Sussex Cricket Strategy - links between the team and clubs.

Yes - that is right. This is the strategy for the new organisation and as can be seen from the slides posted on the Sussex Cricket Strategy thread, there are effectively four parts to the strategy: Performance, Participation, Community and Sustainability.

Your suggested questions are interesting and I look forward to hearing from members of the forum about their experiences and thoughts.

Yeah let's hope so cos that was a waste of a post.

What's the difference between 'touching the local community' and focus clubs? If a recreational club is too small to be a focus club then just change that, so there are more focus clubs.

Sounds like a marketing/jargon push to me.

Some Initial Ideas on the Community Aspect of 'Sussex Cricket Ltd'

I have chatted to Tracey Francis at Notts various times during the last few years and have been mightily impressed with her 
pioneering community work. It was her vision which impressed the ECB so much they awarded Trentbridge two Ashes Tests,
one in 2013 and the impending one in 2015. Outside of Lords and The Oval, a recent rare occurrence for a TMG.

www.trentbridge.co.uk/cricket/community/index.html

: Use the pioneering community work at Nottinghamshire CCC under the leadership of Tracey Francis as a guide.

: Each player that signs a contract with Sussex CCC commits himself to attending a minimum of 7 community events a season
which may include public speaking, coaching, signing autographs and Q&As. Any player who feels shy or uncomfortable with
public-speaking is sent on a course to boost confidence and skills.

: The cricketers are the ambassadors of the club, so emphasis is placed on learning how to liaise with the public. Specialist
subjects are encouraged whether it be talking to school-children about nutrition, how to deal with bullying, or developing as
a successful sports person.

: The Sussex coaches must come onboard and become a part of the community work, not just during the off-season but more
importantly during the actual season. This is of vital importance. They need to encourage their players as much as the hierarchy.

: Regular visits to hospitals, interviews on radio and local TV, the players must become far more active within the
community as a whole and gain the confidence to be in the public eye on a regular basis. Children, in particular, require sporting heroes.

: At Notts, some cricketers enjoy their community work so much they demand to do more!

: Sussex CCC sponsor a major cricket club tournament with serious prize money. Perhaps, a FA style-knock out competition.
eg. 'The Sussex CCC Community Shield Cup'.

www.sussexcricket.co.uk/leagues

Responding to this thread, it is difficult not to make it seem like a confessional, because I am one who loves cricket but does not actively support my local side. I was a social member about 20 years ago and went to many matches, but changes to the social set I move in and personal circumstances meant that I gradually dropped out of that. That coincided with a sharp downturn in the fortunes of the club, who are nowadays two divisions lower than at their peak. I don't think I'm alone in feeling that one has to be either deeply involved with the club - groundsman, bar, fundraising, performing renovations to facilities - or the club is in a small community and very picturesque location for it to be attractive to go and watch a poor side playing badly. Of course it is a vicious circle: the side might be better if more people were involved, had the community behind it, thus having a larger pool of players etc. It does not help that I live in what could be described as a dormitory town without a well-defined centre and lacking in community cohesion. 

Against that I resumed playing - very poorly but with spirit - in my 50s for an evening midweek 20 overs side and continued until it was obvious that I was taking longer to bend for the ball scudding past me at mid off than it took for the batsmen to run 4. In those years I travelled to a number of well run local clubs, some groupings of friends, others well-established village and works sides, and several of those clubs were very well-supported and had lively social memberships, adding these mid-week games in to the pattern of their weekend league fixtures.

From my experience then, I think that the professional side in Sussex can act as a cynosure to the recreational game but that without a strong community spirit behind the local club, then a good standard Sussex CCC will draw away support from those who find it hard to settle for second-best or worse.

What do others on this forum think, particularly those who've played to a higher standard than me - which is probably anyone who has ever played the game!

Understand your frustration GDF but plenty of initiatives with state schools currently underway. I am aware of at least three secondaries that have linked up with us in last few months to do more cricket- one in WS, one in ES and one in B&H.

Also the ACA is a completely new approach - declare an interest here as I am a Governor at BACA. Most very good state school cricketers get bursaries to go to public schools and ACA is another route

Still loads more to do in Sussex - resources/volunteers/money!


www.aldridgefoundation.com/schools-colleges/south-east/aldridge-cricket-academy/

BM. Am open minded about free tickets being targetted at particular audiences.

However I am quite passionate about not devaluing the value of the product or we might as well give up with staging professional cricket!!.