SA Schoolboy and club sport

[Sards]

And so the drama continues.....

Our clubs under 11s had a brilliant season last term and won everything. Including a tournament and went unbeaten for the season. Their photos have been used for the marketing of the club to attract new players to the club. Especially the trophy pictures.
Now certain elements of the board are calling for changes to the policies we had put into place and want to turn the whole thing on its head jumping on the glory bandwagon.
I am responsible for 2 other very talented players that followed my son to the club. The parents have trusted me to look after their boys. Good players.
On Monday I found out that they want to give the inexperienced players more inclusion in the side and to swop the top order around to let them get batting time. They also want to spread the side we built to bolster other sides. Advocating this is a board member who's kid is one of the more underwhelming players who has not improved over the years at the club.
The manager who got us to this point has resigned because of this. My wife and I had to step in on Monday and contacted the chair and set up a meeting for this evening.
One of our talents has already left the club because of it and a few more including the 3 that I am responsible for , will too ,unless we stop the madness. We never ever wanted to become involved with the management side of the club because of my age but after lengthy discussions with the former manager we have reached an agreement that if we can halt this new initiative we will co-manage the side for this year. Otherwise the top 4 players are leaving for another club.

Politics in sport...........can't stand it. Let the kids just have fun...and if you have aspirations of your child being a good cricketer get them into a clinic that will improve their game so they can challenge for spots. And dont expect to diminish another childs cricket career just to give your child oppurtunities if you and your child are not putting in the effort that the better kid is putting in. By under 12 if you dont know the strengths and weaknesses of your child you have a serious problem.
The better boys are paying more in a month for specialised coaching than the fees are for a term of cricket. That is why they are getting the results.

[inactionman]

There's definitely room for teams and leagues where every squad member should get a go. Then there are teams that are competitive and you have to earn your spot.

Is 11 a bit young for that though?

I used to step in for a mate's church cricket team when they were short, and they had a rule that you retired on 40 runs so someone else could get a go. When I played for my local club I'd have matches where I wouldn't get a bat or a bowl as the top order batted through.

That's all fair enough as an adult, but as a junior I'd expect to be allowed to play (or my kid to be allowed to play) if we'd made the effort to turn up? You'll end up with no sod showing up if they're just continuing to carry drinks, and any late developers won't develop if they're just doing throwdowns for the openers.

[Sards]

There's definitely room for teams and leagues where every squad member should get a go. Then there are teams that are competitive and you have to earn your spot.

Is 11 a bit young for that though?

I used to step in for a mate's church cricket team when they were short, and they had a rule that you retired on 40 runs so someone else could get a go. When I played for my local club I'd have matches where I wouldn't get a bat or a bowl as the top order batted through.

That's all fair enough as an adult, but as a junior I'd expect to be allowed to play (or my kid to be allowed to play) if we'd made the effort to turn up? You'll end up with no sod showing up if they're just continuing to carry drinks, and any late developers won't develop if they're just doing throwdowns for the openers.

It's a tough one. We retire the boys on 50. But youth cricket is very competitive. It's about the win.
Anyway we met with the chairman and agreed to take on the management of the team after lengthy negotiations.
The mandate for youth cricket is rotation and development of the youth.
Of course there is franchise cricket for the youth which is basically kids picked according to the strength of the players. And a tournament is run twice a year under 11s and 13s. That's all the best players playing against each other. These franchises don't have fields so hire space and usually have a professional player coaching the boys once a week .
The biggest issue with the youth cricket is stats. Good stats get you into the high school of your choice. And so parents invest in the extra coaching to ensure this. But they want their kids to have time to accumulate stats.
Otherwise they jump ship to where they can accumulate stats. Under 12s are very important for this. The year end stats are what you would provide the school in January the following year when you enroll. So its a big year for the boys.
But let's be honest. There will always be kids coming in just to play a summer sport. It's a whim. They are not serious about the game. And then there are kids that have put in the effort.
It's a balance because you never know how talented a kid could be. If he gets the chance.
We managed to strike a balance with the chairman. He agreed that the coaches would mix our strongest under 12s with the strongest under 13s at practice to challenge them. And the same with the development players. It's heart breaking to get your 20 minutes in the nets twice a weak and having to throw wide balls back to poor bowlers who don't even reach the wickets when they bowl or bowl wide into the sides of the net. By the same token, if you are a decent bowler and the development batsman can't even challenge you , what is actually the point.
So hopefully we can work something out.

[OomStruisbaai]

Your spoiled brats should be 12 men for a year to start off. Not parent involving. Sad this.

[Sards]

Your spoiled brats should be 12 men for a year to start off. Not parent involving. Sad this.

Vok me Ouboet. I am 2 weeks in as manager of the under 12s. Something I just didn't want to do. I prefer not being the face of a cause. And I am already sick of it.
It's just vokken politics. And constant fights in committee meetings because you have parents with no cricket background taking management of the team to guarantee their kids game time. A senior member of the club whos kid is under my supervision, suggested we rather lose and work on the development players getting game time and forget about winning. What bullshit is this. And the worst thing is that they are prepared to destroy a team, that is destined to become one of the best junior teams the club has seen. Kids are moving from other clubs to be in this team. We have had 4 very good kids leave other clubs just to be a part of the sides success. Aye aye aye.....it vokken consumes you.
Take my hat off to any cricket parent that takes the job as manager.

[OomStruisbaai]

Your spoiled brats should be 12 men for a year to start off. Not parent involving. Sad this.

Vok me Ouboet. I am 2 weeks in as manager of the under 12s. Something I just didn't want to do. I prefer not being the face of a cause. And I am already sick of it.
It's just vokken politics. And constant fights in committee meetings because you have parents with no cricket background taking management of the team to guarantee their kids game time. A senior member of the club whos kid is under my supervision, suggested we rather lose and work on the development players getting game time and forget about winning. What bullshit is this. And the worst thing is that they are prepared to destroy a team, that is destined to become one of the best junior teams the club has seen. Kids are moving from other clubs to be in this team. We have had 4 very good kids leave other clubs just to be a part of the sides success. Aye aye aye.....it vokken consumes you.
Take my hat off to any cricket parent that takes the job as manager.

I use to ump (is a very good umpire) or running the scoreboard. Played club cricket for Malmesbury on my day.

[Blake]

Your spoiled brats should be 12 men for a year to start off. Not parent involving. Sad this.

Vok me Ouboet. I am 2 weeks in as manager of the under 12s. Something I just didn't want to do. I prefer not being the face of a cause. And I am already sick of it.
It's just vokken politics. And constant fights in committee meetings because you have parents with no cricket background taking management of the team to guarantee their kids game time. A senior member of the club whos kid is under my supervision, suggested we rather lose and work on the development players getting game time and forget about winning. What bullshit is this. And the worst thing is that they are prepared to destroy a team, that is destined to become one of the best junior teams the club has seen. Kids are moving from other clubs to be in this team. We have had 4 very good kids leave other clubs just to be a part of the sides success. Aye aye aye.....it vokken consumes you.
Take my hat off to any cricket parent that takes the job as manager.

If you end up building a "super team" and absorbing all the best talent into your club you are going to run into a new problem.
You are going to start dominating the other local clubs and the middle order batters aren't going to get any batting time, and your bowling attack is also going to be dominated by the strike bowlers, leaving the seamers and spinners out of the game too. They are only going to get nets experience against the best and no match experience, and eventually they will leave as well. Winning is fun and all, but everybody want's to contribute to the effort to share in the spoils.

Not saying I have the answer for you, but when it comes to kids and sport, particularly cricket where there is no guarantee that all the players will get a chance to contribute in a match, it is up to coaches and management to come up with a plan and find a balance between rotation and winning. Good luck with that.

[Sards]

Your spoiled brats should be 12 men for a year to start off. Not parent involving. Sad this.

Vok me Ouboet. I am 2 weeks in as manager of the under 12s. Something I just didn't want to do. I prefer not being the face of a cause. And I am already sick of it.
It's just vokken politics. And constant fights in committee meetings because you have parents with no cricket background taking management of the team to guarantee their kids game time. A senior member of the club whos kid is under my supervision, suggested we rather lose and work on the development players getting game time and forget about winning. What bullshit is this. And the worst thing is that they are prepared to destroy a team, that is destined to become one of the best junior teams the club has seen. Kids are moving from other clubs to be in this team. We have had 4 very good kids leave other clubs just to be a part of the sides success. Aye aye aye.....it vokken consumes you.
Take my hat off to any cricket parent that takes the job as manager.

If you end up building a "super team" and absorbing all the best talent into your club you are going to run into a new problem.
You are going to start dominating the other local clubs and the middle order batters aren't going to get any batting time, and your bowling attack is also going to be dominated by the strike bowlers, leaving the seamers and spinners out of the game too. They are only going to get nets experience against the best and no match experience, and eventually they will leave as well. Winning is fun and all, but everybody want's to contribute to the effort to share in the spoils.

Not saying I have the answer for you, but when it comes to kids and sport, particularly cricket where there is no guarantee that all the players will get a chance to contribute in a match, it is up to coaches and management to come up with a plan and find a balance between rotation and winning. Good luck with that.

Yes. We saw this problem coming. We got in a sponsor and have arranged " private coaching " for our development boys to get them up to speed. This initiative cost double and a bit than the subs the boys paid for a season and so the parents are invested. Their kids are getting this coaching free of charge and are improving. We are hoping for just a 10 percent improvement but if it ignites a carreer in cricket for just a few of those boys our commitment to the club for development is met. The other age groups are watching this and asking for something similar . What we have discovered is that with the boys playing 30 to 35 over matches now , that everyone gets a turn to bowl and bat. On Saturday gone we played Somerset Strikers , our only oppsition that we lost to over a year ago. They got to a decent 133 . Our top order 3 got to 98 , bearing in mind 2 of our top 6 were not available for the game. Our development boys finished the game off with a very inexperienced player hitting the winning run. So the private coaching initiative is definitely paying off. We have also identified 2 players for private coaching in spin bowling and this is really starting to be successful. You have to have a spinner in tournaments or you forfeit points.
We are still unbeaten for a year and have beaten all the top sides in that time. You will be amazed at how many kids want to be part of a winning side. We will hopefully build a B team going forward. A few of our dads from last season took their kids stats to other clubs and we are getting discussions from the dad's asking if their boys can rejoin the side after this season ends , as their kids are not happy at the new clubs. So our numbers will grow.

[Sards]

We got a request from Bellville to allow them to play 3 under 13 boys in their under 12s match against us on the weekend past . They had some reasons so we agreed. Little knowing that the under 13s match for them was canceled so they put in the 3 best under 13s.
I knew this on Friday because they sent a team list to add their players to Stumps. We won the toss and elected to bowl. We have a fantastic bowling attack. It was a 30 over match and we bowled them for 141. Some decent batters in the side. But like Strikers they bat very conservatively. We were missing one of our openers who fell sick on Friday so we were nervous , and a decent middle order batsman away for the weekend. They had the top franchise bowler opening their attack and my usual 3 to 5 didn't want to go in as an opener against him. Our number 6 put up his hand and volunteered. This kid is tiny and still under 11s. But has been with our side for over a year and a very quick bowler. I was hugely dissapointed in my 3 to 5 batsmen and gave the youngster a shot. He rode out the storm with my son and they put up a decent score and got through the front end bowlers very quickly. Then the rest came in and finished the match.
You have no idea how proud I am of that youngster. It was tough batting. Thankfully my son was in his usual brutal form and hit a quick 47 with 8 fours and a 6.
Our unbeaten streak continues. Man the sledging from Bellville was brutal in the field. Very personal and insulting. Have never witnessed this bad before. Told my lads to just ignore it and do their jobs. My son came in for a lot. Being chubby still. But he loved the challenge and responded with his bat. The wickie told him he can only hit fours on the leg side. That he can't hit 6s. He hit a 6 the next ball. It was hilarious. I got all this because I was standing umpire. That wickie has a dirty mouth.

[Sandstorm]

Man the sledging from Bellville was brutal in the field. Very personal and insulting. Have never witnessed this bad before. Told my lads to just ignore it and do their jobs. My son came in for a lot. Being chubby still. But he loved the challenge and responded with his bat. The wickie told him he can only hit fours on the leg side. That he can't hit 6s. He hit a 6 the next ball. It was hilarious. I got all this because I was standing umpire. That wickie has a dirty mouth.

Good lad. Nothing shuts up a keeper quicker than a couple of big boundaries

[OomStruisbaai]

Millies have been invited with Durbies to KERF. First for them.

[Sards]

I just love my team.
On Saturday we played Durbanville, pretty much the last of our tough matches. They batted first and got 173 all out over 35 overs. The highest total we have ever had to chase on a pitch made for batting. But my lads were exhausted from a tough week of cricket so lots of extras when bowling. My boys got stuck in and made the total in 15 overs for the loss of 2 wickets.

Still unbeaten.


2 easier matches to end the season

[Sards]

You have no clue how stressful it is to run an unbeaten team. Every Saturday is another pressure point. To lose our streak would be unforgivable. Especially for the boys. And now we have rugby overlapping with cricket. And some star batsmen not available.
I can't wait for the season to end tbh. I have already booked a weekend away to a hot spring resort the weekend after our last game. Just to get rid of the stress.
I am not sure I want to do it next season. Right now I would say no. I can understand why the managers only last a season.
My son is almost on 3 games every week.
Shame he went on a slump for a week with low scores and then this Wednesday he was back with 46 runs in 17 balls with 4 sixes and 5 fours, not out. Unfortunately he ran out of runs to get his 50. All the opposition coaches were looking at his bat after the match to see how he was getting those big hits. So he is hopefully out of his slump now. It started with a runout for a duck where he should have stood his ground as it was his call and he screamed no but the other kid just kept running. So he went and was stumped well out of the crease. Then a 10 and 12 in the next 2 matches.

[Sards]

Oh. My wife bought a team for a tournament on the weekend of the 15th. The auction of the players is this Friday to build a side. I was the hell in. I didn't want to get involved.
So basically you pay X amount to buy a team. 4 teams available. Then the players compile a bio and this Friday the players go on auction. The owners of the 4 teams bid on the players. To build a 10 player team. Then on the 15th there is a round Robin stage leading to the finals. Each player pays to have his bio entered. All the funds accumulated go to the club. One of the dad's whose son plays with my boy has also bought a team. Now it's getting tarty. We are going to be fighting for the same players.
It's spread over 4 age groups. So basically 2 from each age group and then some spare players

[Sandstorm]

Oh. My wife bought a team for a tournament on the weekend of the 15th. The auction of the players is this Friday to build a side. I was the hell in. I didn't want to get involved.
So basically you pay X amount to buy a team. 4 teams available. Then the players compile a bio and this Friday the players go on auction. The owners of the 4 teams bid on the players. To build a 10 player team. Then on the 15th there is a round Robin stage leading to the finals. Each player pays to have his bio entered. All the funds accumulated go to the club. One of the dad's whose son plays with my boy has also bought a team. Now it's getting tarty. We are going to be fighting for the same players.
It's spread over 4 age groups. So basically 2 from each age group and then some spare players

You're buying school kids like professional players in the IPL?? Are you fucking insane??

If you don't get sued, I'll buy you a house in Struisbaai.

[Sards]

Oh. My wife bought a team for a tournament on the weekend of the 15th. The auction of the players is this Friday to build a side. I was the hell in. I didn't want to get involved.
So basically you pay X amount to buy a team. 4 teams available. Then the players compile a bio and this Friday the players go on auction. The owners of the 4 teams bid on the players. To build a 10 player team. Then on the 15th there is a round Robin stage leading to the finals. Each player pays to have his bio entered. All the funds accumulated go to the club. One of the dad's whose son plays with my boy has also bought a team. Now it's getting tarty. We are going to be fighting for the same players.
It's spread over 4 age groups. So basically 2 from each age group and then some spare players

You're buying school kids like professional players in the IPL?? Are you fucking insane??

If you don't get sued, I'll buy you a house in Struisbaai.

We just own the side. My eldest son and his cricket school mate are managing the side. They had a really good auction and bought a good team.

In other news my youngest played 3 games this week.
Only out once.
Hit 166 runs with 24 fours and 12 sixes. With a strike rate well over 200. One match was for the under 13s we he got his 50 and then went big and got bowled. The last match was for club today where he hit 72 runs in 31 balls not out.

You can relax. The only cost in the ICPL was to buy the team. The managers got 20 million dollars in ficticious money to buy a team.

[Sards]

Our team finally got a L this past weekend. We played Mfuleni. They had a few high school boys that bullied our bowlers and a couple of grade 7 boys too. My son put up the only resistance, with 35 runs with 5 fours and a six.
Boys are devastated. Our regular opposition couldn't put a team together so we accepted Mfuleni knowing it will be a mixed age team. The winning streak of a year is gone and we start afresh next season.
We took all our boys and parents to a dinner Monday night to celebrate the end of a very successful season and to issue certificates. Boys and parents had an awesome evening. This weekend we have that ICPL tournament and done for the next 6 months.
My boy ended on 335 runs for the season. Top scoring at school and club. Now it's time for a good break. We have booked next weekend at the Baths in Citrusdal for a 3 day relaxing time in the spas and jacuzzi

[OomStruisbaai]

Noord Suid Tournament.

Nearly some big upsets

Grey vs Noord Heuwel.




Paul Roos vs Garsfontein Bere

[OomStruisbaai]

Jean Kleyn's boetie play 13 for PRG. Garsfontein TH prop Proppie, what a name for a TH prop and what a player he is.

[Sards]

After my wife and my first season in charge of the under 12s the club chairman has asked us to take the position of junior chair for the club. Effectively responsible for all junior sides. The chairman waa obviously impressed with how we managed the parents, boys and development. This leaves us a bit nervous because we haven't completed our job that we set ourselves for the under 12s. We do have a parent who is a club old boy who is more than capable of handling the management of the team but struggles with dealing with the parents. That is a thankless task and the worst part of the job that puts everyone off. We are thinking of leaving my wife to Co mannge the team with him to take the parent issue off the table and leave it to us as junior chair to manage. I have till end of May to make up my mind. Hopefully it will be in the interest of the club

[OomStruisbaai]

https://x.com/DaveWessels/status/191352 ... xNGeA&s=19

[Sards]

https://x.com/DaveWessels/status/191352 ... xNGeA&s=19

One of our friends has a son that made the Milnerton 1st team the beginning of the year. They have been telling us how ridiculous the parent politics are there in the rugby. It's obviously ripe and the culture of parent politics is well entrenched. You hear about the one parent being the school photographer for the side and so his boy is guaranteed a spot. How another parent supplies the jumpers and another kit etc. I know you can turn around and say yes its ironic because my wife and I do the same for club cricket , but my son earns his place on performance alone so we do it as a passion.

There is a tournament that is being developed for the northern suburbs pretty much along the lines of the ICPL we ran as a pilot project at Edgemead club .
Except more specific to age group and it will rival CPL.
Basically the top lads from the various clubs , Bellville Durbanville , Edgemead etc. will be put forward into a pool of players. Teams will then be bought ( ja we somehow ended up with a team again) and the boys in the pool will once again go onto auction. We obviously bought a team in the under 12 age group. The Steel-line Dragons. The teams will have managers who will buy the players and manage the team. Then the tournament will be held in June I think.
It will be televised and there will be 3 levels of sponsorship. The headline sponsor whom the tournament will be named after. Eg. Tiger brands. Then the mid level sponsors whom the individual age groups will be named after. Then the team sponsors which will be us. Who own the various teams.
It's very exciting and most importantly it will rival CPL which is just a money making racket and will be a lot more affordable for the parents entering their children.
We are fortunate to be part of this at the initiation level.
And of course the marketing will do a lot to advertise our company.

Being down in recovery from my accident has given me time to become involved in all this. And I have been doing my best to promote the organizer who has put a lot of effort in.

[Sandstorm]

https://x.com/DaveWessels/status/191352 ... xNGeA&s=19

One of our friends has a son that made the Milnerton 1st team the beginning of the year. They have been telling us how ridiculous the parent politics are there in the rugby. It's obviously ripe and the culture of parent politics is well entrenched. You hear about the one parent being the school photographer for the side and so his boy is guaranteed a spot. How another parent supplies the jumpers and another kit etc. I know you can turn around and say yes its ironic because my wife and I do the same for club cricket , but my son earns his place on performance alone so we do it as a passion.

There is a tournament that is being developed for the northern suburbs pretty much along the lines of the ICPL we ran as a pilot project at Edgemead club .
Except more specific to age group and it will rival CPL.
Basically the top lads from the various clubs , Bellville Durbanville , Edgemead etc. will be put forward into a pool of players. Teams will then be bought ( ja we somehow ended up with a team again) and the boys in the pool will once again go onto auction. We obviously bought a team in the under 12 age group. The Steel-line Dragons. The teams will have managers who will buy the players and manage the team. Then the tournament will be held in June I think.
It will be televised and there will be 3 levels of sponsorship. The headline sponsor whom the tournament will be named after. Eg. Tiger brands. Then the mid level sponsors whom the individual age groups will be named after. Then the team sponsors which will be us. Who own the various teams.
It's very exciting and most importantly it will rival CPL which is just a money making racket and will be a lot more affordable for the parents entering their children.
We are fortunate to be part of this at the initiation level.
And of course the marketing will do a lot to advertise our company.

Being down in recovery from my accident has given me time to become involved in all this. And I have been doing my best to promote the organizer who has put a lot of effort in.

11 year old professional sportsman

[OomStruisbaai]

Grey College vs Paarl Gim and Affies vs Bere the big matches today.

[OomStruisbaai]

[Sards]

Cricket is in s shocking state in the western cape.
Teams are struggling to fill sides.
Ok we are on a break at the moment, but I mentioned this because I turned down the junior chair position yesterday. I have done a great deal for the club and put into practice every thing all the other disenchanted coaches and management couldn't put together because of disagreement with the chairman.
I strengthened our under 12s by introducing specialized coaching for the kids which was sponsored . I had a fantastic season beating all and sundry. Only losing the last match where half our opposition were high school boys.
But my biggest achievement was putting together a tournament for the under 12s.
Under 11s and under 13s play in tournaments and go on tours. Under 12s get nothing. I worked with the club head coach and we put together the tournament of champions happening in October. We are also going on tour to Bredasdorp December . My boys are going to get everything that the other age groups get.
So I am very happy with my achievements. And....the chairman didn't interfere in anything .....
I had a chat to various parties whilst considering taking junior chair and had s great discussion with the chairman yesterday giving all my feedback and thoughts regarding the juniors going forward. Then I told him that I don't believe I am the right fit for the job because I only have 3 terms left and then my youngster will be in high school and playing school cricket . I suggested someone and declined the position. I just feel managing the team to under 13s is enough of a challenge and reward

[OomStruisbaai]

The only real rugby this weekend will be on 216 at 14h00. Paarl Boishaai vs Paul Roos at Brugstraat, Paarl.

[OomStruisbaai]

Boishaai beat PRG. Can't win if you get 3 Yellows. Just wish these vokken school refs can let the laaitie jol. Vokken penalties at the end of every movement. They fucked up our schoolboy rugby.