Development Stage
This stage is for players within the under 13 to under 15 age range. There will be greater emphasis on players understanding their own game and being able to introduce and develop more complex aspects specific to them.
Players starting to settle into their roles within a team and developing the skills needed within that role, developing confidence and character to positively influence a game through skill/ability, decision making and gaining experiences to be learnt from.
Introducing and developing skills they will need at the next stage and understanding when they are ready to implement into game situations.
This stage will have four phases within it:
- Winter training opportunities which will consist of three hour sessions
- Early season internal development games - These will be used to develop players skills from the winter training environment to outdoor game situations. There will be a range of formats used during this phase to challenge a range of skills the players will require.
- External county age group games - many of these will take the form of ECB league fixtures, skill development is imperative at this phase. The importance attached to the result increases as players understanding of their role within the team and how their performance can influence the game.
- Late season mixed age group games - a small number of players would be selected to play in a variety of formats to challenge players.