Outwood
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development and retention of young
players. Some twelve years ago
the club started a Youth Academy
providing cricket coaching and
competitive league cricket for boys
and girls aged 6 to 15. The fruits
of the visionaries who set up the
Academy are now plain to see with
the cores of the 1st XI and 2nd XI
being graduates from our Academy.
The Surrey Slam T20 squad is also
largely drawn from those young
players.
Integral to the success of the
Academy has been the long term
and generous support of the
Club’s principle sponsor, KMG
Chartered
Financial
Planners.
KMG’s sponsorship not only allows
the club to provide equipment
and subsidised playing shirts for
Academy children, thus ensuring
that the cost of playing kit is not a
barrier to joining the club, but has
also enabled the club to provide
high quality coaching and embark
on a range of improvements to the
playing facilities including new
outdoor nets and other clubhouse
equipment.
In 2018, the Club and KMG
extended their partnership with
the creation of the Club’s Healthy
Living programme sponsored by
KMG. The programme is unique
and sets the club quite apart
from other clubs in the area. The
programme has provided the Club
with a defibrillator, which we are
pleased to report has not yet been
called into action, but the focus of
the programme is to encourage a
healthier lifestyle.
As well as making subsidised
health assessments and fitness
trackers available to members,
the programme also encourages
Healthy Eating and promotes use
of healthier and higher quality
ingredients in Club catering and
provision of vegetarian options. The
club’s reputation as providers of one
of the best cricket teas in the area has
been further enhanced!
Despite the success of the Club,
one of the greatest challenges
facing the club is maintaining the
steady flow of children through the
Academy. To generate the initial
pipeline of 6-8 year olds into the
club we have endeavoured to build
relationships with local schools
including through the Chance to
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Shine programme, where we place
qualified coaches into local primary
schools, and this year we have joined
the ECB’s All Stars scheme for 5-8
year olds.
Maintaining teams year to year
relies heavily on the enthusiasm of
volunteer parents as team managers,
while at the upper end of the
Academy, careful management of
the introduction of 14-15 year olds
into senior cricket is key so that they
can gain experience and confidence
without being overwhelmed by
the step up in standard. We also
perceive a demand for peer group
cricket among the 15-20 year olds
and this season have entered the U21
Surrey Trust League.
The Club also reached a
landmark in 2018 when Alex Milton
became the first player involved
with the Academy to make his
County Championship debut and
maiden first class century playing
for Worcestershire.
Started five years ago, the
Outwood Women’s team has seen
year on year growth of the squad. For
the last few seasons, the Outwood
Women’s team has organised and
played in the North Downs Friendly
League made up of like-minded
local clubs. This year, following the
reorganisation of women’s cricket in
Surrey, the “Outwood Blazes” have
joined the Surrey Women’s Slam
and have joined forces with our
neighbouring club, South Nutfield
CC, to enter a joint team in the Surrey
Women’s Division 2.
The Club’s overseas tour was as
popular as ever, this year visiting
Budapest. Games were friendly but
competitive with at least one of the
opposition teams including several
of the Hungarian national team.
This year will also see a Women’s
Cricket Tour to La Manga.
Maintaining and even exceeding
the successes of 2018 is going to be
a challenge but the club is already
buzzing and expectations are high
for the new season.
Article provided by Chairman Paul
Howard