Everyone at Reepham & Salle Cricket Club is proud of what our junior section has become of over the past few years after a worrying drop off in numbers post-Covid.
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to build interest in junior cricket with the lack of sport on offer at schools and the exposure of the game in everyday life becoming less and less, but we feel we’ve somewhat bucked the trend for small cricket clubs in Norfolk, which is testament to the commitment of all our volunteers.
Last year we had lots of success on and off the field with numbers increasing gradually, and the level of cricket being played gave great encouragement to all involved.
We started a new U11s hardball team last summer and they were brilliant, finishing second in the league, losing only once; had they played all their games could have won their league. The U13s finished top of their league and the U15s came second with the whole team being under 14, which gives us great confidence in the season to come.
Under 15s after defeating Great Witchingham last summer. Photo: Reepham & Salle Cricket Club
We have also started to reap the benefits of the hardball cricket being played, seeing several juniors feature in our 2nd XI. Also the demand for cricket saw us reform a Sunday team playing friendlies with the newly formed Development XI skippered by Bruce Bailey.
Last year also saw growth in our cricket community with lots of parents getting involved and helping to fundraise. Led by Sarah Smith and Tammy Digby they’ve managed to raise more than £1,500 through a raffle at the end-of-season presentation day and also the recent quiz night, so a massive thank you to those two and all the parents that helped out. Hopefully, this year we can raise enough money to give the nets a new lease of life.
On a personal level, I am also immensely proud to have been presented the Growing the Game Award at the Norfolk Cricket Board’s Grassroots Cricket Awards in November, something that would not have happened without the commitment and attitude of the juniors and parents at RSCC.
Since last summer we haven’t stopped. The U14s girls competed in an indoor competition at Langley School before Christmas and competed against some strong teams, Swardeston, Great Melton and Bradenham to name a few.
The U14s took part in the North Norfolk Indoor League at North Walsham and had some great battles with Greshams, Ashmanhaugh and Acle. Then we had our winter training programme at Langley School with six sessions that were well attended by a range of ages.
Above: Indoor winter training at Langley Prep School. Below: Girls indoor league team. Photos: Reepham & Salle Cricket Club
Looking forward to 2025, it’s with great sadness that Toby Armiger will no longer be involved in the junior setup. He was a crucial part of our previous success and a big hit with the children and parents alike. We wish Toby well in his new venture as a personal trainer and know that through his commitment years to our youth cricket over the past few he’s going to do really well in this field.
This year our youth coaching team has grown with Adam Meek partaking in his core coach qualification, Ali Cubbit completing his foundation coach qualification, and Jack Austin and Bruce Bailey also taking on their foundation coach course, which they’ll be doing throughout the early part of the season.
We’re really passionate about the coaching we’ll deliver on a Monday evening and we want to structure our sessions to be slightly more skill-based and try and work on as many aspects of the game as possible.
Again this year we will have hardball teams competing in the Alliance Tier 2 Competitions at U11s, U13s and U15s, as well as our newly formed U17s team. We also have softball teams at U9s, U11s and U13s and are hoping to compete in girls-only softball tournaments; we’ll try to get some girls-only hardball fixtures later in the season.
Lastly, a big thank you goes to Andrew Lee at ASL Electrical, who has kindly sponsored the junior section at Reepham & Salle Cricket Club and has subsidised training tops, which will be made available to all junior members at just £10, as well as a contribution towards some junior equipment.
Now it’s time for the hard work in the nets to be put into practise as we look to embark on a great season. I want to wish all the girls and boys the best of luck and hope they score lots of runs and take lots of wickets in the summer sun.
If anyone is interested in getting involved, junior training is on Monday evenings: softball 5.30–6.30 pm (school years 3–6) and open-aged girls session hardball 6.30–8 pm (school years 5–12).
If anyone would like to support youth cricket financially there are many sponsorship opportunities that can be explored.
George Wright, Head of Youth Cricket, Reepham & Salle Cricket Club
Tel: 07841 641589 or email: rsccyouthcricket@aol.com