The Grassroot Magazine May 2014 by Grassroot Media

Contents 4 MD’s Letter 5 Club Corner Special Three club corner’s!! 16 Wi-Fi Survey And Thoughts From Our Clubs The results of our club Wi-Fi survey and what our clubs think about it 23 The Grassroot Cricket Groundsman Ian tells us what he thinks we should be doing this month 26 Club Funding News News of two big funding results 33 Sports Therapy Are your players balanced & stable? No? Have a read of this... 36 Earn Money For Your Club With The Cricket Paper Earn commission on subscriptions 39 Colin Smith Colin speaks about a partnership between him and Bosham FC

43 The Secret Non-League Footballer TSFNL is on his holidays - well, not quite, but he’s writing about it 47 Sports First Aid A very serious condition is in focus this month: Sudden Cardiac Arrest 51 Club Sustainability Andy looks at your pitch 55 Sports Psychology with David Harrison David gives us the low-down on the “Ginger Mourinho’s” epic season 58 Twitter Directory 60 Block Shop Protect skin & make £ for your club 62 Sponsor A Local Club Help build something to help you 64 Player Fitness With Isaiah Barrett Body shapes & what they should do 68 VS Cricket

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.

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The MD’s Letter Hello and welcome to May’s magazine. It’s been an interesting, and very busy, month as a lot of you know. We’ve had a new brand come on board, Yorkshire Tea, and I’ve been out and about a lot drumming up support for us all in ad-land. I’m really happy with the Yorkshire Tea campaign as again, it’s not just about money. It’s a brand that I get the impression is really trying to connect with grassroots sport and those that play it or run the clubs that put it on. You’ll see a lot of Club Corner’s in this issue; I had such a great response to the email I sent out that I thought why not make it in to a bit of a special, so we’ve got three very different corners for you. I’m writing this on the 8th May and the big news this week has been the FA Commission report - I haven’t got time to get across my thoughts and concerns about this in any detail (I have many) but I’ll simply let you know who I think the winners and losers will be if it is all implemented: Winners: The FA, The Premier League, anyone who sells 3G pitches Losers: Anyone in Leagues 1 or 2 and Steps 1-4, anyone who loans players from Premier League or Championship clubs At step 5 or below, it’ll simply be business as usual - I think. I’ll give you more of my thoughts on it if you ask but I won’t ram it down your throats! I hope you enjoy this month’s magazine.

Mat Court

Club Corner Special: Gateshead Fell Cricket Club Mark Lockey, Treasurer at Gateshead Fell Cricket Club of County Durham 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... Gateshead Fell Cricket Club situated in the North East of England. We play in the North East Premier League and have around 500 members with five senior sides (four male and one female) and three junior sides (under 11’s, u13’s and u15’s).

Have you had any famous players pull on the shirt? We have been lucky enough to have quite a few famous players, and here is a selection of some of the talent we’ve had around the club: • Richie Richardson (1985 and 1986). When he returned in 1986 he was ranked in the top 10 batsmen in the world! • Damien Martin (early 1990’s).

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Marcus North (2000, 2002 and 2003). Chris Martin (2004). Callum Ferguson (2005) Tom Latham (2011) – Tom broke (and still holds) the league run scoring record when only 18 Graeme Onions – Graeme came through our junior set up and joined Durham’s Academy at an early age.

Tell us something interesting about your club... We have a strong affiliation with local football club Gateshead FC.

“...We have a strong affiliation with Gateshead Football Club...” 6

Who does what at the club to do with revenue generation/ sponsorship? We have a healthy bar which turns over c£250K per year. We have a sub-committee who focus on getting sponsorship from local businesses. We have a subfundraising committee who organise events on a regular basis.

Have you got any advice for other clubs in our network looking to be more successful when it comes to generating funds? We have found that doing smaller events (race nights, band nights etc..) more often has generated more funds in recent times that relying on one large event (such as a sporting dinner etc..)

What do you find is the best approach to getting advertisers and sponsors in and around the club? It’s often difficult for potential sponsors to see what they will ‘get back’ from their sponsorship however as an incentive, as well as advertising boards etc. we let any club sponsors use our function room and ground free of charge for any staff/corporate functions they wish to hold.

We try to approach potential sponsors with the angle that it will be a two-way affair (i.e. we will support any events they may have).

“...we try to approach sponsors with the angle that it will be a two-way affair...” Have you had particular success in selling to particular markets? No, not particularly.

Which brand would be your perfect sponsor and why? We haven’t got a preferred brand but always look to target local businesses. Are you involved in any other sports? Is there anything our clubs can learn from clubs outside of cricket and football? We’re only involved in cricket. Have you got a Twitter page our other clubs can make contact with you on? @GatesheadFellCC

Club Corner Special: South Northumberland Cricket Club Gordon Halliday, Secretary at South Northumberland Cricket Club in Newcastle talks to us about their 150th birthday.

Tell us a bit about your club... what do you do, where are you, which leagues, how many members etc... It’s our 150th anniversary this year. In the last 11 years we have won the North East Premier league 8 times, the National Club Championship twice and the National Twenty/20 once. We have over 250 junior members who benefit from our 5 lane indoor cricket centre giving us cricket opportunities all year round. In fact our facilities are quite sought after in the area; We have SLAs with the Northumberland Cricket Board and the Newcastle School for Boys to use our indoor and outdoor facilities summer and winter. We also host Northumbria University matches and both Northumbria and Newcastle Universities use our indoor facilities for winter practice.

We are hosting the Unicorns v Sri Lanka A match on 18 July, the Northumberland v Lincolnshire 3 day Minor County Match from 2022 June and the Durham v Warwickshire one day match on 31 July. Our 1st XI are playing MCC on 8 August. We hosted Northumberland Ladies v German Ladies on 20 April. Have you had any famous players pull on the shirt? Our Head Coach is the former Durham CCC bowler Mel Betts who runs one to one master classes, holiday camps etc. In 2010 we had four players in the North East Premier League ‘Team of the Decade’. Reon King was our club professional in 2004. Tell us something interesting about your club... We have had five name changes throughout our 150 years in existence.

Who does what at the club to do with revenue generation/ sponsorship? Our main revenue raising event each year is our Sporting Dinner which is took place this month. We had 450 guests attending with Aggers as the main speaker. The event raises over £20k each year. Our previous two speakers were Bumble last year and Michael Vaughan the year before. We have been successful this year in being awarded a £50k grant from Sport England's Inspire scheme to improve the car parking, entrance and disabled access to the club. We are also installing a new £20k electronic scoreboard with a 85% interest free loan from ECB paid back over the next 5 years.

“...work closely with your County Cricket Board...” Have you got any advice for other clubs in our network looking to be more successful when it comes to generating funds? Work closely with your local County Cricket Board who can provide invaluable advice on sources for grants and loans.

What do you find is the best approach to getting advertisers and sponsors in and around the club? We have a Director whose remit is to maximise our sponsorship and advertising revenue. We tailor our offer to individual needs corporate packages, advertising boards etc.

“...we tailor our commercial offers to meet individual needs...” Have you had particular success in selling to particular markets? Our Sporting Dinner is aimed at the corporate market where the financial returns are highest.

Are you involved in any other sports? Is there anything our clubs can learn from clubs outside of cricket and football? Tennis and hockey used to be played at our ground but we are now exclusively a cricket club. Have you got a Twitter page our other clubs can make contact with you on? @SNBulls

South Northumberland CC – A Brief History 1864 - Club forms as ‘Bulman’s Village Cricket Club’ 1866 - Renamed ‘Gosforth Cricket Club’ 1880/81 - Lawn tennis introduced & ground extended by 2 acres 1882 - Renamed ‘South Northumberland Cricket Club’; new pavilion built 1905 - Renamed ‘South Northumberland Cricket and Tennis Club’ 1905-06 - Tyneside Senior League Division B champions 1906-09 - Tyneside Senior League A Division champions 1926-27 - Ground purchased for £5,500 and limited company formed 1933 - New pavilion and tearoom built (Jenneson Taylor donations) 1936 - New scoreboard and wicket covers (Jenneson Taylor donations) 1955-56 - Chandu Borde (professional) takes 168 wickets in 2 seasons 1955, 56, 57 (joint), 61, 65 (joint) & 67 - Northumberland League champ’s 1964 - Club centenary; indoor nets built; 4 hard tennis courts renewed 1967 - Fire destroys bar 1977 - John Bradford NCL Player of the Year; U17 XI win league & Cup 1981 - Gordon Halliday North East Cricketer of the Year 1988/97 - Northumberland County League champions 1988/89 - Chris Harker League Bowler of the Year 1989-2014 - Clive Goatman longest serving Club Treasurer 1999 - Renamed South Northumberland Cricket Club 2003 - Development of Newcastle Cricket Centre, link to clubhouse and all weather artificial wickets following sale of land to Barratt Homes 2003-08, 2011, 2012 - 1st XI North East Premier League champions 2003-14 - John Graham longest serving 1st XI captain 2005-07 - Under 13 XI reach ECB national finals at Oakham 2006 - Cockspur Cup winners (Lords); take part in Barbados pro-am 2007 - 1st XI defeat Lashings World XI 2008 - Cockspur Twenty/20 national champions (Cardiff) 2010 - National Club Championship winners (Derby) 2010 - John Graham, Chris Hewison, Lee Crozier and Stephen Humble selected in NEPL Team of the Decade 2014 - 150th Anniversary of club

Club Corner Special: Billericay Cricket Club Dave Randall from Billericay Cricket Club in Essex talks us through 139 years of club history and what the club is doing to make itself a success.

Billericay CC was founded in 1875 and initially played games on Laindon Common. With the building of the railway from London to Southend in the 1890s the club became one of the strongest in Essex as the travelling workers joined the club.

development of the town to become the 40,000 London dormitory that it is today. In the clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 1975 centenary year Toby Howe sold the ground to the club at the same price he had paid for it several years earlier which was a lot less than the 1975 market price. Soon after the club started the search for new premises to cater for the expanding demand for cricket in Billericay, but it was not until 1996 that the club moved to its new ground in Blunts Wall Road where it plays today. Appropriately the ground is named after Toby Howe in recognition of his foresight and generosity.

In the early 1920s the club moved to a field alongside the railway in Mountnessing Road which was to become its home for the next 70 years. The field was initially rented but was purchased by the then chairman Toby Howe as he witnessed the ever increasing

The new 17 acre facility boasts; two county standard squares, initially laid by local resident Harry Brind, who at that time was the ECB head groundsman and responsible for the fastest track in the country at The Oval, a two-storey

clubhouse and a two lane indoor net.

Today Billericay run 5 Saturday Teams in the Shepherd Neame Essex League, a Sunday XI, a T20 XI, a midweek vets XI and colts teams for age groups 9 to 16. The clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success peaked in 1999 when each of the league teams finished 1st or 2nd in their respective premier divisions. At this time Ian Pont the former Essex player and more recently Bangladeshi coach and former Essex player Neil Burns donned the clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shirt to represent us and more recently former Essex player Barry Hyam, now Essex 2nd XI coach has appeared for Billericay. During the late 1990s a number of benefit games were held by Billericay for Essex players including one for England captain Nasser Hussain in the year of the eclipse when marquees were set up and 300 corporate guests enjoyed some fine entertainment

from a strong Nasser team against a celebrity XI put together by sporting entrepreneur Barry Hearn. Essex CCC regularly use the ground for 2nd XI games, youth representative matches, school finals and Essex women county games. Billericay CC has also hosted a first class fixture when the Essex Board XI played Warwickshire, including Nick Knight, Trevor Penney and the great South African fast bowler Alan Donald in a Natwest Trophy match. A few years ago, the fledgling Afghanistan side played Essex 2nd XI at Billericay CC and this year will see 6 more international teams step onto our turf when we host the ICC Pepsi Europe Div 2 tournament in June this year, which is a qualifier for the next T20 World Cup.

World Cup T20 comes to Billericay Billericay will host 8 matches in the ICC Pepsi Europe Div 2 qualifying tournament. Tuesday June 24th 10am Germany v Isle of Man & Belgium V Norway 3pm Austria v Norway & Belgium v Isle of Man

Thursday June 26th 10am Belgium v Germany & Norway v Gibraltar 3pm Norway v Germany & Gibraltar v Isle of Man Admission is free Dave Randall is the committee member responsible for Marketing & Fund Raising at the club. Dave was responsible for organising the benefit matches of the late 90s and says “in those days I had a lot of City contacts, persuading them to spend £500 on corporate entertainment was easy. These days I no longer have the contacts and the attitude to entertaining & donations to clubs is very different, making the task more difficult. We are fortunate to have a local Solicitors firm Paul Robinson LLP as our major sponsor for shirts and our bar supplier has a shirt collar sponsorship but outside of this I have to rely on local companies with small sponsorship funds taking banner or fixture card advertising and we have a few clubhouse ad boards similar to those provided by Grassroot Media.” Billericay CC sees the future as reaching into the local community, building relationships with local service clubs: Rotary, Round Table and Lions and having attained Clubmark in 2013, will be reaching out further to schools as they build

a team of qualified coaches. Four young level 1 coaches have been funded to attend the ECB level 2 course this year to support an expanding colts section. Terry Charrington, probably the best coach in Essex, recognised by Nasser Hussain for developing him to England stardom, has based himself at Billericay.

‘Right now we are asset rich and cash poor.’ says Dave, “the burden of maintaining a country estate stretches our resources. Fortunately the club has a reasonable number of volunteers who dedicate over 3000 hours of voluntary time to running Billericay CC. We have to use this asset as much as possible to raise cash; hiring out the clubhouse for parties & functions and the indoor nets to other clubs in the winter is key. We’ve established a niche midweek market for wakes; the peaceful neutral surroundings with good car parking and bar facilities is proving popular.” Also, we seek to maximise the opportunities that fall our way, hosting the David English Bunbury Festival, the Matchplay semi finals, Kwik Cricket Finals, the SNEL T20 finals and this year the Pepsi ICC T20 tournament when we will be providing a full bar and catering at club prices, running a raffle and generally networking with those who attend.

Wi-Fi and mobile data coverage in clubs Last week we asked our cricket clubs whether they had Wi-Fi or not installed and quite a few came back asking for the results, so here they are.

To help me with a bit of pitch work for a mobile app advertiser I thought it would be a good idea to try and prove to them that our clubs would be relevant as a lot of them had Wi-Fi, meaning people could download the app if it were advertised with us. I’m still working on that pitch but many more clubs responded than I thought they would and unexpectedly quite a few asked for the results. So I thought I’d share them with you and my thoughts on Wi-Fi. As you know it wasn’t the

most scientific survey in the world, all we did was send an email out to our Club Leaders asking them if they had: 1. Wi-Fi installed at their club 2. If not whether they generally had good 3G mobile coverage A total of eighty clubs responded and: • 42 (53%) said they had Wi-Fi • 30 (37%) said they didn’t have Wi-Fi but did have a good 3G mobile signal • 8 (10%) said they had neither I like pie charts, so here’s a pie chart showing the results:

Wi-Fi 3G but no Wi-Fi No Wi-Fi or 3G

But what does it mean? Well I’m no expert but I was asked my opinion so I’ll share it with you... I think in today’s connected world Wi-Fi, or another solid data connection is important for many people. By another solid data connection I mean a 3G signal. You only have to go to a pub and have a look around at how many people are glued to their mobile phones to see how important a data connection is. Now, we may agree or disagree whether this is a good or a bad thing but people want it (they may even think they need it) and clubs have to think about whether they want to give the customers what they want or not. If you’ve got strong 3G signals then I don’t think it’s such a big issue as to whether you have Wi-Fi or not, 3G is pretty quick - certainly quick enough for a lot of the basic social media app’s people will probably be using on your sites. I think it could be an issue though for those clubs that don’t have either Wi-Fi or 3G coverage, and that if you’ve got neither it could be an easy win to give your players/customers what they want. I don’t think you have to be worried about players being more

interested in their mobile phones than the game they are supposed to be playing or watching, in my opinion we’re past that as a society and we might as well roll with it rather than be stubborn and try to fight it. There are many firms out there that offer Wi-Fi services but I’ll not go in to them as I don’t want to recommend any and I don’t know enough about the in’s and out’s of the subject commercially. What I do know though is that it could be relatively cheap if you’ve already got a phone line going in to your club house. I know our WiFi/broadband at home is a matter of a couple of pounds a month because a) it’s not very fast and b) it’s discounted because we take the phone line with the same company. I’d imagine though that if you haven’t got a phone line then it could be a bit more expensive. I asked our member clubs that already have Wi-Fi installed and operating if they wanted to share their thoughts on whether it’s worth having or not; over the next few pages are a selection of the comments I received back. It’s a lot more insight and opinion than I could ever give you myself...

“Yes it’s worth it, but I have little justification for this view though.” Ed Lennard - Old Parkonians “We got our Wi-Fi for free through our Sky deal which is run in association with the ECB. “It now allows us to do live scoring for our 1st XI matches. Which means people can watch ball by ball updates of the games from anywhere in the world.” Tom Clarke - Harold Wood CC “Our present view is while going through a financial sticky patch, an internet connection, though available, is not a priority.” Anonymous member cricket club “From our point of view there is almost an expectation that Wi-Fi is accessible but only for certain times - however this being predominantly for Meetings/Conferences and password protected from any casual user. “We perceive that it would only become a major issue if crowds became larger and larger and were requesting access. Therefore at the moment we will continue to retain password protection.” David Shelton - Birmingham County FA Headquarters

“Our Wi-Fi is used by most of our members for club work as well as personal use. We use it for various reasons such as; entering scorecards onto play cricket, emailing, tweeting as well as personal use. “We find that by having Wi-Fi players actually spend more time at the club which equates to them spending more money over the bar!” Darren Proctor - Beacon Cricket Club “We have it and think it very worthwhile. We load our teams into PlayCricket at selection which allows players to respond quickly with a yes/no decision so we know early if someone can't play. We can also load results up to the League website at the weekend. It also provides our members with access (Social Media etc.) which helps keep them at the club longer spending more over the bar.” Anonymous member cricket club “We very much need the Wi-Fi in our Club. We have to have results on the League website by midnight on the day of games. It is also invaluable after selection meetings where we can send team details out straight away.” James Redmond - Newcastle and Hartshill CC

“We use BT Broadband and it's been great for us as we can advertise the fact that we have WIFI at the club to all our visitors and members. We hold festivals at our ground and a lot of the parents can work while they watch the cricket. We also use it for committee meetings and coaching seminars. It keeps the kids amused while the parents spend money at the bar.” Steve Taylor - New Milton CC “We plumped for it this year; mainly to help our scorers to do electronic scoring so that people can monitor progress during games (via CricHQ). “We have gone with Talk Talk; it was the best offer on paper at £18.50 a month including phone line rental, and was effortless to switch from BT to them.” David Ayres - Basildon & Pitsea CC

"We have Broadband but it's quite slow, but that is probably a function of our location. Sky had an offer last year (or maybe 2012) whereby Sky subscribers could get broadband for free through their ECB scheme. However, when we applied for this they said they couldn't provide it to us because the connection was too slow. Despite that, it is something that is valued by members and as we now

have to submit scorecards to the league by email it does allow us to do that in a timely manner when it is something which can otherwise be forgotten (leading to fines).“ Gareth Ackroyd - Marsden CC

“I am 100% for clubs having Wi-Fi. At Bosham Football Club, we have found multiple benefits. Firstly, it's about being brought up in the modern era. If you're in a bar, pub, coffee shop these days, customers look for free Wi-Fi, which translates into their time being occupied longer so you make more behind the bar or in other services offered. “It also services 'Robins Radio' our live match commentary service (mixlr.com/robins_radio) which we promote through social media and our own website, and has doubled our average attendance 'virtually'. As I live in London, but the club is in West Sussex, I am also able to Skype in to committee meetings at no cost to anyone. “We use TalkTalk's unlimited package which offers one of the most competitive rates around. You have to weigh up the cost vs revenue, but per month it works out the equivalent of 3-4 players subs so was a no brainer given the wider benefit it provides.” Simon Jasinski - Bosham FC

“We installed BT broadband a few years ago when we refurbished our whole pavilion and got Sky TV etc. We did it for two main reasons; firstly because it offered our members that convenience and secondly because we wanted to future-proof ourselves for if/when our league dictates that we use Total Cricket Scorer. I'm certain it's worth it, even though our league haven't insisted on TCS yet, but we are a big club with associated tennis and hockey clubs, meaning that our bar is used all week and all year round. Smaller clubs might not benefit as much as we do.” Paul Webb - Brentwood CC “I think Wi-Fi is definitely a useful tool & essential for any club secretary. Most leagues are now moving to, if not already using play-cricket for the results service. With Wi-Fi matches can be updated and results submitted immediately. It becomes crucial at the end of the season as leagues update automatically you can have a beer & see whether you've done enough to stay up or if it's time to open the promotion champagne. “If you are scoring electronically then Total Cricket Scorer can give live updates of in-play games (for an annual fee). A more wide spread use of course is working out where your away fixture is before leaving

the club, or contact details for the opposition should there be no league handbook to hand.” Owen Griffiths - Warwick CC “Although we already had Wi-Fi in our bar area, The North East Premier League is moving towards online scoring being mandatory (at the moment the scorecard needs to be uploaded onto play-cricket quickly after a game finishes anyway) so we have access to Wi-Fi in our scorebox so anyone with a laptop or tablet can use one of the few scoring apps/software. “As mentioned we have had Wi-Fi in the bar for a couple of years now and seems to be well received by our members. We have relatively recently got a Wi-Fi connection in our function room (largely as another attraction for people wanting to hire the room for conferences, presentations etc...) and as the function room is next to our changing room players are able to access the Wi-Fi as well. Our provider is Virgin Media; we haven’t had any problems to date. I would say it is worth having.” Mark Lockey - Gateshead Fell CC “Our clubhouse has The Cloud installed and we all find it excellent and very reliable.” Sam Taylor - Seven Acre & Sidcup FC

“Whickham CC have Wi-Fi & we find it excellent for all purposes, especially as the social networking revolution keeps gathering pace. I think every club should have Wi-Fi as it facilitates clubs keeping in touch. “Wi-Fi can also be an excellent draw for marketing opportunities should businesses require a meeting room etc. therefore it can entice extra revenue by providing a business related service.” Andy Gibson - Whickham CC “We've had Wi-Fi installed at the club over the winter, and it's incredibly useful for committee meetings, etc. as it's so easy to look up certain dates and documents on iPads! It makes working at the club a lot easier, and will hopefully keep people at the club for longer. We went with Sky in the end I think, as we already have a TV deal!” Liam Burnell - Steeple Langford CC “Overall, Wi-Fi has been an asset to our club being not only used by our own members but has been widely used by the groups using our function room/hall have benefitted from internet access and therefore an added benefit to bookings, also DJ's can make use of streaming from their cloud for functions.

“We were with BT business which was good value at £18 pm but since have moved to an all in package with Titan Telecom, landline and broadband for £29.98 + VAT pm. This was through Business Energy Direct/NatWest Cricket Force .” Nick Larder - Frome CC “Worth it because you can do selection at the club and email out immediately. This keeps people in the clubhouse and spending at the bar. Ditto with other meetings which can be held in the pavilion. Very pleased with Utility Warehouse.” Mark Fordham - Harpenden CC “We have Wi-Fi from ‘The Cloud’ as part of our Sky TV subscription, and I believe we also get a discount on that as we stock Moulton Coors beers in the bar.” Anonymous member cricket club “I do not believe Wi-Fi is not something that would be worth our club getting. Mainly for cost (we removed our phone line to save money as people use mobiles now), we only have the club house open at the weekend and it would not be worth spending the money on something that would be used for just a few hours. Also while 3G is not great it’s good enough for people in our area to use internet to browse other fixture results and

social media etc. Plus mobiles are so advanced I could update club's website from my handset! Something I never thought I would be able to do when I first started it! No need for a laptop & Wi-Fi set up. “I think it is something a bigger club could benefit from i.e. from a football perspective Ryman League or an up-and-coming county league side, as spectators could access latest football scores, social media, a running commentary on website etc quicker. But with a small village club like ours, however well run, Wi-Fi would not get a great amount of use. So really it depends on where the club is in terms of FA step.” Elliot Ridley-Smith - Rotherfield FC

So what does all of that tell us? I think it tells us there are many reasons for having Wi-Fi, that clubs use it in different ways, and that some use it from the stand point of giving the club what it needs while others offer it up to give the punters what they need. If your club is thinking about going down the Wi-Fi route then perhaps a good old fashioned Pro’s/Con’s list should be drawn up to put down in black and white what you’re missing out on, and what you might get out of the investment especially if you don’t have a phone line.

One thing to bear in mind is what happens when it doesn’t work - I have first hand experience with this at Hertford Town FC where our superfast broadband Wi-Fi didn’t work most of the time. 40 phone calls & six or seven engineer visits later we’re fine but it was an ache to get it sorted. Luckily we were able to have someone down the club during the day to let engineers in to get it fixed but it took a lot of time and I’m still not sure if we’ve been refunded. But back to the point; you could canvass the thoughts of your players/members through an online survey? You’ve seen the kind of surveys we do here at Grassroot Media and we’d be more than happy to help any of you knock one together. For free of course. We could even host it for you and collate the results if you want - we already pay for the software and if it helps you, we’ll do it. Just contact Mat Court if you’d like this help. All in all, I’m not sure if this article will help you or not, but hopefully it does, or at least means you’re a bit more well-armed when Wi-Fi is next on the club committee meeting agenda. As with any club project, researching suppliers is king and Wi-Fi is no different.

The Grassroot Cricket Groundsman Ian Avery, Head of Grounds at Sutton Valence School talks you through what can be done to your cricket playing surfaces in May

May Notes I’m just looking out over the cricket ground while at work as the rain hammers at the window again, but at least it’s warm and the grass is growing (oh so fast). Last week I used my old fertiliser spreader to treat the main square unfortunately the damp had got in the fertiliser and every lump managed to block one of the outlet holes. Though it looked like an even spread, it wasn’t until the rain came I saw the fertiliser was not even; so some grass is going mad while other areas still look yellow. The lesson here is: spend some time sifting your fertiliser and take care!

“...spend some time sifting your fertiliser...”

Once a pitch has been used take time to repair it properly and within six weeks it should be playable again. The first job is take time to inspect the pitch; remove any studs etc that could damage the mower. Give the pitch a soaking and lift any indentations cause by the ball. Then, if you’re lucky enough to have a sorrel roller, run it over the pitch when wet to open the surface up. The bowlers run ups and batsman’s marks need repairing there are two methods. Firstly, if the hole is deeper than two inches mix up some damp loam. Smear damp soil in the hole and fill with the new loam so it is slightly raised. Either use some dry dust or grass cuttings to spread over the repair and then tread it down with your feet until firm. Then gently scratch the area and over-seed and cover with a

fine layer of loam. The second method is quicker and used for shallower repairs... Again, with the area wet, lift the damage up by inserting a garden fork (I use a ladies border fork with smaller tines). Lift it gently without breaking the soil and repeat around the damage until raised above the soil. With a spike or screwdriver make a hole in the middle of the damage and with dry loam fill the void using the middle hole and the fork holes. Now, this needs some experimentation to work out the correct level.

“...this takes some experimentation to work out the correct level...” Once filled up (as with the previous method) cover with dust or grass cuttings and tread down to level. Again spread some grass seed like above. If a pitch won’t be used again but you are planning to do autumn renovations, fill the holes for safety but save the seed if money is tight. Have a good month, Ian.

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

Club Funding News This month we’ve got good news from a couple of our member clubs, Leverstock Green Cricket Club in Hertfordshire and Penn Cricket Club in Wolverhampton.

Two Member Cricket Clubs Receive £150k Funding Boost I was thrilled to have a couple of good news stories land in my inbox this month, we all know that the last month’s magazine had the sad story of Westinghouse Cricket Club, which really touched a nerve with many of you, so it’s good to have something a little more positive to tell you about this time around.

current facilities, which has been putting on sport for their community since 1908. The improvements include a new pavilion, bar and meeting facilities, a multiuse room and kitchens. I’ll be looking forward to some lovely teas if I ever play there! To celebrate the award, locals and sponsors were invited to an open training session at the start of the month to meet the players and management. You can find out more about the club here: www.penncc.co.uk.

First off Penn Cricket Club have secured £50,000 from Sport England’s Inspired Facilities fund (National Lottery money).

Sport England’s Chair, Nick Bitel, said: “Two years on from the Olympics, this National Lottery investment is helping us deliver a lasting sporting legacy in Wolverhampton.

Penn applied for the money to refurbish and upgrade their

“With investment now on offer from our Inspired Facilities Fund

until 2017, we look forward to supporting many more sports clubs in the West Midlands who play such a vital role in grassroots sport.” Penn CC President, John Fellows, said: “At Penn Cricket Club we are delighted to have been awarded a Grant by Sport England towards the cost of our project to develop first class facilities for the benefit of both members and the local community.” “We would like to thank our local MP, local councillors, and the many local organisation who supported our application and in due course we look forward to welcoming you to the club.”

“...We are confident the redeveloped facility will be an asset to the local community...” “We are confident that the redeveloped facility will enhance the ground, will encourage youth development and will be an asset to the local community.” Local MP, Paul Uppal, said: “I am delighted that Penn Cricket Club

has been successful in its application for a grant from Sport England, and am excited about the new facilities and new opportunities it will bring. Having had the pleasure of visiting the club I know it will make a real difference.”

“...Hopefully Penn can produce some future England players!...” “Cricket has been a part of my life since a young age, and I hope the next generation coming through at Penn will be inspired to go on and achieve great things. Hopefully Penn can produce future England players to bring our nation success!” Well done to all involved from everyone at Grassroot Media. Over to Hertfordshire and Leverstock Green in particular... The Leverstock Green Cricket Club has received a grant from the England and Wales Cricket Trust (EWCT) of £50,000 and also a £50,000 interest free loan towards the cost of a major up-grade of their pavilion. The total project cost was approximately £195,000.

The EWCT’s grant aid programme aims to finance capital projects, including renovations to improve facilities which contribute to sustaining and increasing participation. Leverstock Green Cricket Club was identified by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Hertfordshire Cricket Board as a club of strategic and developmental importance and because of the strength of their junior programme.

“...the old pavilion has been transformed with a new roof and extension...” The Club’s President, Brian Coulshed, said: “We were all delighted when we were awarded the grant and the loan by the EWCT as this enabled us to go ahead with the project. The old pavilion has been transformed having been re-roofed and extended and the changing facilities are to ECB specification. There are two new large dressing rooms, each with integral showers and toilets, a new Umpires’ room, the kitchen and social area have been extended and there are additional toilets for our supporters. There are also

facilities for disabilities.”

people

with

“In recent years the Club has made good progress and has achieved ECB Clubmark and Focus Club status. We have four senior league Saturday teams, seven junior teams and in total we have over 90 junior cricketers at the Club. There is also a women’s and girls’ section and this season there will be some women’s fixtures – the new changing facilities will make this possible.”

“...the new changing facilities make everything possible...” “We have had wonderful fundraising support from our members and supporters and the success of the project has been a team effort. In view of the difficult economic climate we are extremely grateful to the England and Wales Cricket Trust for their most generous grant and we also acknowledge with gratitude the support given to us by the Leverstock Green Parish Trust (£10,000) and the Wells & Young Brewery Company who have given a £20,000 interest free loan.”

“We regard the grants as an investment in the cricket at the Club for the future and the new facility will benefit the local community in the long term.”

EWCT Trustee, Brian Havill, said, “The England and Wales Cricket Trust is pleased to support projects that sustain high quality participation and enhance facilities. Leverstock Green Cricket Club deserves support because of their junior development programme. Investing in worthy projects such as this one allows cricket clubs to make their facilities as accessible as possible to members, players and spectators. Having high quality cricket facilities accessible to the community will be key to sustaining participation in grass roots cricket over the coming years.”

“...Having high quality facilities will be key to sustaining participation in grass roots cricket over the coming years...”

The ECB’s National Funding and Facilities Manager, Bruce Cruse, said “The pavilion refurbishment and extension will obviously help the development of cricket at Leverstock Green Cricket Club and the new facilities will be welcomed by all the players and visitors to the club. We are confident that by investing in high quality, sustainable facilities will help cricket to retain many new participants and create more opportunities to develop sporting talent and will also benefit the local community.” Again, a big well done to all involved from everyone involved with Grassroot Media. We’re always on the lookout for news stories from our member clubs so if you have anything you’d like to share with the readers please feel free to drop Mat Court a line on mcourt@grassrootmedia.com or give us a call on 01992 27 44 27. You can find out more about both clubs here:

The Penn Cricket Club website: www.penncc.co.uk And their Twitter account: @PennCricketClub Leverstock Green Cricket Club: lgcc.hitscricket.com Twitter: @LevyGreenCC

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Sports Therapy with Square One In a new regular feature, Daniel Foster from Hertfordshire-based sports therapists ‘Square One’ looks at what you can learn about Sports Therapy

Balance And Stability Exercises To Reduce Muscle Strains And Injuries

through high energy movements such as kicking and throwing. If are muscles are not able control our movements when competing in the sporting arena it can lead to increased fatigue and incorrect use of them which can result in muscle strains and tears.

As a lot of managers and coaches know having a player out injured with a muscle injury can be a frustrating time. It is just as bad for the player, so reducing this type of injury is beneficial to everyone.

“...A way of helping players is to introduce balance and stability exercises into your sessions...”

Muscle injuries can occur for a number of factors including fatigue, repetitive strain and over exertion, trying to reduce the chance of these injuries occurring throughout a season is paramount to any club looking t o progress. Muscles have a key role in stabilising joints and your body

A simple way of helping your players to allow their muscles to function correctly and reduce the percentages of injury is to introduce balance and stability exercises into your training

sessions. A simple 5 minute balance and stability work out will allow your players to realise how their muscles should function when kicking, throwing or running during sport.

Below is an introduction into some exercises you can use: Single leg dead lifts Standing on one leg reach your arms as high as possible then take your hands forward and down to touch your toes. Fight for your balance; do not give up, 10 reps on each leg. Squats with a header Get yourself in pairs, one player will be set in a held squat, the other will feed the player 10 headers, the idea is to stay in a deep squat and header the ball back to your player. Each player will do 10 headers. Press Ups on a ball Using one ball under one hand complete a press up, roll the ball to the other hand and continue the process, 10 press ups on each side.

Ice Skaters Start with a single leg mini squat, leap sideways and land on your outside leg, with the leg in the air make a volleyed pass back to your other player, complete the movement on both side 10 times each. Make sure you bend your landing leg to control the exercise; you should never be standing on both legs.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;...our bodies need to be controlled when making explosive movements...â&#x20AC;? I hope these stability and balance exercises aid your players and give you an insight into how our body needs to be controlled when making explosive movements. If you want any more information on what we can do for you, contact us at danielfoster@squareonetherapy.co .uk

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 .

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.

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

Bosham FC’s Simon Says: I’ve Got £45k Of Funding! You may remember a few months ago that I helped Bosham F.C., who currently play in the West Sussex Football League, with a capital grant application to Inspired Facilities Sport England. This is a collaboration brought about by this publication. Well I am very proud to say that the brilliantly named Simon Jasinski, commercial manager at Bosham, has received confirmation that the funders will support his bid to the tune of approximately £45,000. This will fund ground and clubhouse improvements that will ensure the club is sustained and can grow.

The Bosham FC ‘before’ picture now there will be an ‘after’ in the not too distant future! They can now meet new mandatory ground requirements, as detailed by the Sussex County Football League if they gain promotion, and clubhouse improvements. I would just like to say a massive thank you to Grassroot Media for bringing Simon and I together to make this happen for such a hard working club. As I have said before this is a club that should act as a role model for others as they are trying to progress for the good of the whole community.

Most of all though well done Simon Jasinski. Without Simon’s drive, hard work and determination the bid would have failed. Simon and his committee have done all the groundwork to make the bid a success. This included a community consultation and gaining support from many sources. I know from experience that this takes a lot of time and effort but can be so worthwhile when you get the notification from the funders that you have been successful with your bid. What a feeling that is – not quite as good as your first son arriving but close, eh Simon?

The club have also applied to Grow the Game to increase youth participation as they will form an under 13 and under 16 team next season, with a natural progression path to their two Senior teams already in place. The groundsman, the website, the club programme and some personnel have also been nominated for various awards, but more about that another time. The Charter Standard application at Bosham has been endorsed by the Sussex F.A. and the CASC application has been submitted to H.M Revenue and Customs. All is well in the beautiful village of Bosham and the progressive football club based there. The committee have even extended a welcome to me for the annual club presentation night. Thank you guys. When I here success stories like this it gives me a great feeling and is worth more than money, even when I might have only had a small part to play. It is great that funders like Sport England and the Football Foundation support great projects like Bosham’s but more could be done. I recently went on a day trip to Calais and was struck by the number and particularly the quality of the football pitches I saw. Their seemed to be row after row of beautifully maintained pitches with

new looking goalposts. I mean about 50 of them in a small town like Calais. Now Dover, a similar size town, 21 miles across the English Channel has about 8 council owned pitches that are not well maintained and quite frankly are rubbish in comparison.

“...I went on a trip to Calais and was struck by the number, and quality, of the football pitches there...” We are behind other countries so more funding is needed, but to be fair you also need committed people like Simon to drive projects forward. When we were putting the SE grant together we had constant dialogue either on the ‘phone or email. This was great as things progressed at good speed and Simon and I knew we were getting there. Now I know Simon will say it wasn’t just him and that Bosham President Bob Probee also put in a lot of hard work. I don’t doubt this and their is probably other people who also contributed but believe me it was Simon who really pushed the project along. If I may say on behalf of Grassroot Media and myself congratulations to all at Bosham F.C. as you deserve every success.

If anybody would like some tips on Sport England’s Inspired Facilities funding applications let me or Mat Court know, my email address is below, as I now have two successful applications to this stream to crib from. On a personal note I have now contributed to or wholly written 34 successful grant funding projects, totalling £205,460.25 since 2007. I wish I had started sooner. I love it. So come on get your applications moving - Simon didn’t even have the funding advantage of coming from a socially deprived area, and the sky’s the limit for Bosham Football Club. Colin Smith tilmanstoneminers@hotmail.co.uk For more information on Bosham Football Club please visit their website: www.boshamfc.co.uk

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).

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...

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

‘Holiday Mode’ Makes Managers Mad

holiday and relax after a hard, intense season. For me, it has been one of my most stressful seasons for a while – undoubtedly, a rollercoaster of emotions combined with many highs and lows, both on and off the pitch. I have had a few injuries this term, which has been quite unsettling. I’ve also missed some key games through suspension and, overall, it has been very frustrating and challenging.

As yet another season draws to an end, I’ve used the last week after finishing our fixtures to reflect briefly on the past ten months.

Nonetheless, I have finished the season strongly – always a good way to end it.

As is customary, it goes very quickly and, before you know it, you’re either out of contract, worrying about your next income or just excited to get away on

What I have noticed, more importantly, is the way in which approaching the end of a campaign is similar to when you approach the end of a term at school, counting

down the weeks and days. Call it unprofessional but this is the way in which players think. The atmosphere becomes rather relaxed, especially if, as a team, you haven’t got anything to play for. If you’re in a relegation battle, then understandably you are fighting for your lives. Conversely, if you are in with a chance of promotion or the play-offs, you have that fire in your belly. There are the added incentives, which every player strives for, of the promotion bonus, getting to Wembley for the play-off final, playing in a division above, a wage increase or a nice holiday at stake.

“...I have had nothing to play for...” Me? I have had nothing to play for. That, in turn, creates a “holiday mode” atmosphere, weeks before the final game of the season. Holiday mode is a term used by many infuriated managers when it comes to the final weeks of the season. It’s a living nightmare for them. They face players taking their foot off the gas and preparing themselves for the summer ahead, which will consist of six to eight

weeks on holiday and the inevitable binge drinking. It resembles school, when pupils have the option of bringing a game or toy for the last week. Players tend to let their hair down in terms of general attitude and conduct. For instance, a few McDonald’s breakfast bags start to creep into the changing-rooms on a daily basis. And the “fine system” becomes forgotten as rules and punctuality drops way off the standard it was during the season. Players start to talk about what trips they have lined up and some even start booking a lads’ break for when the season ends. The biggest lesson I have learnt is that you should never let the coaching staff hear this. It will come back to haunt you. I’ve been involved in a few of these in my time but, as I’ve grown up, I’ve realised that some of these trips are more acceptable when there has been something at stake. For example, Eastleigh FC, who have won the Conference South, have been rewarded by their very generous and wealthy owner with a paid-for trip to Las Vegas.

“...never let the coaching staff hear about any trips...”

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

This is surprising, given that the club are in the sixth tier of English football and are part-time. Still, it hasn’t stopped the chairman paying, which is a nice reward. What strikes me most, though, is that the players will have the flights and hotel paid for but the “spends” is the most expensive thing to consider when travelling to Vegas. You only have to read the first book of “The Secret Footballer” to realise that. For the Eastleigh players, I am very well aware of the big wages that some of their players earn. In fact, some of their players earn more than a lot of League 2 players. But the rest of the squad don’t. So I do congratulate them. That said, I hope that they don’t get too carried away and spend their life savings!

“...I hope that they don’t get too carried away and spend their life savings!...”

contract so the mood determines whether the manager puts out his retained list before the trip. I’ve been in this position; When we had a trip to Magaluf a few years back, the gaffer had meetings with us the morning before flying. Fortunately for me, I was offered a new deal. I was contemplating not going as I wasn’t sure how I would be able to deal with facing being released and then having to share the next few days with the lads who had been offered new terms and were relishing the trip. It was a very subdued atmosphere when we boarded the plane to Magaluf later that day. Half a dozen lads who had been released that morning stayed strong and made it. But after a few little “fellas” on the plane, the mood soon changed and everyone enjoyed it. For those players in that position this summer, I salute you for remaining strong-minded. Or for being daft enough to endure it, however much that horrible feeling awaited when you returned. That harsh reality check, along with hundreds of other players, of being out of contract and having to join the cattle market.

The mindset of a player approaching the end of the season can be very erratic. If a team are planning a team holiday for when it is all over, it can be very tricky. The Sadly, later this summer, I could be majority of the team may be out of one of them. Web: thesecretfootballer.com Twitter: @tsfnonleague Facebook: /TSFootballer

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

Sudden Cardiac Arrest Data from the British Heart Foundation indicates that, every year in the UK, at least 60,000 people will suffer a sudden cardiac arrest outside of hospital. Without treatment, the current UK survival rate varies from as low as 2% to 12%.

However, when bystanders intervene by giving CPR and using automated external defibrillators (AEDs) before the emergency services arrive, the survival rate climbs to between 50 to 75%. What is sudden cardiac arrest? Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is when the heart fails to beat properly due to an unexpected

electrical disturbance. When SCA occurs, the ventricles of the heart are unable to deliver blood to the body because they start to quiver chaotically (ventricular fibrillation (VF)) rather than contracting in a regular rhythm. The pulse will stop quickly and blood flow to the brain will drop resulting in a loss of consciousness. Without emergency treatment, casualties can die within minutes. A common misconception is that a heart attack is the same as cardiac arrest. A heart attack is different to SCA because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s triggered when part of the heartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s blood supply is reduced by a blockage in one or more arteries, which causes the heart muscle to become seriously injured or die.

Why is this relevant to sports clubs? Because the demographic for

sportspeople is generally quite young and heart conditions tend to afflict older people, it may not be immediately obvious why SCA should be a particular concern for sports clubs.

What do you do in the event of a sudden cardiac arrest? When a person suddenly collapses, loses consciousness, and is not breathing normally, they are very likely to be experiencing SCA.

The following points illustrate why SCA is a risk that sports clubs should take seriously:

“...whether or not the person survives depends largely upon the immediate intervention of bystanders...”

• For most healthy people the strain on the heart from the strenuous physical activity involved in sport is not a problem. However, a small number of sportspeople will have an undiagnosed heart condition of which they remain unaware until something happens. • While SCA often affects those who have an existing heart condition, it can also strike someone with absolutely no history of heart problems. There are no warning signs associated with SCA and anyone is at risk, even those who are fit and healthy. • Sudden cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death in the western world among adults over the age of 40. It also results in about 500 deaths a year in the UK among the under-30s. In fact, studies show that 12-16 young people die from sudden cardiac arrest every week in the UK.

Whether or not the person survives depends largely upon the immediate intervention of bystanders. There is a brief timeframe for saving the casualties life. Emergency treatment for SCA focuses on keeping the blood flowing through the body, using CPR, and restoring a normal a normal rhythm to the heart, using a defibrillator. To be effective, this treatment must be delivered quickly. If someone has collapsed, call 999 straight away and then immediately begin standard or hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) until an

automated external defibrillator can be attached to the casualty.

What does an automated external defibrillator do? An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a portable user-friendly device designed to require no special training or medical knowledge to operate, although training in basic CPR is an advantage. Its purpose is to automatically diagnose potentially life-threatening heart rhythms and deliver an electric shock if necessary to restore a normal heart rhythm. When you attach an automated external defibrillator to a casualty, the AED will provide simple audio and visual instructions which tell you what to do. In about 50% of cases the AED will detect a problem that may respond positively to an electric shock. In these instances, the AEDs automatically provide a shock if the heart is in VF, while the rescuer just has to follow the prompts. Why do sports clubs need defibrillators? Since the incident in March 2012 when Fabrice Muamba suffered a sudden cardiac arrest on the pitch during an FA Cup match between Bolton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur, the number of campaigns

calling for defibrillators to be installed in sports clubs and other public areas has increased dramatically.

“...early defibrillation is the only definitive treatment for Sudden Cardiac Arrest...” This is because early defibrillation is the only definitive treatment for SCA. This "shock" must be administered as soon as possible after the victim collapses to successfully prevent death; the chances for survival decrease 10% with every minute you wait. The UK Resuscitation Council’s guidelines on the use of automated external defibrillators state: “The scientific evidence to support early defibrillation is overwhelming; the delay from collapse to delivery of the first shock is the single most important determinant of survival. If defibrillation is delivered promptly, survival rates as high as 75% have been reported.” Given this, the advantages of having a defibrillator nearby couldn’t be clearer: for a cardiac arrest victim, it can make the difference between life and death.

Club Sustainability With Andy Carmichael

Andy Carmichael from www.sustainablecricket.com gives us more food for thought on sustainability and grassroots sport.

Pitch Sustainability Efforts to enhance the sustainability of a club often focus on the buildings, and rightly so where those structures are large consumers of energy and water or produce a high degree of waste. However, the playing surface should not be discounted as an area to consider for change, particularly at those venues where a roof and a kettle may be the height of clubhouse luxury.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;...the playing surface should not be discounted as an area to consider for change...â&#x20AC;?

Water Various cultural practices impact the volume of water required for turf management; mowing height and frequency, fertiliser use, topdressing and products such as plant growth regulators and pesticides. The rootzone used for growing is a major factor. If you are lucky enough to have a professional level, mainly sand based pitch, then demand for water could be high as the drainage tends to be much better than other materials. The role of a clay cricket pitch, however, is precisely the opposite - to retain moisture and allow you to manage the drying process in a more controlled manner, allowing the surface to harden. Covers are a major benefit in achieving this. Native 'soil' pitches (ie. whatever the local situation has given you) can behave differently if any mechanical works or amendments have been carried out. You should

aim to know what lies beneath the grass by taking a core sample and following a simple soil texture test; http://publications.naturalengland. org.uk/publication/32016 This obviously doesn't help you control the rain but it will give you some warning of how your field may behave in particular conditions.

“...you should aim to know what lies beneath the grass by taking a core sample...” Grass growth There is relatively limited accessible data regarding grass growth because trials tend to focus on other properties (colour, root growth, weight for agricultural purposes, etc).

One example from 2010 showed an average of 3-10mm per week for perennial ryegrass (the grass of choice for football, cricket pitches, rugby and others). Obviously climate and management are again factors but basically it is unlikely to grow more than a centimetre in 7 days. The prevailing idea of only reducing

the plant by a maximum of a third is based on a 1955 American root growth trial, it is overdue an update. More contemporary sources say 50% can be acceptable. So sitting on a mower three times a week is really just a waste of fuel. For golf, with the huge influence of the surface on ball roll it is understandable, but an outfield just does not need that schedule and I would leave pretty patterns to Match of the Day.

“...I would leave pretty patterns to ‘Match of the Day’...” Allowing mowing clippings to remain on the field may potentially provide a source of Nitrogen but create problems with thatch as the plant matter decays. Far better is to collect them, dispose of them properly and implement a fertiliser strategy. Fertiliser

Fertiliser use has multiple impacts on the environment, from the high energy demands of production to the polluting effects of losses from the soil into water courses, longterm impairment of the soil and the release of greenhouse gases and ammonia into the atmosphere. But

we need it. The key is having good nutrient management which reduce environmental impacts and save you money via greater efficiency. Use of fertiliser is dependent upon many factors; soil condition, existing nutrient levels, plant requirements, environment and cost are all factors.

“...a local supplier may even do a soil test for free...” Cricket additionally subjects the turfgrass to the stresses of saturation, compaction, close mowing and wear. Soil testing again will help you determine what you have and what you need. You could use the same cores that you extract to have a look at your soil type. Regional sport authority advisors usually have a scheme to do this at very little cost, a local supplier may even do it for free. The last thing you should be doing is accepting the gracious gifts of a local farmer and throwing agricultural strength fertiliser around with no idea of what it may be doing.

These three basic areas should provide a platform for greater control.

“...The last thing you should be doing is accepting the gracious gifts of a local farmer and throwing agricultural strength fertiliser around...” Armed with the knowledge of what your pitch is made of, what grass grows on it and how much nutrition is already in the ground you can start to consider the standard you are looking for, whether you need bigger works such as aeration or decompaction, and how many games the surface may be able to cope with before it is overwhelmed. This in turn will inform any funding applications and allow you to understand just what you could do with your venue.

Thanks for your time, and remember you can visit my website www.sustainablecricket.com for more.

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

Sports psychology David Harrison from Pinnacle Performance (www.pinnacleperformance.co.uk and @PinPerform looks at what we can learn & apply from Sports Psychology.

Sean Dyche â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Burnley Manager, a Great Example of Leadership who shows the Building Blocks Needed for Success (and Premier League Football!) In this monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s article I thought I would do something a little different and link two things very close to my heart; sport psychology and Burnley FC. In particular the use of belief, awareness and balance in successful leadership of sports teams. These need to be surrounded by extending your comfort zone, controlling the controllables and hard work. With all these ingredients you can maximise your chances of success and winning within your sport. The season Burnley FC have just had epitomises these and have ended in success (I will enjoy writing this!).

Sean Dyche is manager of Burnley

Football Club and one of the brightest young English managers in the game. He has shown excellent leadership qualities throughout the 2013/14 Championship season. During this season Burnley secured Premier league football with promotion to the Premier league for the second time in their illustrious history.

‘Ginger Mourinho’ (or should Mourinho be known as ‘Silver Dyche’?) as he is known to the fans has been nominated for manager of the month consistently throughout the season. Throughout his tenure at Burnley Dyche has demonstrated the building blocks needed for success in football and the principles that work with them. These include belief, awareness, and balance with the principles of controlling the controllables, hard work and extending the comfort zone in which you operate. As with any football club when Sean Dyche became manager he entered a very complex environment. For example, the fans have been wary of new managers coming in to the club after a previous manager (labelled as ‘God’ by the fans) left and turned his back on the club after setting out a long term philosophy to establish Burnley as a Premier League club. Dyche has also had very limited funds to utilise to bring in new players when compared with other teams in the division. As a result he has had to work with a very small squad of professional players and the club have operated with one of the smallest squad in the championship (and were favourites to be relegated at the start of this season). I think he was very aware

of this when he was appointed and set out, and maintained, his philosophy of operating. He has controlled his reaction to these circumstances and turned these perceived (by some) weaknesses into his advantage. When talking to the press ‘Ginger Mourinho’ gives an excellent overview of his managerial and leadership style and talks extensively about belief, philosophy, hard work and demonstrates an awareness of what is needed to compete at the Championship level. He also mentions cohesion and the small squad he works with and the need for all these individuals of a team to pull together as one to achieve targets set out at the start of the season. He has got individual players to pull together and buy into his philosophy & tactics to ensure that eleven players play as one every single game. To do this he has clearly assigned roles and responsibilities for each player and makes every member of the squad feel appreciated and wanted. He has also ensured that the players play in the present and they only consider a game at a time.

His philosophy of playing is underpinned by his beliefs. He has also instilled a strong positive belief in his players by providing them with regular strong positive reference points that they can refer to maintain confidence. This is seen when Burnley go one goal down the team pull together to drive on to compete to get back into the game. Sean Dyche is very aware of what is needed to be successful and compete at the highest level in the Championship. He is aware of his playerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strengths and areas of development. He works on those areas of development in training and uses tactics to play to the teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strengths during competitive fixtures. He also has an awareness of the opposition and their strengths but maintains his focus on his playerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strengths (which is another reference point for them to use to maintain confidence).

and the manager have set out and this is seen in their performances where they work tirelessly up to the final whistle. With his philosophy and beliefs Sean has managed to extend the comfort zone of some of the players to ensure that they're playing the best football of their careers. Consequently Sean Dyche has developed a team through his leadership style that uses the blocks of belief, awareness and balance and the principles of hard work, extending the comfort zone and controlling the controllables to exceed expectations of most (apart from Sean Dyche and the Burnley players to achieve Premier League football.

This demonstrates the great job Sean Dyche is doing of controlling the controllables. This is further supported by the fact he very rarely criticises referees. His team plays with balance and he seems a very balanced individual, always smiling and enjoying his job. His teams work incredibly hard for each other and the objectives they

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 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

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.

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

Player Fitness Isaiah Barratt In his player fitness column this month, Isaiah Barratt looks at body types and what it means for your players’ training.

What Body Type Are You? Hello everyone and welcome to this month’s article, and today I am going to cover ‘what body type are you’. As everyone is probably aware not everyone has the same frame. Whether it be bigger chest, smaller limbs, larger limbs. We are going to cover how you can tell which category you fall in to.

• • • • •

Narrow hips and clavicles Small joints (writs/ ankles) Thin build Stringy muscle bellies Long limbs

Mesomorph:

To start with here is a breakdown of the three body types:

Ectomorph:

• • • •

Wide clavicles Narrow waist Thinner joints Long and round bellies

muscle

the joints such as elliptical trainer, treadmill, stair stepper, walking, etc. You should perform aerobic exercises for at least 3 days a week for between 10-20 minutes. Include a 5 minute warm up and cool down, with the rest performed in the target zone for your heart rate.

Endomorph:

Blocky Thick rib cage Wide/thicker joints Hips as wide (or wider) than clavicles • Shorter limbs • • • •

Did you notice which category you fall into? Cool, now I’m going to go in to more depth on exactly which each type’s characteristics are and what are the pro’s and con’s of each, if there are any. Here is some information training for each body type:

Endomorph Aerobic exercise is a key factor in an endomorph weight training program. You should perform low impact aerobics that limit stress on

Endomorphs should perform high intensity exercises with minimal rest periods between sets (60 seconds or less). In order to achieve maximum muscle mass, use supersets, burns, continuous tension, iso-tension & descending sets. When doing weight training exercises, use moderate weight and higher reps (9-12 for upper body and 12-25 for lower body). Since endomorphs have naturally lower metabolisms, they need less sleep. Adjust your sleep schedule to between 7-7.5 hours a night. Ectomorph As an ectomorph, you do not want to perform much aerobic exercise since it will limit weight gain progress. Only complete 1-3 aerobic exercises per week and keep your workout at the lower end of your heart rate. Aerobic sessions should not last longer than 20 minutes. When weight training, utilize heavier weights at lower reps (5-

10) to stimulate growth in the deep muscle fibres of muscle groups. Give your muscles a rest between sets (at least 60 secs) and body part exercises (at least 5 mins). Occasionally shock your muscles by doing supersets, forced reps & other high intensity techniques. Since ectomorphs have a naturally high metabolism, more sleep is needed for proper recovery. You should sleep for at least 8 hours each night, take occasional naps and include more rest days in your weight training program. Make sure you do not train while still sore or tired. Beware of overtraining. Mesomorph Because of its inherent muscularity, the mesomorph body type responds well to heavy weight training and definition exercises. Variety of exercise is a key factor in maximizing results with several weeks spent focusing on high intensity workouts followed by the same period of low intensity exercises. A varied workout plan is best for achieving greater strength, growth and definition while avoiding burnout. If you are a mesomorph body type, you should keep your cardio workouts to 3 or less times per week at 20-30 minute sessions. Perform a 5 min warm up followed

by a 10-20 min exercise in your target heart range. End with a cool down of 5 minutes. Wind sprints work very well for mesomorphs who want to achieve both heart conditioning and leg strength. Mesomorphs adapt rapidly to conditioning & therefore need to be constantly hit with varying high intensity exercises, repetitions, sets, weight amounts & rest periods. Combining slow & moderate exercises focusing on using a full range of motion with weight training exercises that use fast reps produces good results. Include training days focusing on light/moderate training as well as heavy lift days. Utilize high intensity exercise techniques by alternating between compound sets, descending reps, partial reps, forced reps & pre-exhaustion lifts. Hitting compound muscle groups with heavy weights followed by targeted isolation and definition exercises at a rep range of 8-12 works well. Legs can be hit with both low and high reps. Muscles respond well in mesomorph body types, so be wary of overtraining. Mesomorphs can generally handle more weight and more intense workouts, so need more rest to recover adequately. Get a full 8-9 hours of sleep and take an extra day off if you are very sore or have low strength, energy or motivation.

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.

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.

If clubs score their games using this app, the scores will be