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BCB National Academy
"Connecting Cricket from the grass roots to the World Stage"
The overall aim of the Academy is to provide talented young cricket players with a comprehensive program to enable them to develop into outstanding cricketers whilst at the same time providing players with the tools they need to develop into well-rounded members of the community. The structure of the BCBNA program highlights the preparation needed to fulfill athlete expectation and progression to achieve the highest level of international competition.
The Academy serves as the top tier of the BCB Youth Development Pathway (see right) providing a strong incentive for Bermuda's young cricketers to progress to a higher level providing further incentives for children to participate from a very early age.
The BCBNA is directed by the BCB National Coach, David Moore, B.Ed, M.Ed, who not only has a wealth of coaching experience, having coached the West Indies team, but also has a comprehensive background in sports administration and cricket education. David held the position of Senior Coach for the Cricket Australia Commonwealth Bank Centre of Excellence.
In 2011 the BCBNA grew to accommodate an 11&Under age group which had thirty committed players training twice a week. The BCBNA also has intakes in the 13 & Under, 15 & Under and 19 & Under boy?s age groups as well as the National Women?s team and the Under 16 Girls. Each age-group has approximately 25-30 players training throughout the year. The Academy has approximately 150 players in the Elite Program. The boys start in the Under 11 program and the girls start at Under 16 and with hard work and dedication they progress through the program to the senior level.
The players develop technical proficiency, tactical awareness, cognitive understanding, physical development, psychological grounding and personal development over time. Players are selected during cricket trials by the team management overseen by the National Coach. Teams compete in a series of matches throughout the year and also take part in league cricket. For the past three years the Under 15s have competed in the Men?s evening league. The Under 11s played in the Hiscox Celebrity Festival, the Under 13s played against each other and the Under 16 Girls play regularly in Hiscox Under 11 and the BCB Women?s League.
The National Academy players are trained in batting, wicket keeping, fielding and bowling. Additional sessions on fitness, nutritional education, sports psychology and anti-drug WADA information sessions are a core part of the syllabus.
BCB National Academy and the YouthNet Connection
In 2012 the BCB was extremely excited to partner with YouthNet to integrate their Sports Mentoring Program into our current National Academy Syllabus. With support from the Bank of Bermuda Foundation, this program was piloted with the U19 National Academy players completing a Youth Mentorship course in which they received peer mentorship and leadership training which qualified them to mentor and train with the U13 players. Each week YouthNet supplements the U13 National Team Syllabus with classroom sessions in which the players learn about values such as Respect, Control, Communication, Decision Making, Preparation, Goal Setting and Teamwork. Directly after the classroom session, the players take what they have learnt and apply the value to their cricket training. The U19s work alongside the younger players demonstrating the value learnt that week and important role models to our young players.
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Links to National Academy Teams
Captaincy & Player Selection Policies National Academy U13 & U15 2012 UK Tour & Photo Gallery
The BCB was extremely pleased to undertake the first U13 & U15 cricket tour to the UK in August this year. This two week tour was organised by the BCB and fully funded by the players and parents themselves who worked hard over four months to raise the money to cover the cost of the tour.
Whilst on tour, the national players competed against teams in Leicester, York, Warwick, Bristol and London mixing with other young cricketers from various different social and cultural backgrounds and experienced international competition at a very competitive level.
Players had a number of site-seeing excursions including a guided tour of Lords Cricket Ground and a visit to the Cricket Museum in the Cotswolds. They also went to Leicester County and watched a day's play at a First Class Cricket match.
David Moore stated, "This tour was a real boost to our cricket academy. Players gained valuable playing experiences overseas and were able to benchmark where they are in comparison to other cricketers in full member nations. It was a tremendous opportunity for the players to compete and perform in conditions that are unfamiliar and challenging and to be exposed to different cultures both on and off the field." Click here for photo gallery |
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