Oxfordshire Cricket is delighted to launch and introduce you to ‘Future Leaders Academy, a FREE programme designed for young leaders.
With clubs and the game requiring volunteers, our aim is to help inspire a new generation of individuals to volunteer. Volunteers are the heartbeat and lifeblood of the recreational game, and many clubs and communities rely on a small number who do a great amount.
The aim of this programme is to inspire individuals aged 13 to 18 (school years 8 to 13) to become a ‘Young Leader’ in volunteering. The course content will provide young individuals with a toolkit of qualifications that they can then use at their club or local community group which will directly benefit them and the clubs/community that they are involved in.
The programme will include up to eight modules, with individuals selecting a mixture of mandatory (four) and optional modules (up to four). The modules will take place over the winter to then enable individuals to take what they learnt into their volunteering in time for the season.
This programme includes the following mandatory and optional modules:
Mandatory Modules
- Coaching – Activators Course (Coaching)
- Umpiring and Scoring – Introduction to Umpiring and Scoring
- First Aid
- Safeguarding
Optional Modules
- Marketing
- The Grounds Management Association Workshop
- Nutrition and Health Workshop
- Sports Psychology and Mental Health – Introduction
The whole programme will be free
This means that individuals will receive up to eight certificated workshops listed above for free.
Our aim is to make the course accessible throughout Oxfordshire where we will deliver strategically placed courses.
The Young Leader programme encourages individuals to use the qualifications they’ve obtained on the course to complete voluntary hours at their cricket club.
Accreditation Process and Reward & Recognition
We will have three levels that will be based on the number of hours volunteering that an individual has completed. They will be labelled as Bronze, Silver or Gold hours. This will need to be verified by being signed off by a club official who will also be asked to provide a supporting statement/reference on how the individual did and the impact that they had, In addition, the course will dovetail nicely with Young Leaders completing volunteer hours as part of other award schemes such as, the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
To recognise outstanding contributions to the game, all course graduates will be invited to Cricket Collective Grassroot Cricket Awards. At the event, individuals will receive their certificates for completing the course as part of a wider celebration of Oxfordshire volunteers. Young leaders will receive a reward from our partners such as Serious Cricket.
Bronze: 10 Hours of Volunteering (in addition to the completion of the mandatory modules)
Silver: 20 Hours of Volunteering (in addition to the completion of the mandatory modules)
Gold: 30 Hours of Volunteering (in addition to the completion of the mandatory modules)
Benefits to the individual
- An opportunity for individuals to develop themselves and gain certificates and qualifications
- Build up experiences for CV
- Link to the Duke of Edinburgh award and other sports leader schemes
- Meet new people and enjoy the cricket social life
- Have fun
- Contribute to the development and sustainability of cricket by volunteering
- Gain experience of working within a sports environment along with many transferable skills
- Access to volunteer opportunities, including at Oxfordshire Cricket
- Join the Oxfordshire Cricket family, raise your profile and be on our radar for future development and support
Timeline
- Sign Ups Open: June – 2024
- Sign Ups Close: End of July- 2024
- Workshops Take Place: October – March – 2024/25
- Volunteer Window: March – August – 2025
- Reward and Recognition – September 2025
How to Sign Up and Next Steps
The deadline to Sign Up or express an interest is Monday 22nd of July 2024. For the 2025/2026 cohort please fill out the expression of interest form
You can sign up or express your interest by CLICKING HERE
We will then analyse the sign ups, and look to provide you with further information in August for the first cohort to begin from October.
When will the workshops take place?
The face to face workshops will take place in the half terms of October and February. It is expected that there will be caps for workshops, with different slots available on a first come first served basis.
The virtual workshops will be scheduled across a mixture of those half terms and weekday evenings in term time.
If you have any questions please email [email protected]