Season gets underway for the juniors!

Welcome to the new season at Blackheath, which is now upon us!  The regular junior section training sessions start this week (for Girls’ squads on Thursday 16 April and for Minis’ and Boys’ squads on Friday 17 April).  For U8 (Year 3) children and older, matches against other clubs start in May.

You will find most of the information you need about arrangements for the junior section on the Boys, Girls and Minis pages of the website, including timings of all training sessions, upcoming fixtures and squad contact details.  However, here’s a rundown on some general points …

Joining (or re-joining) in 2026

Most junior squads are now either at or near full capacity for the 2026 season, but there are still quite a few spaces in some squads.  If you were a member last year and have (for whatever reason) not yet signed up, if you are on a waiting list and are wondering about your status, or if you are interested in joining the club for the first time, please email us at juniors@blackheathcricket.com.  If possible, we will still fit you in at this stage. 

Where places are still available, we are also happy to offer a free trial to those who would like one before signing up.  For further details on the registration process generally see Junior Registration for 2026.

Thursday and Friday evening training sessions

This year, all the junior training sessions are at Blackheath.  On Thursdays younger girls (U8-U11) train from 5-6pm and older girls (U12-U15) from 6.30-8pm.  On Fridays, Minis sessions are from 4.15-5pm, U8-U10 boys from 5.15-6.15pm and U11-U15 boys from 6.30-8pm.

Traffic and parking:  On Thursday evenings, there is a 30 minute gap between sessions and everyone should be able to park in the club car-park.  However, on Friday evenings (which are extremely busy) there are special traffic and parking arrangements in place explained here: Friday evening traffic and parking (see also the Parking Map). Please read these instructions carefully, even if you are just dropping off and not parking.

What to wear and what to bring:  There are no special rules about what to wear for training sessions.  It is not necessary to wear cricket kit though some do; t-shirt and shorts or tracksuit bottoms are fine.  Obviously bring appropriate clothing for the weather.  As regards footwear, trainers are fine; those who have them can bring cricket boots but they can't be used in the nets.  Those who have cricket kit should bring it, but for those playing softball cricket no kit is necessary.  For those playing hardball cricket who do not have their own kit, there should be club kit available to borrow.  If in doubt about what kit you need, please ask your squad manager (contact details on the website).  For the first couple of Thursdays and Fridays there will be a second-hand shop: see below.

Bar and BBQ:  We encourage all parents to stay on during coaching sessions, which are usually very sociable.  The bar will be open every Thursday evening from 5pm onwards and every Friday evening from 4pm onwards.  There will also be a BBQ each Friday evening from about 6pm, serving burgers from the local Bramley butchers.  Tickets for the BBQ should be purchased from the bar.  There may be a bit of a queue at the bar or BBQ at busy times - please be patient!  You are welcome to bring your own food but please do not bring your own alcohol for consumption at the club, as bar revenue is an important part of the club's income.

Responsibilities regarding children:  Please always make sure your child is checked in with the coach running the practice session.  Unless your child is aged 12 or older, please remain at the club during the sessions or to find another adult who is willing to take responsibility for your child if necessary, and to ensure that the relevant squad manager/administrator is told in advance by email who that adult is, copying in the relevant adult.  Please keep any children you bring to the club who are not being coached under supervision and out of the areas where coaching is taking place.  If an unsupervised child wanders into a practice area they can easily be hurt by a stray cricket ball.  Please also keep them off the log pile near the nets and the large roller by the top boundary.

Matches, availability and selection

Matches for all boys’ and girls’ squads from U8s-U15s start in May and in most cases continue until mid-July (U17 and U19 boys fixtures start and end later).

Availability and selection for matches is managed through the club’s online administration system, Teamtamer.  You can log into this via the Members button on the website, and on your dashboard you will see upcoming fixtures for your child's squad (and if you have more than one child in the club, for all of their squads). 

You can update your child’s availability for fixtures well into the future via the diary page (just click on the diary icon at the top), and everyone is encouraged to do this if possible. However, you will also receive regular emails from squad managers asking about your child’s availability for specific fixtures.  Please respond promptly to these, which you can do simply by clicking on the thumbs up or thumbs down icon in the email.

Selection for matches is also announced by email, usually at least several days in advance.  When your child is selected for a match, you will be asked to reconfirm that they are coming by clicking the confirmation button in the email.  Please always remember to do this, so you don’t have to be chased.

We are an inclusive club and squad managers will try to give every child a fair number of games over the course of the season.  However, where a squad has an A team and a B team, the A team will usually be selected primarily on merit, as otherwise the team is likely to be uncompetitive. 

Club kit and second-hand shop

Please make sure that children playing in matches wear the appropriate club junior playing shirt (the U8s/U9s have a slightly different shirt from older squads).  If you don't already have them, these can be purchased from the Club Online Shop. It’s not essential to buy the club black trousers: black tracksuit bottoms or (for the youngest children playing softball cricket) shorts are fine. 

NEW FOR THIS YEAR:  We have ordered special new Minis shirts for this season.  These are not available online but can bought at the club on Friday evenings.  They should be here in time for the first Friday!

For those playing hardball cricket, there is a small amount of club kit (pads, gloves, helmets etc) that may be available to borrow, but generally it’s best if everyone has their own.  If you’re happy to buy new, a good cricket shop is Romida (either online or the big store in Leatherhead).

For those who would prefer to get something second-hand, there will be a limited amount of used cricket kit on sale at the club on the first couple of Thursdays and Fridays.  If you have used kit you no longer want, please bring it up to the club and donate it to the shop if you are happy to do so, so it gets passed on.

All proceeds from the shop, and all unsold kit, will be donated to the East Africa Character Development Trust, a charity which provides cricket coaching and character education to thousands of kids in slum schools in Nairobi, which we have supported for many years: see the EACDT link on our website.