Reports to: Junior section secretary
Direct reports: 5-10 volunteers
Location: Northchurch Cricket Club (HP4 3SF), winter training locations TBC
Contract type: Service contract with self-employed coach
Start: End April 2021

About Northchurch CC

Northchurch is village sandwiched between Tring and Berkhamsted in Northwest Hertfordshire. We field two sides on Saturdays and most Sundays, offering senior cricket for all abilities. The introduction of a ladies section in 2021 is a good example of our abition to do more and offer more. Our intent is to build a stable and sustainable club by attracting players from age 5 and encouraging them to continue playing through the junior section and into the senior sides.

The junior section at Northchurch has been built from a standing start in 2011. We now have over 80 age-group cricketers and an All Stars section that attracted 65 participants from local schools in 2019. There is scope to grow, notably by adding a girls’ section, developing our performance programme and introducing holiday camps. We would also like to develop our relationships with local schools, where there are excellent recruiting opportunities.

Until now, we have been delivering our junior strategy through an all-volunteer model, with players acting as coaches and parents as team managers for matches. While this has been successful, we are now seeking to bring in a professional head-coach who will work with us to deliver consistency and build on the existing foundation.

Our objective is to create a dynamic, inclusive and thriving junior section that contributes to the long-term health of the cricket club and provides an over-supply of young cricketers into senior teams in the future, and in doing so serve our local community by becoming a recognised ‘3rd place’ where children and their families can connect, build relationships and in turn help to educate, motivate and inspire others through the game of cricket.

Our strategy will be to deliver on the complete cricket experience through harnessing and empowering our volunteer support blended with a mix of semi-professional and professional coaching support.

Implied in the phrase 'complete cricket experience' is each young person will have a differing set of wants, needs and ambitions and our mission is to meet and exceed those needs through an 'each is different, each is talented, all are valued' inclusive culture.

Our tactics will be the things we 'do' to deliver on our strategy (these can be limitless, the obvious being recorded below. Only stipulation is that whatever we do must align with our objective and strategy)

• Weekly age-group training and matches within the Herts League
• Accelerated pathways and opportunities for our more talented players – the creation of a Northchurch Academy
• Holiday camps and additional training opportunities
• Family social events around key times of the year, both in the cricketing calendar and otherwise
• Developing a 'year round' cricketing culture through winter nets/training and indoor competition

The Role

Reporting to the Junior section secretary, the head coach will have three core areas of focus:

1. Develop and deliver player-focused summer and winter training programmes catering for all abilities.
2. Coordinate and lead a team of volunteer coaches from within the club to deliver the programme, developing these coaches where possible.
3. Identify and pursue opportunities for mutually beneficial growth of the offering in line with the strategy.

Responsibilities:

1. Design and deliver player-focussed training programmes for age group (U9-U16) cricketers from April-July. Leading a main training evening each week.
2. Oversee the delivery of eight-week ECB All Stars programme.
3. As per point 1 for indoor winter training between January and April.
4. Coordinate volunteer coaches (ECB qualified) to ensure training is appropriately resourced, delivered to a high standard and in line with safeguarding directives.
5. Design and deliver additional programme for a mixed-age academy group, preparing juniors for integration into representative and senior cricket.
6. Run outreach training sessions in local schools to promote the club’s offering and maximise uptake.
7. Identify opportunities for, plan and deliver further junior cricket products, for example, a girls’ section, Easter and summer camps, and 1-2-1 coaching sessions.
8. Oversee storage and maintenance of training equipment (making a business case for new/replacement kit if needed).
9. Ensure safeguarding obligations are met.
10. Potential for working with the senior section.

The person

Experience:

While we are more interested in the behaviours and motivation of the applicant, we are looking for a minimum of five years part-time or two years full-time cricket coaching experience.

Skills:

1. Planning and delivering imaginative cricket sessions which maximise involvement
2. Adapting approach to different age groups and abilities
3. Leading and motivating a team of volunteers, inspiring them to deliver high-energy sessions
4. Organisation of groups, parents and volunteers
5. Communicating with people

Behaviours:

1. Care about the players of all abilities
2. Take initiative and be proactive
3. Own the problem
4. Go the extra mile

Qualifications:

1. ECB Level 2 minimum (essential, L3 a bonus)
2. In date first aid and DBS (essential)
3. Member of the ECB Coaches Association (essential)
4. Safe Hands trained (highly desirable)
5. Driving licence and vehicle (highly desirable- you may need to transport kit to indoor training venues)

If this sounds like you, please email Tom Vila at juniors@northchurchcc.org or call on 07747824071 to discuss.