Youth Development Report

 

REPORT BY CRICKET SWITZERLAND YOUTH DEVELOPMENT OFFICER  -  SEASON 2017

 

2017 season saw another successful year for Junior cricket in Switzerland.
 
Junior cricket in Switzerland is only made possible by a purely voluntary effort of parents and coaches, putting in time and many kilometers for the future generation of cricketers. Junior Cricket is played in age groups of Under 11 and below, 13s, 15s, 17s and 19s. Clubs and schools with active junior participation are
 
● Basel Dragons Junior Cricket Club

● Cossonay Cricket Club

● La Châtaigneraie School (Ecole Internationale de Geneve)

● Geneva Youth Regional Cricket Club

● Gingins Cricket Club

● Lyceum Alpnium

● Zurich Crickets Cricket Club
 
It is estimated there are upwards of 450 juniors playing cricket in Switzerland.

Domestic

 

The highlight of the junior season, the Zuoz Cricket Festival (3, 4 & 5 June 2017) was a massive success once again and was less impacted by rain than the previous year. Huge thanks to the new sportsmaster, Paul Miles, at the Lyceum Alpnium and Laurence Paurig and team for putting on the tournament in difficult circumstances. Congratulations to ZCCC (U11 & U15) and Gingins (U13) for their wins.
 
There was also the third installment of the other outdoor competition, the Suisse Romande Cup, hosted by Cossonay and GICC, which rounded out the outdoor season, which was slightly rain affected. Congratulations to ZCCC (U11) and Gingins/La Chat (U13) for their wins. The start of the 2017/18 season was once again marked by the Leman Cup where a team from the East of Switzerland (Basel & Zurich) take on the best of the West (Cossonay, Gingins, GRYCC, La Chat). This time the weather was good, and players, parents and coaches enjoyed some thrilling cricket.
 
The start of the year saw the Basel Indoor tournament with the U13 event in particular very well attended with teams from Basel, La Chat, Luxembourg, Swiss U11s, Vaud and Zurich and split over two locations on the first day. Congratulations to Zurich (U11s), Vaud (U13s) and Basel (U15s) for their wins. The year was be wrapped up with the Gingins Indoor tournaments in November, with a match day for U19s and weekends for U11, U13 and U15s. Congratulations to Basel/La Chat (U11s), Gingins/GRYCC (U13s) and Basel (U15s) for their wins.

Coaching
 
The clubs also continued the commitment to quality coaching Basel continuing their summer camp with Twenty20 Cricket Company, camps with Scott Newman and Zurich Crickets hosting camps with coaches from Hampshire. Gingins also hosted a level 1 coaches course in the spring.

National

 

At the international level, national coaches were selected for the age groups, and squads were picked for a number of tours to the UK at U11, U13, U15 and U19. 

 

The Swiss U11s toured Surrey over the Ascension long weekend, playing 6 matches in four days as well as a training session hosted by Twenty20. They played a number of club sides such as the Ashtead, Cranleigh, Camberley T20 Academy, Weybridge and Windsor and won 3 of their 6 matches.

 

The U13s also toured Surrey with the U11s. They played a number of matches against clubs like Horsley and Send, Camberley and Royal Ascot. They also had a longer form match (30ov) against St John’s School. They won 4 of their matches, losing only to Royal Ascot and had a rain affected tie (by Duckworth-Lewis)!

 

The U15s were invited to the Coloured Clothing Tournament, hosted at Leicester Grammar School in August. They played a T20 and 40 over matches and went undefeated winning the title! 

 

The U19s were invited to compete in T20 and ODI competitions in Berlin in late July against Belgium, Norway and Germany. The Swiss U19 came third in both competitions, with Aiden Andrews being awarded batsman of the T20 tournament!

Bob Barber Awards 2017

 

The junior season concludes by recognising the outstanding junior players with the Bob Barber Awards. The 2017 winners were presented with their medals at the Gingins Indoor Tournament - congratulations to them all!
 
U11 - Owen Thompson

U13 - Max Hoegenauer

U15 - Hemant Ganesh & Dayn Paurig

U19 - Aiden Andrews
 
The 2017/18 season is underway, and already it looks like it will be another competitive one!
 
Michael Hall
Cricket Switzerland Youth Development Officer