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Youth Development
Israel
has embraced the ICC Development Programme, with an ambitious youth programme
having recently been launched by the ICA. Since the start of the programme,
over 300 boys and girls have been introduced to cricket, with youth clubs and
playing centers having sprung up across the country. New facilities have been
built, professional coaches have been brought to Israel, and for the first time,
Israel will be sending a team to the U15B European Championships
to be hosted by Germany in August. Guided
by the principles, ethics and spirit of cricket, social barriers are being broken
and friendships formed across the country. Youth development
is the number one priority of the ICA.
Vision
To develop cricket amongst Israel's youth, educating them in the values
and traditions of the game, leading to the strengthening of the sport
in Israel, and building a future generation of players who will be
able to represent their country with pride and success at the international
level.
Youth
cricket was launched in Israel in March 2000. The programme is structured into
numerous regions, each managed by local coaches. The major playing centers are
Ra’anana, Petah Tikva and Tel Aviv in the center of the country, and Ashdod,
Be'er Sheva, Dimona and Yeruham in the south. Weekly practice sessions are held
in each center, with the players divided into age groups. Ages 7 – 10 are taught
the basics of the game through mini – cricket, with the idea being to implant
the fundamentals of the game in an environment where safety, fun, enjoyment
and excitement are all priorities. Ages 11 – 15 are coached using real equipment
in either net or middle practice sessions.
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Apart
from the weekly practice sessions, numerous youth tournaments, coaching clinics
and competitive matches have been held across the country. Over 100 players
participated in the first tournament held, a figure more than double than that
expected. A second tournament was played to coincide with the visit to Israel
of ICC CEO David Richards in September 2000. A third tournament was hosted in
March, while a fourth tournament, attended by 120 children and the national
squad who assisted with managing the 12 teams, as well as umpiring, was held
to coincide with European Cricket Day in May.
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Apart from aiming to raise the standard of Israeli cricket, youth cricket is also
helping to bridge the gaps in Israeli society. The ICA prides itself in it’s
policy of offering cricket free of charge. In many poorer communities, children
are given the opportunity to play a sport, with all other sporting options unavailable
to them for financial reasons. Children of many different backgrounds have been
attracted to cricket, matching the diversity of Israeli society. Included among
the young cricketers of Israel are a number of Russian and Ethiopian immigrants,
both boys and girls. Dimona, located in the Negev desert, is one of the poorer
towns in Israel. A local cricket enthusiast contributes to the community with
an arrangement with a school whereby he teaches children English once a week,
and the school releases the children for an hour of cricket in return.
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The ICA has, and continues to, invest heavily in the programme. New first – class
net facilities were recently completed in Tel Aviv, 3 astro-turf pitches have
been laid across the country, 2 qualified coaches were brought out from South
Africa in the school holidays, and a bowling machine and new Flixc Pitch have
been purchased. Two 13-year-old players were sent to England for an ECC sponsored
coaching clinic.
The culmination of the first phase of the development programme will be realized
in August when an U15 team competes in a European competition for the first
time. Whilst the success of the programme will only be felt on the full international
stage in a few years, the foundations have been laid and the future of Israeli
cricket secured.
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