Folkestone Cricket Academy 2022

Folkestone cricket club Academy 2022 consisted of 16 talented 12-15 year old cricketers. There were 8 two hour sessions on Sunday mornings from early June till early August. Head coach Roy Downey was ably assisted by overseas player Jackson Isacca, club captain Chris Jay, and alrounder Nick Ward.

This has been the second year of the Academy.

A big thanks to S&J BRICKWORK for the sponsorship of the Cricket Academy.

2022 squad

ALFIE BALL
BEAU MORGAN
CHARLIE RUMLEY
DIKSHA MHASKE
HARRISON GREEN
HARRY ROWE
HARSHAL MHASKE
FINLEY ADAMS
JACK TIMMINS
REILLY FLEMING
RYDER WALLIS
SVARMIN SHARMA
THEO COOMBS
THOMAS STONE
VED RAMAMURTHY
YUVI THIND

Goals of the Academy

When planning a player’s pathway, the Junior Academy will keep 3 goals in mind as follows:

• Have a positive Cricket experience
  Creating an environment where cricket is enjoyable and players have a sense of achievement.
• Progress to perform at their best
  Providing players with the opportunity to develop their individual cricket skills and build skill sets required for adult cricket transition.
• Be motivated to join the senior cricket community
  Awareness, confidence and enthusiasm to pursue the cricket pathway leading to first team representation.

12-15 year olds pathway to senior cricket.

Giving our best juniors the skills required to not just play senior cricket but to contribute and dominate. Graduates of this program should have the confidence and ambition to forge a path to the top of the club.

Day to day running

Roy Downey, Jackson Isakka our overseas player from Australia and Nick Ward will organise the running and coaching aspects.

Roy is a Qualified ECB Level 2 Coach.  During his time playing for FCC he was part of the team that won the Premier League in 1989 and was awarded Kent League Player of the Year in 1996.  Roy also coached Folkestone 1^st X1 to Premier 2-day Championship in 2001 and Folkestone 2nds to two successive championships.

Roy says he has seen many young, very talented cricketers fall by the wayside because of a poor attitude. The Academy wants to help youngsters have a mature and level headed approach to our wonderful game.

Nick Ward has been playing for FCC since the age of 6 and has progressed throughout Junior and Senior teams to become an established 1^st team player. He has represented Kent through their age group pathway being leading wicket taker in the 2016 season.  He won the Kent League Division 1 Bowling Award and was selected for the Kent Select X1.  He is currently studying Sports and Exercise Psychology at the University of Portsmouth where he is 1st X1 Captain and Coach of the Cricket Club

Jackson Isakka is our Overseas Player from Australia this season.  He comes with a wealth of experience as a NSW Level 1 Coach.  Other achievements include:

Sydney Premier 1^st Grade All Rounder, U21’s Poideven-Gray Shield Captain, Westfield Sports HS 1st X1 Captain, NSW Schoolboys Representative, Ralph Wiese Medallist DDCC 2021 NT long with other numerous accolades.

Roy, Jackson and Nick feel it is an opportunity for them to really have an impact and impose their professional approach to the game.  They will work out goals and stepping stones to keep some accountability.

Program Timeline

The Junior Academy runs for 8 x 2 hour morning sessions (10:00 – 12:00) on Sundays from June through to August.

The Academy will run alongside but separate to the usual Junior sessions. The expectation would be that Academy players attend their usual training session as well.

Academy players will receive sponsored kit that they can wear with pride and promote the FCC Junior Academy culture.

Assessment

It is key that the Academy can justify and give every junior a fair attempt at making the squad.

Roy has been closely monitoring the juniors by attending training sessions over the last few months, watched various matches as well as liaising with the age group coaches to assess which juniors, he thinks would benefit from joining the Junior Academy. The decision will be taken very seriously so that you, Parents and Guardians, can be certain that a proper process has been followed.

The aim is to select 12 to 16 players from all club juniors currently aged 12 to 15.

If your child is selected to join the Academy, there will be an expectation that each is a paid up club member and fully committed to playing their competitive club cricket at both junior and senior level, solely for Folkestone Cricket Club.  We also ask that parents give 100% support to their son/daughter through this opportunity.  If you feel that you cannot make this commitment please let us know as another child could be offered the place.