Junior Cricket Information
How to get involved?
Junior cricket involves boys and girls from school years Y1 to Y8. Our junior registration day is mid- September with competition games starting mid-October, however players are welcome to join at any time throughout the season – just contact the City Cricket Club junior coordinator to get involved!
Team selection & format
As a guideline, players are graded A Grade (Y7 & 8 hard ball), B Grade (Y5 &6 hard ball) and C Grade (Y 2-4 soft ball), but there are a number of other factors that cause a few crossovers.
Have-A-Go cricketers (non-Saturday players, first-timers or those building confidence) can join C Grade training or whatever day their sibling or friend trains on.
Individual players can be regraded in the second half of the season to balance teams as older players leave for High School. We will have a number of Y8 A Grade players head off to High School so these spots will need to be filled with B Graders and likewise the older C Graders will move up to B Grade hard ball cricket and so on.
A Grade is a 35-over game played with 10 or 11-a-side with a hard ball. Games are played on a Saturday from 10am-2.30pm played at home or away.
B Grade is a 25-over game played with 9-a-side with a hard ball. Games are played on a Saturday from 9am – 12pm – played at home or away.
C Grade is a 16-over game played with 8-a-side modified cricket format using a softer ball. Games are played on a Saturday from 9am – 11.15am – played at Kensington Park, Whangarei. Players bat in pairs. Bowling is from one end with a rotating field. Great fun!
Have-A-Go are for new entrants, siblings or players building confidence. These players can attend practice sessions only to learn a range of basic skills before playing Saturday cricket.
Playing gear
The club provides a team gear bag for all teams for trainings and matches, though many A & B Grade players prefer to use their own gear. City Cricket Club provides all their registered juniors with a club playing shirt. All players are expected to represent their club in the correct uniform – white shorts/pants and the blue City Cricket Club shirt. All players should also wear acceptable footwear ie. sports shoes
Note: Northland Cricket Association rules require that all A and B Grade players must wear a helmet when batting.
Team managers & coaches
City Cricket Club provides high quality junior coaching at all levels. Northland Cricket Association junior coaching director Karl Treiber has been contracted to provide coaching services for City Cricket Club. Senior club players also assist the head coach with this role.
Training
Training is scheduled once a week for each team at Cobham Oval, Whangarei. Parents and team managers are encouraged to get involved with their kids at training to offer support, running drills or helping supervise.
Parents are assigned as team managers, a role that can be shared if necessary. They will be involved in coaching, encouraging, organising, umpiring and running the team on game days. We are lucky to have a group of dedicated, hard-working parents involved in every team! If you wish to get involved please don’t hesitate to contact our junior coordinator – we can never have too many helpers!
Health, safety & sportsmanship
Both parents and players need to be aware of health and safety at practice and at a game. We encourage players to be sun-safe – slip, slop slap & wrap. A hat should always be worn. A drink bottle and snack are also must-haves at training and especially on game day.
Players of all ages need to use appropriate behaviour and show respect towards their team-mates, the opposition, parents, coaches, managers, umpires and so on. They also need to look after their team gear, and be considerate of the environment.
Player goals & rewards
It’s a good idea for players in all grades to set goals for themselves at the start of the season – it may be scoring runs or taking wickets or some other measurable outcome that will make them feel like they have achieved something. Parents could offer their own incentives to encourage high performance! There are also other rewards at our end-of-season prize giving to work towards. Those who show consistency with playing well, or show good potential, may also be considered for primary representative cricket or training over the next 12 months. Selectors are monitoring juniors throughout the season so try to play your best cricket if you are looking for higher honours!
Cancellations
For Saturday cancellation information, phone the Northland Cricket Association on 438 2400 (select option 2) for a recorded cancellation message if the weather looks bad. Team managers should also receive a message from the junior coordinator that they can group text to their team if play is cancelled.
For training cancellations, keep in touch with your team manager or coach if you think rain will affect your training. Ideally cancellation notices will get through to parents by text as early as possible.
Senior Cricket Information
City Cricket Club’s Premier and Premier Reserve teams compete in Northland Cricket’s one and two day competitions that commence in early October and go through to the end of March. The players from these teams are the club’s elite with some of them progressing to higher honours Northland and sometimes further afield.
Reserve Grade is a serious and competitive grade, playing one and two day matches like the Premier sides. Many of the players in this grade progress into the Premier Grade as their standard improves and to cover absent players when required.
Coaching
Karl Treiber has been re-appointed as the club’s resident coach for his third season. Former First Class Player/coach and level 3 coach along with being a life member of the Northland Cricket Association, Karl brings a wealth of experience and skills and has loads of enthusiasm to this demanding role.
Karl is ably assisted by Richard Pooley, a long time City Cricket Club junior coordinator who continues to lead junior development in the club.
The senior team is captained by Ian Page and managed by Don Nelson City’s club captain. The Reserves are captained by Ravi Maan. Please contact Don on 021 057 5579 for further information.
Pre Season training dates for the 2015-16 season
Pre-season training for the Senior and Reserve grade squads are held at the Johnson and Crawford Indoor Centre, Port Road, Whangarei.
Normal training during the season will be held at the City Cricket Club artificial nets on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 5:30pm, or at other times as requested by the coach.
Pre Season training dates for the 2019-2020 season
Pre-season training for the Senior and Reserve grade squads are held at the Johnson and Crawford Indoor Centre, Port Road, Whangarei.
This starts in September from 7.30pm – 9.30pm.
Normal training during the season will be held at the City Cricket Club artificial nets on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 5:30pm, or at other times as requested by the coach.
