankle may be unable to bear weight if the sprain is more serious. A more serious injury, such as a broken bone or torn ligaments, should be suspected if there is severe pain, swelling and bruising, which will require urgent medical attention.
“...A more serious injury such as broken bones or torn ligaments will require urgent medical attention...” How do you treat a sprained ankle? The immediate treatment for sprained ankle is the RICE protocol (as above). Resting and elevating the injured ankle, and cooling and compressing the joint, will help to reduce the pain and swelling and to prevent further damage to the already injured tissues.
Anti-inflammatory medication and pain relief may also be prescribed to control pain and further decrease swelling. In severe cases, where there is a tear in the ligament, surgery may be necessary.
For an accurate diagnosis of any ankle sprain injury it’s important to always seek attention from a qualified medical professional, to ensure that the correct treatment is given.
“...wearing supportive footwear, which is suitable for cricket, will help to protect the ankle and feet...” How do you prevent a sprained ankle Wearing supportive footwear, which is suitable for cricket, will help to protect the ankle and feet. Some cricketers also wear ankle braces or strapping to provide extra support and protection. Before training or a match it's essential to warm up the ankles with mobility exercises to minimise the risk of injury. A good warm-up routine which includes stretching will increase blood flow to the supporting muscles around the ankles, help to increase flexibility in the joints and boost the bodies proprioceptive (balance sense) awareness.
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Sports psychology David Harrison from Pinnacle Performance (www.pinnacleperformance.co.uk and @PinPerform looks at what we can learn & apply from Sports Psychology.
How To Be Successful At A World Cup The World Cup 2014 in Brazil is coming into its final stages and this festival of football will provide lots examples of the importance of the mental side of the game in major tournaments. I am going to present the importance of the mental skills and qualities needed for a player to be successful in the World Cup. This is based on the book I have written (to be published very soon!) on the elements needed for success and winning and what better place to be successful and win than the biggest stage in world football in Brazil. The book is called the Journey and the elements for success, which I have broken down into 3 key Building Blocks and 3 Principles, can be found in the story of every successful person who has been
Successful and in every performance environment including those that won the World Cup.
“...the elements for success can be found in the story of every successful person...� The first of the Building Blocks is Awareness. Players in the World Cup in Brazil need to be aware of their strengths and weaknesses in their individual and team games. They must play to these strengths when they are competing in the tournament but be aware of their weaknesses.
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Major tournaments don’t come around often (The World Cup is every four years) so players have to go out and perform and play to win.
“...These tournaments are not a place to try to focus on weaknesses...” These tournaments are not a place to try focus on weaknesses. Players and teams that are aware of their strengths and play to them will maximise their chances of winning.
There must also be awareness of the opposition and the conditions; What are the strengths of the other teams in the tournament and how can their strengths exploit the weaknesses of the opposition? We have heard about the humid conditions so players need to be aware of this. Those who have done something to prepare for this will be in a better position to win. As we can see the opposition and conditions are outside of the control of individual players so players that have an internal focus and concentrate solely the things that they can control will do better in the tournament. This is the first principle, Control the Controllables. Players must control the things they
can so they can influence as much as possible the things needed to win in football. The second Building Block is Belief and this is essential in a major tournament like Brazil 2014. Players need to have positive and strong beliefs that can drive them on their Journey in the World Cup. They have to have belief in their own ability and that they deserve to be there. This will propel them to play to win.
“...players with the best balance, in all aspects of life, will have the best chances of winning...” The final of the 3 Building Blocks is Balance and players with the best balance (both on the pitch and in all aspects of their life) will have the best chances of winning. To have this they needed to have spent time (difficult with the professional season just finishing so as much as possible) with the all the different aspects of their life (family etc) before the tournament and then allocate time for this after the World Cup has finished. There must also be balance in the team, where everyone has a role and there are is in no imbalance in positions, personalities and roles.
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These Building Blocks are supported by the last 2 Principles of Hard Work and Extend Your Comfort Zone. A major tournament is hard work in both the preparation and the actual event. Players should have worked hard to prepare for the tournament and the conditions. Only players who have worked hard during their career to this point will be at the tournament. The final Principle is Extend Your Comfort Zone and those players that have worked hard and prepared right will have been on the edge of their comfort zone to be in the best shape physically, mentally and technically for the World Cup. Whichever player and team uses the Building Blocks and Principles outlined in the Journey will have a great World Cup and maximise their chances of lifting the trophy. Hopefully Brazil will do this (I have them in the sweep stake!).
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 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