What makes a good “development” club?

I posted earlier today on a proposal for an alternative development pathway for U13 cricket in England.

In that post, I included a set of criteria for identifying a “good” club — good, in this context, meaning one that could be entrusted with leading a local development cluster at U13.

The list originated in a discussion of a fictitious “Top 100 Clubs” feature article for one of the cricket magazines, to sit alongside their “Top 100 Schools” pieces.

I left the list as a work-in-progress, but it is, perhaps, an interesting project it its own right.

My initial list:

• Retention — do players stay with the Club over time, or drift in and out again?
• Accessibility & inclusion (both by ability & age — good clubs welcome late starters).
• Diversity of players & coaches (contentious; needs to be context-sensitive; difficult to quantify).
• Parental engagement (see above).
• “Lived” coaching philosophy — do coaches “walk the walk”?
• Outreach & recruitment (active or passive?).
• Further down the list: games won — I do believe that winning matters!

Selection criteria

Retention

Do players stay with the Club over time, or drift in and out again?

For me, as a coach, returning players is one of the most important metrics. Do they enjoy my session so much that they want to come back?

But for a good Club, I think retention can have a deeper significance. It is evidence of the creation of a community, of a place where players want to belong.

Accessibility & inclusion

Both by ability & age — good clubs welcome and value all-comers. A strong club is measured not only by its 1st XI, but by the depth and breadth of membership, playing and non-playing.

Diversity of players & coaches

Diversity can be contentious, when it is imposed. Diversity needs to be context-sensitive, and can be difficult to quantify. But I would hope that a good Club (by my criteria) would naturally be more diverse, by reason of its inclusive policies and outreach (below).

Parental engagement

This is an ideal for a junior section. But, as with diversity, it needs to be seen in the context of the local community. Not every parent will have the time to spare for managing a junior team, or manning a barbecue on a practice night.

“Lived” coaching philosophy

Some Clubs and organisations post a “philosophy” or “mission statement” on their websites. But how many actually live up to the ideal?

It is important that coaches and other club officials don’t just “talk the talk” — they need also to “walk the walk”.

Outreach & recruitment

A Club with genuine community engagement, whether with local schools or other community groups, is going to become stronger.

One that depends on recruiting good players from other local clubs will, more probably, create a pool of players denied opportunities to play (and develop) when they are overtaken in the pecking order by the latest recruit.

Which is not to say that “transfers” should not happen — young players should aspire to playing at the highest level they can, and that might mean joining a “better” club (a stronger one, playing at a higher level). But that can wait to open age, I believe.

Games won (but further down the list!)

I happen to believe that the point of playing cricket is to (try to) WIN — winning matters!

I do believe that it is important that club demonstrate a commitment to both developing their own players (U11) and finding a place for players beyond U13 who do not progress to a development pathway but want to carry on playing (and developing).

Personally, I would not ask for a team at U16 (the GCSE year!), and I am not convinced by the need for U18/19 and U21 in a Club setting…but others might disagree. At this age, players are likely to learn more by playing open age cricket.