Junior Cricket

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Junior Cricket Information

The Junior Club is organised into three areas:

Midgets (school years 1 to 4)
Junior Morning (school years 5 to 8)
Junior Afternoon (school year 8 to Under 18)

Midgets

Cox’s Bay Reserve is the Midget practice grounds - 4.30 pm and 6.00pm each Thursday evening. Come along, bring your friends and join in the fun!

Year 1 and 2 follow the New Zealand Cricket’s Milo Have-a-Go programme. The Year 1 group also practice these skills on Saturday mornings @ Cox's Bay Park, whilst Year 2 teams play in the Eastern District Cricket Association (EDCA) Saturday morning competition at Victoria Park, Cox’s Bay, Parnell or University grounds. Parnell and University are the other clubs involved in this competition. Games start at 8.30am and usually run for a maximum of two hours - everyone gets to bat, bowl and field (see District Cricket Info on this site for playing conditions) using gear supplied by the Club and designed for use by Littlies.

The Year 3 and 4 teams follow the New Zealand Cricket’s Kiwi Cricket programme and again play in the EDCA competition. Games also start at 8.30am and finish by 11.30am.
Everyone gets to bat, bowl and field in all positions during games and use either their own or GUCC club gear (please make sure your gear is named!!)

Saturday morning games are played at Victoria Park, Cox’s Bay, Parnell or University.

Junior Morning

Year 5 teams play in the EDCA Saturday morning competition. Games start at 8.30 and generally finish between 11.30 and noon. Players in this grade play with the Hardball.

Year 6 players are graded according to ability, for the first time. They play in the EDCA's Saturday morning competition against teams from several other Clubs. Games again start at 8.30 and finish at noon.

Year 7 players are trialled and graded into teams at the start of the season, the Year 7 Premier team plays afternoon games, year 7 A & B teams play in the mornings. Year 7 teams will play in a “one-day limited over” or a “two-day” competition depending on grade.

Year 8 is split into two half seasons, as this is the year that the players move into secondary school. From October to December they play in either an afternoon premier grade competition or a morning, one-day competition. For the second half season commencing in February, the one-day competition also moves to the afternoon so as not to conflict with the high school cricket competition that is played in the morning.

This is also the year during which players can trial for district representative teams, which play in the annual ACA Christmas tournaments.

Junior Afternoon

Under 15 and Under 18 play in Auckland Cricket Association competition (age at 01 September at the beginning of the season) in the afternoons. These competitions are graded into several one- and two-day grades. This is the springboard for players to move into the senior grades, which is the expectation of the Club.

Girls

In the Midget Section, girls play in mixed teams and follow the Have-a-Go and Kiwi Cricket formats. Once they move into the Junior Morning section, girls can play in the EDCA Girls league or continue in mixed teams. As the girls progress into secondary school, afternoon cricket is available through the Women’s grades and opportunities to trial for district representative teams are available.

Coaching

During the holidays, week-long coaching clinics are run at the Victoria Park nets. These are very popular and are run by a qualified coach. (see Holiday Clinics below)

Specialised coaching sessions are run during the winter i.e., Development Squads for the U14, 15 and 18 age groups as well as clinics focusing on specific skills e.g., spin bowling, wicket keeping, etc.

All junior coaches are encouraged to become qualified coaches. NZC training courses are held regularly at Eden Park.

Parental Help

Like most amateur bodies, GUCC relies heavily upon a sound volunteer base. There are a number of areas parents/caregivers can help: Team Management, Umpiring/Scoring and the Committee as well as generally supporting teams.

Season Summary

The first game of the season will be Saturday 31st October 2009. Play will continue every Saturday (weather permiting) until the 12th December. Over the Christmas school holiday Saturday cricket takes a break and restarts 6th Feb 10 with the last game of the season Saturday 27th March 2010.

These dates will be confirmed when the draw is made.

Holiday Clinics

We will again be running these popular clinics through the School Holidays for Year 1 - 8 children. Click here to obtain more information. [ Holiday Clinic ]