Wanstead and Snaresbrook Cricket Club

Junior Volunteer Accreditation Scheme

-Junior Volunteers-

1. Our junior members and their families are at the heart of the club. The purpose of the junior volunteer project is to ensure that it stays that way. Traditionally our juniors provide considerable coaching support and without this it would be a struggle to deliver active player development initiatives and school and borough programmes. In addition to this valuable help, it is also recognised that the running of a progressive community cricket club requires many other skills. Increasingly our juniors are making an important contribution to these other tasks which range from maintenance, secretarial, human resources and database management, producing PR and educational videos, tourism and managing an increasingly demanding social media challenge. We are not trained educationalists, but we can offer ‘career tasters’ by providing work experience and mentors from our adult members’ skill capability.

 2. Open to junior members from 13 years and over (the age when juniors may become eligible to play in adult cricket), the club will continue to provide practical coaching and leadership guidance as a pathway to taking approved ECB coaching courses which form an important part of the club’s player development programme. It will also encourage juniors to seek experience in the many other skills it can offer, always subject to respecting time commitments imposed through formal school and college education. Club support for Duke of Edinburgh awards, help often required by schools to support a student’s GCSE course, and the preparation of educational and employment references and commendations will continue to be available, but with a potentially broader canvass.

 3. Accreditation criteria will involve the following:

• Head of Junior Cricket’s approval, unless they are on the club’s accreditation scheme or are established club volunteers and are renewing.
• A minimum 30 hours volunteering and demonstration of practical subject, coaching and or team management support skills.
• Where required, attendance at appropriate courses, work experience, DBS clearance and attendance at approved first aid and child protection courses which the club runs and finances.
• Attendance at club’s on-going training on topics which might include team cricket coaching (team and net management, video analysis and other technical skills, umpiring, tactical and captaincy) and other workshops. In addition, mentoring and work experience such as video and conferencing, vlogging and other related social media disciplines, public speaking and possibly travel and tourism.

4. Character building and the learning of leadership skills is likely to take centre stage in the bespoke projects we expect to be available to our juniors.

5. The club will maintain a database of coaches and members on the scheme and track their progress. This information will only be shared with third parties with the permission of the junior, including parents of members under the age of 18 years.

6. The club has the right to request any member to leave the scheme and to terminate the scheme at any time. The running of courses and sponsorship on approved courses is conditional on the club having sufficient financial resource. It reserves the right to request members to make a financial contribution towards the costs involved.

7. All coaches including scheme members are expected to be punctual and well presented with an appreciation of the responsibilities involved in representing the club.

8. Interested? Please contact Len Enoch, volunteer coordinator (lgenoch43@gmail.com) or Niru Williams ( niru.wansteadcc@outlook.com ) welfare coordinator.

December 2020