Big drop in participation

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In the past couple of years ive taken my coaching badges and as a club we have been in contact with a number of schools, only really had a response from one, although that one has been really helpful and resulted in a number of young'uns coming to training sessions, the other schools just simply couldn't be bothered or didn't reply,

Can be very dis-heartening if your willing to give up your time and put the effort in, to then receive no help when asking for it,

Im not sure how the ecb intend to try and improve this, or even help to keep adults interested, enless you really love the game I think people soon find other things to be doing on a Saturday, family etc.
 


For the record my thoughts

I got interested in cricket because my dad played and took me along. The small village I lived in had a local team kept going to this day by a small hardcore of individuals . My lad has played the game since he was 11 my Saturdays are spent watching him in the summer and I love every minute. I work at a School and talk to kids very few have any great interest. The ones that do either live near a ground or go because their dad's take them.The modern world dictates clubs have to have qualified coaches and lots of CRB vetted people, good in principle but hard for clubs to ensure they can provide enough volunteers.

Sad very sad to see local clubs go to the wall. I will certainly do my best to ensure any club I am involved with get as much help from me that I can provide.
 
For the record my thoughts

I got interested in cricket because my dad played and took me along. The small village I lived in had a local team kept going to this day by a small hardcore of individuals . My lad has played the game since he was 11 my Saturdays are spent watching him in the summer and I love every minute. I work at a School and talk to kids very few have any great interest. The ones that do either live near a ground or go because their dad's take them.The modern world dictates clubs have to have qualified coaches and lots of CRB vetted people, good in principle but hard for clubs to ensure they can provide enough volunteers.

Sad very sad to see local clubs go to the wall. I will certainly do my best to ensure any club I am involved with get as much help from me that I can provide.
Completely agree with this . Cricket clubs were where kids grew up , they had mates they kept from u11 to seniors , they turned up and watched all teams , hoping to get a call if short or just playing against the litter bin if not . From lunch till late all weekend whilst their dad looked on with a pint and talked crap with the other dads.
Too many now get ferried in by car by mam while she goes off shopping and leave as soon as the match is over. People ask whose that batting , no connection, the culture has gone so they don't last , they get attracted by the next fad.
Bit jumpers for goal posts I know but sadly it's true at many clubs the higher up you get the worse it gets . Love to go to some grounds and see 5 or 6 of the local " raggy lads" playing bin cricket as fierce as it comes, they belong
 
Completely agree with this . Cricket clubs were where kids grew up , they had mates they kept from u11 to seniors , they turned up and watched all teams , hoping to get a call if short or just playing against the litter bin if not . From lunch till late all weekend whilst their dad looked on with a pint and talked crap with the other dads.
Too many now get ferried in by car by mam while she goes off shopping and leave as soon as the match is over. People ask whose that batting , no connection, the culture has gone so they don't last , they get attracted by the next fad.
Bit jumpers for goal posts I know but sadly it's true at many clubs the higher up you get the worse it gets . Love to go to some grounds and see 5 or 6 of the local " raggy lads" playing bin cricket as fierce as it comes, they belong

Mate well said
The demise of cricket
What about playing with 10 men one of them is the scorer while the tea wife's 8 year old kid scores on ( he bats 5 next year ) another 3 are useless but keen
In a lot of cases this is what kept local teams going
Now we compete against COD the net and sky sport
Wonder why local cricket suffers........
 
Mate well said
The demise of cricket
What about playing with 10 men one of them is the scorer while the tea wife's 8 year old kid scores on ( he bats 5 next year ) another 3 are useless but keen
In a lot of cases this is what kept local teams going
Now we compete against COD the net and sky sport
Wonder why local cricket suffers........
And fat dads in borrowed whites in the slips looking puzzled as they only came to watch . :lol::lol: But then turning out for the midweek bar team :cool:
 
without delving too far into stats Id guess that participation in kids football has rocketed in recent years. Football is an absolute beast now. Obviously it has always been the number one sport but organised football is now in place from such a young age and seemingly requires a lot of commitment and financial support from parents.

I had a meeting with the parents at our club last month and finding an evening and time to train where kids weren't at football was the main difficulty.

Unless parents have a large amount of disposable income it will be very difficult to commit to two sports, especially one like cricket which can be an expensive affair.

Getting kids involved in cricket is very achievable but it requires more hard work than it used to (the points about CRBs, safeguarding etc earlier raised is another obstacle in the way, although I fully understand the reasons for it).
 
Can someone explain how a CRB check is a problem? The cost is very little for amateur clubs and keeps people safe.

Too many opportunities for Pedo's otherwise. Can't have people coaching juniors who pit kids at risk
 
Can someone explain how a CRB check is a problem? The cost is very little for amateur clubs and keeps people safe.

Too many opportunities for Pedo's otherwise. Can't have people coaching juniors who pit kids at risk

As I say, its fully understandable why they are required, and particularly for coaches. But as soon as you put red tape in the way for parents / volunteers they are often put off. I don't know why but a lot are. People don't want to fill in forms and go on courses just to help out making teas and coffees or help take a register but this is what club administrators are required to ask for if someone is helping out.

What I can't understand for the life of me is why you need a separate CRB for each different sport or work place. I have four valid CRBs now. All enhanced. Why you can't just have one that is overarching for a specific time period is beyond me.
 
Can someone explain how a CRB check is a problem? The cost is very little for amateur clubs and keeps people safe.

Too many opportunities for Pedo's otherwise. Can't have people coaching juniors who pit kids at risk

I think it's more to do with coaching certificates to be honest. You need to go on a 6-8 week evening course, do courses in first aid and child protection and the whole lot costs well over £100. I don't think you can strictly speaking coach/manage a junior team without at least a level 1 coaching certificate. What makes it more frustrating is that anyone with any knowledge or experience of cricket will get nothing from the level one course - it's so basic it's unbelievable. Even the level 2 course now is a million miles off what it was 10 years ago - it used to include video analysis for coaches etc but there's none of that now until you go level three and above.

Some people just want to give their time and help out without setting out on the road to being Peter Moores - I agree volunteers should be CRB checked but beyond that, obstacles shouldn't be put in the way.
 
I think it's more to do with coaching certificates to be honest. You need to go on a 6-8 week evening course, do courses in first aid and child protection and the whole lot costs well over £100. I don't think you can strictly speaking coach/manage a junior team without at least a level 1 coaching certificate. What makes it more frustrating is that anyone with any knowledge or experience of cricket will get nothing from the level one course - it's so basic it's unbelievable. Even the level 2 course now is a million miles off what it was 10 years ago - it used to include video analysis for coaches etc but there's none of that now until you go level three and above.

Some people just want to give their time and help out without setting out on the road to being Peter Moores - I agree volunteers should be CRB checked but beyond that, obstacles shouldn't be put in the way.

anyone with experience at a decent standard of cricket can go straight to level 2 in fairness.

Thought your point RE time and costs is very valid. Nigh on £300 for level 2 iirc and a long winded process. Though funding is available if you look about (more time required) its still dear
 
1. England cricket team are poor, negative and devoid of exciting role models
2. An expensive sport for schools to run
3. A lot of sitting about = boring for kids
4. Very little cricket on free to air TV
5. Cliques at cricket clubs

There will be more.
 
I've said for years sky is killing cricket. Kids just don't see it on TV then sam a go and play like I did as a kid. Ecb were really short sighted selling all cricket to sky. As a result kids just aren't intrested. I'm sure at least one terrestrial channel would like some cricket even just one day internationals if we can't have tests it should still be protected like the grand national and boat race then kids might get to watch it occasionally
 
I've said for years sky is killing cricket. Kids just don't see it on TV then sam a go and play like I did as a kid. Ecb were really short sighted selling all cricket to sky. As a result kids just aren't intrested. I'm sure at least one terrestrial channel would like some cricket even just one day internationals if we can't have tests it should still be protected like the grand national and boat race then kids might get to watch it occasionally

Perhaps the Lords test match should be protected like that. Stick that on terrestrial TV every summer as the "flagship" test match.
 
I think it's more to do with coaching certificates to be honest. You need to go on a 6-8 week evening course, do courses in first aid and child protection and the whole lot costs well over £100. I don't think you can strictly speaking coach/manage a junior team without at least a level 1 coaching certificate. What makes it more frustrating is that anyone with any knowledge or experience of cricket will get nothing from the level one course - it's so basic it's unbelievable. Even the level 2 course now is a million miles off what it was 10 years ago - it used to include video analysis for coaches etc but there's none of that now until you go level three and above.

Some people just want to give their time and help out without setting out on the road to being Peter Moores - I agree volunteers should be CRB checked but beyond that, obstacles shouldn't be put in the way.
I don't think Level 1 exists any more in its previous form. I think it has been replaced by "coaching assistant" qualification (or simiar?)
 
Get into schools more and find more volunteers. Simple! Just look at the thriving clubs and that is exactly how they do it.

Free to air stuff is rubbish IMO. As a kid I had zero interest in sitting watching the cricket on the beeb all day, I wanted to be outside playing it in the street.

What would make you play a game you don't know exists?

Barely a kid under the age of 17 (they'll have been 8 in 2005 when the last ball was bowled on C4) will watch cricket now. After another couple of TV contracts that minimum age will be 25.

In a few years time why would SKY pay big money for a sport only old gets watch? Why would sponsors go for a sport that's (already) lost 80% of its audience?

I think they'll sort it in the next round like.
 
What would make you play a game you don't know exists?

Barely a kid under the age of 17 (they'll have been 8 in 2005 when the last ball was bowled on C4) will watch cricket now. After another couple of TV contracts that minimum age will be 25.

In a few years time why would SKY pay big money for a sport only old gets watch? Why would sponsors go for a sport that's (already) lost 80% of its audience?

I think they'll sort it in the next round like.

I really do disagree. The club I am involved with has 20-30 kids at training every week, all year round. These kids are aged 6-13. Add to that another 20-30 who will join in in January aged up to 16. Not many of these kids have Sky TV. The vast majority have been recruited through local schools, or friends who have come through schools. Get your clubs more involved with the local community, and when the kids do turn up make sure the sessions are fun and entertaining and they will come back for more.
 
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