In a bold move over the winter of 24/25, the RCC Committee decided to go all-in with regards to a new Cricket Academy at the club focussed on personal skills improvement and a 25% increase in numbers to give everyone an opportunity. But bold has paid off in dividends as this season has seen a huge uptick in participation and success across the board.

We have record numbers of

• Youngsters playing representative (Area and County) Cricket
• Kids in Years 3,4,5 and 6 taking part in Friday night coaching
• Girls involved in U9 and U11 Cricket matches
• Trained coaches offering group and 1-2-1 coaching

And results are also paying off on the pitch:

In a clean sweep, our u9 and u11 girls teams had won every game they have played except 1. They also look wonderful in their tops sponsored by Trend and Thomas. And our older girls have started to play adult Cricket with some success too! The coaches like Jerry, Andy, Gemma, Mark and Rowena, as well as parent helpers have been doing amazing things and I know this group will get better and better as they get older.

Our boys u9 team lost the first few games and then, with coaching from Billy, have started to win games and compete much better and now sit mid-table; and have some new sponsored shirts on the way bought by a kind parent.

Our u10 boys teams have won all bar 3 games, and they are playing 3 games a week! Some future stars in that group for sure and big thanks to Matt and Christian for all their hard work;

Our u11 lads team has been developing well and competing in every game. Best of all they are improving with each game played and with the coaching they have been getting

Both our u12 and u13 boys teams are UNBEATEN in their leagues and again are showing real promise. Some of the u13 players have already made Saturday debuts for the seniors. The coaching from Aman, Billy, Sagar and Pradeep is great to see - I have even witnessed boys standing on benches playing Cricket shots!! Modern day coaching is clearly very different to my day when it was a book on the defensive prod by Geoff Boycott...

Our u14 boys team have been really competitive and have won games and then lost games by the barest of margins - just 3 runs this week against a strong OACC team). Some of those boys are not just playing men's cricket but playing starring roles. And better still, its now mixed with our first girl participant playing this week and showing the boys how to excel.

Later in the season our u17 and u19 teams will take to the field.

Huge kudos to Aman and his Academy team for delivering focussed 1-2-1 session with each hardball player and helping our teams excel on and off the pitch. The investment from sponsors Jewson and Papa Ji will also be put to great use in improving facilities for all.

With a 21 year old 1st team Captain and youth running through the spines of most of our teams, once exam season is over, we are proving that you can actually "win something with kids" (sorry Alan Hansen). 2025 is proving to be the best year ever for our young teams. Let's celebrate this.