JUNIOR CRICKET
At West Chilt we are dedicated to introducing boys and girls to the fantastic sport of cricket and nurturing a love for the game that we hope will stay with them well into their adult years. We aim to develop children's physical and tactical skills and positively encourage older children to play for our senior sides in both league and friendly matches. At West Chilt, cricket is not just for the best players but for anyone who falls in love with the game.
INFORMATION FOR PARENTS
DOCUMENTS
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PRACTICE TIMES
Junior cricket at the club starts at U5 (Reception year at school) and runs up to age 18 (Year 13). Club practice evenings run from 26 April 2024 until the end of August (end of July for our U5-U8s) and you can find the dates and times in the age group links above.
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Girls are welcome to join our mixed teams, the majority of which are boys or they can join our girls’ groups. Girls aged 14 and above are invited to join with our Senior team run by Sarah Osborne. Details of Women's cricket here.
COACHES AND MANAGERS
As with most amateur sports clubs, all of our age group managers and administrators are volunteers. We also employ a number of ECB qualified coaches who are on hand at practice nights to coach the children in the technical aspects of cricket.
PLAYING MATCHES
All of our junior players from U9 upwards are encouraged to make themselves available to play matches in junior leagues which run from May-end July. Some leagues play on weekday evenings and others at weekends.
Some of our junior teams also play in the ECB Cup, in occasional 6-a-side one day tournaments through the season and teams from U11-16 also play in the Sussex Junior Cricket Festival during August. The SJCF is a fantastic competition where each age group plays 3-4 matches during one week of the summer holidays. The matches are longer than those played in the leagues and the festival provides a really splendid climax to the children’s summer of cricket.
But cricket is not just played in the summer! Many of our age groups enter various indoor junior leagues which run through the winter months. These are a great chance for our young players to continue developing their game, learn new skills and have fun with their mates in the off-season.
EQUIPMENT
The club can provide protective equipment for young players when they first start playing with a hard ball, but you’re encouraged to buy your own pads, gloves, helmet and bat as your child progresses through the club.
We hold a second-hand kit sale at Friday evening practice sessions where equipment can be picked up at very reasonable prices. Otherwise cricket gear can be purchased online or from local sports retailers. We also have an online club shop, which can be accessed via our website, where branded club gear can be purchased. Juniors are encouraged to wear a club cap and shirt when playing in league matches.
JOINING US AT WCTCC
During the 2023 season we had 250 junior members on our books aged 5-18 years and we are likely to be full again in many age groups this season. If your child(ren) are new to the club you can contact us via email at anytime (membership@wctcc.co.uk) and we can reserve a place for them.
VOLUNTEERING
Our club is entirely run by volunteers. Please consider stepping forward to help us keep everything running smoothly.  There is an opportunity to indicate how you’d like to help out on our membership forms, so please try to spare some time during the season.  Many thanks.
KEEPING IN TOUCH
Our comprehensive club website is regularly updated. We also send out a regular email newsletter to all members, supporters and families. We print a Club Handbook which is available to all members and families at the beginning of the season. Copies can be picked up from our Pavilions.
If you’re on Facebook, please do follow our club page which is where we post a lot of information and news inside and outside the season. We also use Twitter and Instagram so please follow us there too!
If you have any queries please contact us on info@wctcc.co.uk and we’ll get back to you ASAP.
