Club management · Play-Cricket syncGuide · Juniors
Running a junior cricket section: the admin guide.
A junior section is the future of a club: the players who’ll be opening the batting in ten years, and the parents who’ll be running the bar next summer. It also comes with more admin than any adult team. Here’s how to organise it so the volunteers last.
The roles
| Role | Owns |
|---|---|
| Junior coordinator | Runs the section: age groups, coaches, fixtures, parents |
| Club Welfare Officer | Safeguarding policy, checks, the first contact for any concern |
| Age-group managers | One per team: availability, match day, the parents’ group |
| Coaches | Sessions and development, with the right qualifications and checks |
| A junior treasurer or fees lead | Junior subs and match fees, so the main treasurer isn’t chasing parents |
The junior section should have its own coordinator rather than being one more job for the club secretary. Age-group managers are often parents, which is fine and usually the only way it works.
Safeguarding first
Every club with juniors needs a Club Welfare Officer and a safeguarding policy, and everyone working with juniors needs the right checks. The ECB’s safeguarding pages set out what’s required, and your county board can help. In practice:
- Communicate through parents. Coaches and managers message parents or the group, not individual juniors.
- Keep emergency contacts and medical notes up to date, and to hand at every session and match.
- Make sure parents know who the Welfare Officer is and how to raise a concern.
- Photos and video follow the club’s consent policy, especially on social media.
Age groups and the pathway
Most junior sections run softball and entry programmes for younger children, then hardball age groups through the teens. The ECB’s All Stars Cricket (ages 5 to 8) and Dynamos Cricket (8 to 11) are run by clubs and are the commonest way new families arrive.
The step into adult cricket is set by your county board’s rules on minimum age and parental consent, and by the club’s judgement of each player. Write it into your selection policy so captains and parents know how it works.
Parents: your biggest asset
The parents on the boundary are the club’s best source of volunteers, sponsors and, sometimes, players. Treat them as members of the club, not customers:
- Invite them to the clubhouse after sessions, and to social events.
- Ask each family for one small job a season: a teas slot, a lift, scoring one game.
- Run a parents’ nets night or softball game. Plenty played once.
- Tell them what the club needs; people help with specific asks.
Recruiting adults through the junior section.
Communicating with families
A WhatsApp group per age group is normal and works, but keep match logistics and money out of the chat, where they get lost. Send the things parents must act on (availability, kit, fees) directly to each parent, and use the group for everything else. Club communication without the noise.
Money: junior subs and match fees
- Charge per family where you can, with a sibling discount. Parents with two or three children notice.
- Send payment requests to the parent, not the child.
- Make paying one tap: a link that opens Apple Pay or Google Pay beats a bank transfer reference every time.
- Offer bursaries quietly. A reduced or zero rate for families who need it, without a public conversation.
In MVP Cricket, payment requests such as junior fees can go to the families you choose, and statements can be sent by WhatsApp to a junior’s emergency contact instead of the child. Anyone with the link can pay it, and it comes off the junior’s account. Payments are on the Club plan, and the subs board, with junior rates and £0 bursary rates, is on Premier. What clubs charge juniors.
Keeping juniors in the game
Most clubs lose juniors in the teenage years. What helps: regular matches rather than just training, a clear route into adult sides, and recognition. Juniors who play adult cricket love seeing their name on the same leaderboard as the 1st XI. A club MVP leaderboard with a young player award at the end-of-season awards gives them something to chase.
Questions junior coordinators ask
What do you need to start a junior cricket section?
A junior coordinator, a Club Welfare Officer, a safeguarding policy, coaches with the right checks and qualifications, insurance that covers juniors, and somewhere safe to train. Your county cricket board can help with all of it, and with running All Stars or Dynamos.
What ages do All Stars and Dynamos Cricket cover?
The ECB’s All Stars Cricket is for 5 to 8-year-olds and Dynamos Cricket for 8 to 11-year-olds. Both are run by clubs and are a common entry point for new junior members and their families.
Should coaches message junior players directly?
Club safeguarding guidance generally says no: communicate through parents or guardians, and use group messages rather than one-to-one contact. Check your club’s policy and the ECB’s safeguarding guidance.
Who pays junior match fees, the junior or the parent?
Usually the parent. Send pay links and reminders to the parent or emergency contact, not the child, and let anyone with the link pay it.
Junior fees to parents, paid in one tap, on the same ledger as everything else. Start free.