The Balmain & District Junior Cricket Club was formed in 1995 from the reminents of the Police Citizens Youth Cricket Club. The police citizens had for many years fostered junior cricket in the district and were unable to provide the management to continue on. Prior to their envolvement, the Junior boys were in there own right a part of the wider Balmain Association which has its roots going back to 1903.
The BDJCC is a family Club and places great emphsis on encouraging its local Juniors.
The main aim of the club is to provide healthy recreation in an enjoyable, optimistic and positive environment. To offer the opportunity to boys and girls to play competition cricket within their area, to develop their cricketing skills and to impart to them the ideals of fair play and sportsmanship.
The Club will continue the policy of developing Juniors in the following categories;
A. 5-8yrs, In2 Cricket, Old Have -A-Go ( non-competitive group games.)
The program is an entry level to teach kids the fundamentals of playing cricket and is based around an athletic approach to the techniques of the game.
In other words activities include a lot of running to the ball.
Catching and learning how to do do this properly. As much as a 5 to 7 year old can.
Bowling a ball at a target and then at a batsman.
Batting against the bowling of their peers.
The learning of hand eye co-ordination is empahsised.
There will be a orientation day on the 20th of September. It will be at Timbrell Park.
The program will recommence on 18th October until Xmas and then will resume after the holidays for a couple of weeks in February and it will end with a Gala day at Morrison Park in Gladesville.
The kids will gain an understanding of the fundamentals of the sport, running, catching, bowling and batting.
They will play little games of 7 a side and generally having fun.
They also get a t-shirt, a cap, bat & ball to exercise with at home and in play on the day.
B. 8-9yrs with a reduced field and Cricket pitch. A shortened game with soft ball. (non-competitive eight a side.)
C. 10-13yrs full field competition/artificial wickets.
D. 14-16 yrs, Senior Junior program. Structured graded competition within affiliated local Associations, where possible on turf wickets.
E. 17 years and onwards, Senior Program, Park Cricket as a preliminary for Grade Club selection and hopefully in the future for the Club to be a member of the Shires Association.
Parent participation
To successfully and efficiently function administratively, junior cricket is dependent upon the help of parents, the volunteers, thus we need the assistance of parents to make it work.
As a rule the club desires that one parent or guardian from each family must be in attendance every Saturday. Your children need your support. Parent attendance lifts their enjoyment of the sport.
We ask parents to indicate whether they can help in scoring, managing a team, Coaching, Umpiring, or assisting in the management of the club.
The club places teams in the local Gladesville and Canterbury –Western Competitions from the ages of 8-16’s and the South Eastern Competition Association for the ages of 13-16’s, where we have a large number of boys that go to Private schools but want to continue club cricket and have the opportunity to play Representative Cricket or Green Shield for the various local Grade Clubs.
Where possible the club requires District qualified Umpires to accompany each each team, plus the Coach to be level 1.
The Club is prepared ro pay the expenses of the tuition to achieve these goals for the teams. This only enhances the teams expertise but raises the level of the participation in the sport of Cricket.
Help where you can in assisting team members to games and coaching.
Cricket is a team sport that helps personal development, working with others towards a common goal. Social skills as well as providing vigorious exercise.
We hope your child enjoys the coming season.
At Balmain & District Junior Cricket Club we welcome any suggestions you might have. It is our continued desire that players and parents alike feel they have joined a wider family.
Please feel free to communicate your thoughts to team managers, coaches and the committee.
We wish you and your child a thoroughly enjoyable season.
The Competition
The Club is acutely aware that gaining the skills to play the sport is of paramount importance for a young person to attain his or her self respect in the game and to particvipate at any level they choose.
To this end, Balmain Cricket begins with the young 5’s to 7 year olds by providing a skills based learning program called Have-a-Go Cricket. It is generally played on Saturday’s from 8.30 till 10am at a local park.
The season will begin in mid September with a skills based learning and game program till the school holidays in October. HAG resumes after the holidays in a similar format until Xmas and then resumes after the January holidays, culminating in a Gala Day in mid February.
It is played in a group as an activity to learn the techniques of bowling, batting and fielding, mixed, non competitive series of games, with modified rules.
It is run by the club in conjunction with the NSW Cricket Association and the Gladesville Junior Cricket Association and aims to promote participation, skill development and enjoyment among those youngsters who want to play and learn the skills of cricket.
The under 8's and 9's will also begin in mid September but only as an introductory,learning program that runs up till October holidays. The actual competition, begins after the school holiday's in early October.
The under 10's and 11's competition begins mid to late September or early October depending on ground availability due to preparation of grounds after football season.
The Under 12's to 16's season begins in mid September until late December and rejoins in Mid to late January till late March.
The under 12's, to 14s play on Saturdays and Sundays for the U15s & U16s within the Canterbury District competitions.
The competitions are organised on a home-and-away basis, for the ages under 10's to under 16's.
The under 8's and 9's are played locally where possible, such as Cohen Park Annandale, and depending on the availability of grounds within the Gladesville area.
The under10's to11's play as well in the Gladesville Association.
Home games are played at Easton Park in Rozelle adjacent to Lilyfield Road, on a home-and-away basis. The ground is too small for senior/ junior competition.
All venues are Usually 15 to 30 minutes driving time.
The under 14's to 16's home ground is Birchgrove Oval and they also play on allocated fields in the Canterbury Wests District Competition. Some grounds are not ready in September, and as the football season overlaps in some cases, it has been difficult to arrrange suitable venues for training and the competition itself.
So please be patient, and the managers will organise times for training and and let you know about the draw, when it is available from the Gladesville Association.
TEAM MAMANGEMENT
1.Once the teams have been finalised in early September, coaches and managers will then be appointed.
2.Managers and Coaches are usually choosen from the parents, although others with appropriate qualifications will be considered. Persons are welcome to coach a team in any age bracket.
3. The cut off date for team allocation is the 1st. of September. That means what age your son or daughter turns after that date the following year,will be the age group he or she will be placed in.
4.Up to under 13's we encourage young girls to participate in mixed teams. From 14's onwards it is physically prudent to play in their own sex team.
We are presently organising teams in the age brackets 8's through to under 11's and making sure that your child will play with his or her respective friends.
It is, as you can imagine, an administrative battle too place all the children in teams and organise the grounds and competition.
TRAINING TIMES
Training times are usually from 4.30 to 6.30 pm, weekdays depending on the coach's work schedule and within the municipality.
Managers to inform players and assist in providing transport where available.
UNIFORMS
Consists of the traditional white long trousers and white joggers.
Girls are advised to wear either shorts or trousers, due to the type of activity.
Every season we provide caps to each team member, plus a shirt with the club logo on it. The cost to borne by our sponsors and your fees.
Wearing of the cap does give the player a sense of belonging to the
club and builds team spirit.
PATHWAYS
In the 97-98 & 01-02 season, and now in the 07-08 season, the club formed out of the previous years under 16's, an open age team, that played in the Gladesville senior Association competition, at B Grade level. It is a scheme to open an avenue for the boy's to continue playing cricket at a semi social level.
Some will hopefully play grade with either Balmain or Wests grade club, which are our feeder grade clubs. Some we hope will form the basis of teams that we intend to put into a shires competition or form 6th or 7th grade teams in the grade system.
From these beginings we will support a growing seniors club above the juniors.
So the avenues are there for your child to progress through the junior ranks in the club, and then on to bigger and better things, if their Cricket prowess and desire is big enough.
Information nights & Coaching nights
For those parents who want too know more about the the game , scoring, the rules and how the competition is conducted, there will be parent information nights in September and October.
These are a must for those people who want to know more about the game and the philosophy behind the Association and the conduct of junior cricket.
There is planned, inservice nights and coaching programs for the Coaches, within the club as well, so we will keep you posted, through your coach and the Web Site.
Core Concepts for consideration in the wider program.
A. Family program.
1.Family involvement with the Have A Go , Under 8’s and 9’s games structure.
2.Appoint a manager and Trainer to each team, from their parent body.
3.Provide them with simplified Manual and in-service evenings for Level1 Coaching programs.
4. Provide a fmaily environment for players and Parents.
Player Involvement.
1. Recognise that children play the sport for fun and not be considered as potential elite players but as paticipants in a team game with goals that match the childrens own abilities.
2. Great emphasis be placed on the childrens efforts and performance. Such efforts to be rewarded by recognition of their acheivements in skill development.
3. It was recognised that a bridge had to be built between the clubs and the schools in our area and the club be seen by the schools as a willing participant in the schools sport activity.
BJCC recognises that young people grow at different paces and that the emphasis on competition be delayed till at least age 10, when full field games can be handled by young legs and minds.
The priority of the Program is to expand the player base, with an emphasis on building up a non-elite structure and the recreational aspects of the sport be given priority.
It is targeted at both boys and girls and places an emphasis on participation and the development of basic skills in a fun environment.
B. Senior Involvement.
1. Provide a pathway for juniors to move up into senior playing Associations and grade clubs.
2. Make it compulsory for some part time training to Coaches and special Sunday clinics for U 8’s, 9’s 10’s 11’s 12’s children.
C. Talent Programs.
1. Pastoral care for above average players but not representative level.
2. Provide training clinics to improve their skills.
3. Provide competition program for them outside of representative teams.
D. Schools program.
As long term objective: Bring all schools into club and Association competitions.
