Steam trains and bi-planes!
“More helpers”, the eternal cry from everything your children do. This time it’s Dinton Cricket Club and I am hoping to tell you what answering the appeal might mean. Maybe you already help with either cricket or some other activity, in which case thanks and keep at it.
Why volunteer? I could threaten that the junior section will be closed or reduced in size but that’s no way to motivate people. I could tell you it’s good for your standing in society or your eternal karma but neither would be true. I could tell you it’s your duty as a good citizen but so are paying taxes and voting regularly and where’s the fun in those? The absolutely key reason for doing this is that it’s fun. You get to hang out with your kids and their friends then see them, all properly togged up, playing a great game in a fine atmosphere. My six seasons with this club include watching my son’s team lift the Aylesbury under 9 trophy in 2006 and in 2007-11 seeing the whole squad play ever improving cricket at a series of lovely grounds, including one with steam trains going by and another with a beautiful biplane cruising over. Life doesn’t get much better.
We need three kinds of help. Top of the tree are the coaches, to do this you need a reasonable level of cricketing skill, knowledge and enthusiasm as well as the ability to pass on those things to the children. Actually, they don’t often need to be motivated by you, one of the joys of getting involved is the great, nay obsessive, commitment of the children. To be a coach, it’s best if you can also go on a training course or two which will require a few evenings and weekends. Our big need at the moment, is for Thursday Crowd Controllers. Because the club is such a success, the Thursday night training sessions are very well attended and it is too difficult for the coaches to manage all those children while giving high quality training. So, the crowd controllers work alongside the coaches, helping with simple tasks, getting the children kitted up, limiting excessive boisterousness and keeping score. It’s that simple, all the fun and no training course. You do need a modicum of knowledge of how cricket works but if you grew up anywhere in Britain or the Commonwealth you probably got sufficient in your mother’s milk. Last but also vital are the team managers. To do this requires zero knowledge of cricket but you do need a telephone and it helps to have email and the internet at home. The team manager makes sure that the selected players for each game know who they are plus the time and place of the game. If you can go to the games, collect match fees and keep score that is a bonus. Posting a match report on the club web forum will get you real kudos.
On a more boring note, everybody must have a the most basic CRB check (well it keeps the civil service busy) and go on a child protection awareness evening which is a couple of hours of hearing the blindingly obvious but you do get tea and biscuits.
So that’s it, what are you waiting for?
Andrew Barber, crowd controller and team manager for the 2011 U14 squad
Why volunteer? I could threaten that the junior section will be closed or reduced in size but that’s no way to motivate people. I could tell you it’s good for your standing in society or your eternal karma but neither would be true. I could tell you it’s your duty as a good citizen but so are paying taxes and voting regularly and where’s the fun in those? The absolutely key reason for doing this is that it’s fun. You get to hang out with your kids and their friends then see them, all properly togged up, playing a great game in a fine atmosphere. My six seasons with this club include watching my son’s team lift the Aylesbury under 9 trophy in 2006 and in 2007-11 seeing the whole squad play ever improving cricket at a series of lovely grounds, including one with steam trains going by and another with a beautiful biplane cruising over. Life doesn’t get much better.
We need three kinds of help. Top of the tree are the coaches, to do this you need a reasonable level of cricketing skill, knowledge and enthusiasm as well as the ability to pass on those things to the children. Actually, they don’t often need to be motivated by you, one of the joys of getting involved is the great, nay obsessive, commitment of the children. To be a coach, it’s best if you can also go on a training course or two which will require a few evenings and weekends. Our big need at the moment, is for Thursday Crowd Controllers. Because the club is such a success, the Thursday night training sessions are very well attended and it is too difficult for the coaches to manage all those children while giving high quality training. So, the crowd controllers work alongside the coaches, helping with simple tasks, getting the children kitted up, limiting excessive boisterousness and keeping score. It’s that simple, all the fun and no training course. You do need a modicum of knowledge of how cricket works but if you grew up anywhere in Britain or the Commonwealth you probably got sufficient in your mother’s milk. Last but also vital are the team managers. To do this requires zero knowledge of cricket but you do need a telephone and it helps to have email and the internet at home. The team manager makes sure that the selected players for each game know who they are plus the time and place of the game. If you can go to the games, collect match fees and keep score that is a bonus. Posting a match report on the club web forum will get you real kudos.
On a more boring note, everybody must have a the most basic CRB check (well it keeps the civil service busy) and go on a child protection awareness evening which is a couple of hours of hearing the blindingly obvious but you do get tea and biscuits.
So that’s it, what are you waiting for?
Andrew Barber, crowd controller and team manager for the 2011 U14 squad
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