CI Sixers: blasting beyond COVID

Aim

To deliver a new girls' cricket team at U15 level through focussed coaching at the club and engaging local girls' secondary schools.

CIYMS Cricket Club's Youth Strategy is centred on the ability of cricket as a game to bring together people of all ages and abilities in a fun and safe environment. We are a successful club based in East Belfast winning several trophies in the last few years and having a number of players on representative and international teams.

• We are a family oriented cricket club with existing teams at under U11,13, 15, 17, 19 Boys and U13 Girls teams
• We are a Sport NI 'Club Mark' Accredited Club with a great 'How Can We Help' Culture
• We run a weekly Kwik-Cricket programme for 200+ children aged from 5-11
• We run weekly junior hardball sessions through the summer for girls and boys from U11 to U19
• We have great Indoor & Outdoor facilities for people to come and learn and play the game in a fun and safe environment.
• We have five senior men's teams
• In 2022 we won the All-Ireland Cup, All-Ireland T20 Cup, NCU Challenge Cup and NCU T20 Trophy

COVID made the last 2/3 years the most challenging in the club's history. We want to continue supporting all of our members and the community recovering from challenges which COVID has thrown-up such as lost financial revenue streams etc. We are a Clubmark accredited club and have a volunteer team who are dedicated to improve every aspect of the club. But we need NEW supporters to continue the momentum.

How COVID effected the Club...

• Through COVID we had to cancel entire programme sessions
• We lost junior and girls memberships.
• A number of volunteers and coaches have drifted away and we've had to and continue to work to increasing the number of volunteers to help at the club.

In 2022 thanks to Sport NI and your kind donations via Crowdfunder we started a new programme called 'CIYMS hitting COVID for 6' which was aimed at getting the youth at the club back playing cricket. The club successfully embraced the opening up of society following COVID with a huge effort around our Kwik Cricket programme in the summer of 2022. Our activities to increase the junior playing base and attract young kids (P1-P7) proved hugely successful and the buzz and engagement of families around the club was an added bonus. However that is just the start and we want to build on this...

In 2023 we want to add new a new aspect to the club and create a NEW Girls Team at U15 Level and an additional one at U13 Level. We also want an additional boys team at U11. Our vision is to further grow our youth section and enhance the experience by establishing a pathway for all children (boys and girls) to senior cricket in the club. This will require growing the links through youth cricket (U11-U19) and the senior club.

To deliver the goals above by 30 June 2023 we will: 

• Introduce a NEW girls only U13 & U15 section to play matches in competitions arranged by the Northern Cricket Union (NCU)
• Deliver girls only coaching sessions at the club through April, May and June, which will include fun "CI Sixer Taster" classes and fun physical sessions on catching batting and bowling
• Employ the services of a NEW dedicated girls coach, Amy Benson from the NCU
• Run NEW "Give it a bash" Cricket Skills sessions at local girl's secondary schools through the school summer term - delivered by our Director of Youth Cricket
• NEW coaching sessions provided by the club's own Ireland and Northern Knights players
• NEW coaches - which the club would cover costs of to get trained to Level 1 coaching standard
• NEW equipment such as balls, wickets and bats
• NEW portable nets to increase participation numbers at practice sessions
• NEW CI Sixers brand and merchandise

This will form part of the wider CIYMS CC Youth Strategy:

Implement the Strategic Plan - following extensive consultation with all club members we have developed a new strategic plan for the club and pathway for the junior cricketers. Unlike most cricket clubs we do not have our own bar so rely on sponsorship and volunteer goodwill. We have called the strategic plan - sustaining excellence as we realise we must be ambitious but also sustainable.

Creating a new brand for ALL youth cricket - we are going to rebrand all youth cricket as the CI Sixers - with the distribution of a new "cap system" with different colour caps per age group.

The brand was developed following extensive consultation with our junior members. We believe the classic CI colours with a new brighter finish can attract and maintain interest of children. It is imperative that the Sixer brand is allowed to develop and must be invested in.

We understand the importance of social media and will deliver coherent messaging across Facebook, Instagram, twitter and YouTube.

Parents and Sixers will be encouraged to share content across our social media profiles to keep the brand relevant and fresh.

New girls profile within the club - last year we started our first girls team. Such was the demand we wish to increase our numbers and enter a NEW U15 girls team and a second U13 team to play in NCU competitions. This funding will be used to pay for additional coaching which will allow a focus on the skills of this talented group. Establishing this base of girls is crucial to our long term strategy of having a senior women's team at CI.

We have just appointed our first ever professional female coach. Amy Benson is a PE teacher and Northern Knights representative player. She is the perfect role model for our girls. She can lead but needs to work with the right kit and qualified coaches.

Subsidising kits - nowadays there is a shift from white cricket clothing to coloured "pyjama" kits. Funding would allow us to subsidise these and make cricket more accessible to all. We would also be able to afford some spares, retained by the club for use by players who participate on an ad-hoc basis.

The kit will also allow the Sixer brand to thrive.

New establishment of age group coaching group: currently the coaching set -up depends on availability of coaching staff and good-will of parents. With this funding we can spread the coaching across our overseas players and senior men's players and have dedicated sessions to increase the effectiveness of the practice sessions. This will also help to forge the links between junior and senior players. The cost of all coaching courses and expenses will be covered by CIYMS CC.

New equipment: Funding will allow the club to buy extra balls, practice stumps and other kit to coach this extended group. It may also be used to replace the bowling "cage" which can be used to increase coaching and playing capacity.

Support new teams in local regional competitions. The 2nd girls team is mentioned above and we have also signed up to introduce a second U11 boys team to meet demand. This will allow increased participation but will require additional coaching capacity and the funding will provide for this.

Identify & Support New Volunteers - Cricket can be a time consuming sport and is also multi-faceted. We have a core of excellent coaches under the leadership of director of cricket, Ian Butler.  However, to support the core we need volunteers to lead on umpiring, scoring, safeguarding and grounds maintenance. 

Arrange Mass Participation Events - we are arranging a club day at beginning of April to brief coaches, present strategies and get the grounds ready for the cricket season. Though June the sixers will play kwik cricket during the interval of 1st xi games. In July we are hosting our first ladies day and in August we will host a fun day for all club members.

Improve connections to local community - we are located in private grounds in a council owned park. We need to make the grounds more accessible and visible to outsiders. This can be achieved by signage and accesses.

We are currently doing relatively well as a club. However, we cannot stand still and must continue evolving. If we can't provide competitive cricket it is likely players will just give up rather than joining a new club.

We know there is huge demand in East Belfast and we are ambitious that we want to be the best place to play cricket in this area to have the best facilities, clear player pathways, coaching and outstanding cricketing culture.

This project successfully funded on 5th May 2023