JACK PETCHEY LEADERSHIP NOMINATION FOR 2008 - DAVID BARBONE

CONGRATULATIONS! to Dave Barbone who has been awarded the 'Jack Petchey Leadership Award 2008' for his outstanding work with young people at Brentwood Cricket Club.

Below is a short accreditation of Dave's numerous achievements at club written by Jon Coote (Hon Colts Treasurer) who himself is a Brentwood Cricket club member of some 40 years standing.

NOMINATION FOR BRENTWOOD CRICKET CLUB - DAVE BARBONE

Dave will receive £1,000.00 from the 'Jack Petchey Foundation' to spend on a project of his choice after a consultation with the members of the 'Brentwood Colts Executive Committee'.

I first met David about 7 years ago when I ran the Brentwood Cricket Club under 11's and David asked if son, Tim, could join our colt's section. David turned out to be just the type of parent I wanted to have; happy to let his child find his own level within the club, supportive of what we were trying to achieve and responsive when it came to helping with any task that I needed done.

Gradually David became more involved in the Club as a whole. He joined us as a senior playing member and even though he was an excellent cricketer in his own right he was happy to play in one of the Club's lower sides where he could lend support to its policy of developing younger players. In other words here was a man who was willing to put back into the game something that he had got from it.

A year or two after David joined the Club I became Colts Section Chairman and David joined our Committee where he was always very supportive of what we were trying to achieve. Under my stewardship our Colt's section made steady progress but in hindsight there were obviously opportunities that I overlooked and after 5 years in charge other commitments meant that I was looking to hand over the reigns.

I would love to say that I was grooming David as my successor but I can't and as so often is the case in amateur sports clubs one is grateful just to find a some one to take over a position. That is exactly what happened two years ago when David replaced me as Chairman of the Colt's section.

It was soon obvious that we had found a gem. Here was a leader with real vision of what could be achieved with the Colt's section. David through his leadership skills immediately had success in involving more parents in the administration of the Colt's section. Over the past two years we have found some really hard working, enthusiastic parents who have made fantastic contributions to not only the Colt's section but also Brentwood Cricket Club as a whole. David also had the foresight to realise that if we invested in additional qualified coaches we would attract more children to the Club. This has proved to be the case as colts membership during David's tenure has increased from 90 to 220.

It is to David's great credit that under his leadership over the past 2 years our numbers have more than doubled, the standard of coaching has improved, more children are getting opportunities to play in matches and tournaments and there has been a massive investment in our practice and match facilities.

David is a worthy nomination for a Jack Petchey Leadership Award for 2008.

January 2008

Ken will receive £1,000.00 from the 'Jack Petchey Foundation' to spend on a project of his choice after a consultation with the members of the 'Brentwood Colts Executive Committee'.

NOMINATION FOR BRENTWOOD CRICKET CLUB - KEN HOBBS

Ken Hobbs joined Brentwood Cricket Club as a 15 year old in the late 1960s and has filled various voluntary positions in the club for over 30 years.

He has always held a strong belief in promoting youth cricket within the Club and whenever he has had the opportunity to put his belief into practice he has taken it. In the late 1980s when the Club felt that a Sunday 3rd XI was the best place to give young teenagers their first taste of adult cricket it was Ken that volunteered to lead the side. There could have been no better leader for the Club's youngsters: Ken filled the role in a selfless manner believing that the youngsters should be given every opportunity to fulfil their individual potential and experience the benefits of teamwork.

By the mid 1990s Ken had become so convinced of the need for the Club to have a strong Youth Section that he volunteered to take over as the Club's Colts Organiser. At that time the Club's Youth Section was not very strong and only had 45 members. Ken totally committed himself to the role so much so that within 5 years colts' numbers had doubled and within 10 years they had trebled. The increase was achieved on the back of high quality coaching and giving the children a seamless transition from being introduced to the game at the age of 7 through to be integrated into the adult teams in their early teens. The recent success of the Club's 1st XI can be traced back to the work Ken has put in over the last 10 years.

So committed has Ken been to giving youth its chance within the club that he has volunteered to skipper newly formed league sides in order to ensure that as many children as possible had the opportunity at a young age to play together in adult cricket. In 1997 he led the newly formed fourth Saturday league side and in 2000 he assisted in the formation of a 5th XI. By 2002 his policy of promoting youth had become so successful that Ken moved from the 5th XI to lead a 6th XI. This was a landmark for Essex cricket as Brentwood CC became the first club to have 6 sides in the County's premier league.

Literally hundreds of children in the Brentwood area have benefited from Ken's hard work and commitment to youth cricket. All of this has been done in an understated and selfless manner that it is so typical of the man. Ken is a very worthy winner of our 'Jack Petchey Leadership Award 2007'.

January / February 2007

• Ben has a quiet but determined disposition; very competitive in all of his sports.
• He was ever present in the U13 Cup winning side of the 2007 season and captained the team for approximately half of the matches.
• While Ben is a pacy potent bowler, it's his batting that makes him a good all rounder and a delight to watch.
• His maturity as a cricketer has already given him the opportunity to represent some of the senior sides.
• Ben's technique and concentration is a virtue and his clip shots of his pads through mid wicket are a joy to behold.
• He is a great asset to the club and a potential 1st XI player in the making.

• Adam has has been a member of Brentwood Cricket Club for many years and is now representing our U16's.
• He is an example for others in his attitude in both training and matches.
• He takes every opportunity to participate in cricket and during winter training he stood out among his peers as being some-one who was there to learn as much as he could but doing so with great humour and hard work and focus.
• He is keen to develop his leadership skills and as such will be attending our Young Leaders course and will support our coaching team.

• Jamie has been a member of Brentwood Cricket Club for many years and is now representing our U15's.
• He was selected to undertake Advanced Training in the winter and relished the opportunity, taking as much as he could from the experience.
• The Advanced Training Coach particularly noticed Jamie's mature attitude.
• He is studying for his PE GCSE and wanting the opportunity to build his leadership skills he supported the coaches in our summer course. He related really well to the children and was well respected by the coaches.
• He displays a good attitude in training and matches, setting a good example to others.
• He has been a regular in the 5th and 6th XI adults sides and produced some excellent team and individual performances throughout the season.
• Jamie plays other sports, showing a strong aptitude for team and individual sporting achievement.

• Richard has played a significant role in the success of the Brentwood U11 six-a-side cricket team.
• In the five games played so far Richard has invariably opened the batting and has batted with distinction. He has made an important contribution in all games.
• He has dominated the bowling attacks and with his array of shots, Richard has looked a very talented batsman.
• In two of the games against Great Baddow and Hornchurch Richard passed 25 runs in his innings.
• Richard has also bowled and fielded with great enthusiasm and has been a committed member of the team.
• He has played each game in a true sporting spirit and as his team coach [Ian Coleman] it has been a real pleasure to have him in the squad this winter.
• His all round approach to the game makes him a worthy winner of this award.

• Shreyas has been a member of Brentwood Cricket Club for many Years and is now representing our U15's.
• He always displays a superb attitude in training and matches and sets a good example to others.
• He works very hard to improve his skills- even in the winter months when he attends winter training.
• Shreyas takes every opportunity to participate in cricket and attends our Whitsun and summer coaching clinics.
• In the summer he was awarded a Bronze certificate for his attitude, hard work and support shown to the younger attendees.
• Shreyas is a great example of someone who at a young age showed great potential as a cricketer, he joined our club as a youngster, has been coached by experienced coaches and over time has become a very talented cricketer.

• In our opinion James Welham is an excellent club choice as a recipient for the Jack Petchey Foundation Achievement Award for December 2007.
• To come across an individual as driven and focussed as James is very rare.
• Regarded as an all-round sportsman, cricket is his real passion.
• He sets the example for others to follow with regards to dedication and application.
• His talents have been recognised at County Level.
• He took 4 wickets for 7 runs (including a hat-trick) in an Essex U13's match.
• He was the leading wicket taker and run maker in his age group last season.
• James captained the victorious Brentwood CC U13's 2007 CEDBC Cup Winners team with the final being held at the Old County Ground.
• He has represented our club at both his own age group and played for the men's 3rd XI on a regular basis.
• James supported the coaching staff and assisted with umpiring duties.

• This award has been given to one of the nicest guys at our club.
• Rhys has been a Brentwood CC member since he was a colt.
• His captaincy and leadership of the Brentwood CC 5th XI this season has been exceptional.
• Many of our young colt's players have had the opportunity to play senior men's cricket for the 5th XI this year under the guidance of Rhys.
• His sportsmanship and fair play has ensured that these young players have had the opportunity to bat and bowl in these competitive matches.
• In terms of Rhys cricketing ability he has been successful with both bat and ball this season and at times has had to lead from the front, this in turn, has inspired all of his team members.
• Rhys is a very dedicated cricket player, loyal club member and an ambassador for youth cricket at Brentwood CC.

• William was named as sports person of the year at the recent Brentwood District School Sports Council Awards.

  

• William is 15 and attends Shenfield High School.
• He was praised for his success in a whole range of school sports including football, hockey, athletics, cricket and basketball.
• As his school's cricket captain he organises the team for games and makes astute tactical decisions.
• In 2006 he led his team to the semi-final of the Essex Cup.
• William's best achievements have come in basketball where he plays both for an older year group as well as his own age group which retained the Essex Cup title this year.
• His finest achievement so far is winning the Basketball National Title that the under 15 team won this year.
• Also he represents Essex at basketball and the team are currently one game away from competing in the National Finals.
• Finally, William plays for Brentwood Cricket Club at both colts and at adult level and regularly turns out at weekends throughout the summer. Recently in a match representing the Brentwood CC 5th XI he bowled 8 overs 0 maidens took 5 wickets for 40 runs.

• Matthew has a fantastic attitude in training and competitive cricket matches.
• He has performed at a very high level, both as a batsman and bowler.
• His coaches and team manager very often ask him to demonstrate techniques to other team mates or budding cricketers.
• Matthew took part in this winter's coaching and training sessions.
• His enthusiasm and sportsmanship is a credit to him.

• Phil Crook is 19 years old and managed the Under 11's cricket team in 2006.
• He took his Under 11's team to the National Indoor Cricket Tournament Finals in Norwich where they represented Essex.
• Phil coaches junior Colts cricket on Friday nights between April and September on behalf of Brentwood CC.
• He captained the club's 5th XI cricket team finishing 3rd in their respective league.
• Phil Crook is an integral part of Brentwood Cricket Club and more importantly the Colts section.
• He has recently become a University student at Kent University.

• Chris has played and represented our cricket club at three levels U15's / U16's and in one of our men's teams.

  

• He is a regular attendee at our Friday night coaching sessions.
• His sportsmanship has been second to none this season.
• He captained our U15's colts side on more than one occasion this year and at a recent presentation collected our Division 'A' League Trophy from the CEDCB ( Central Essex District Cricket Board) for winning the League Championship 2006.
• He recorded a 5 wicket haul in the CEDCB U15's Cup Final, then scored 34 runs with the bat very nearly winning us the Cup, we lost by 1 run.

The photo shows Chris being presented with his award by ex Spurs and England footballer Clive Allen who is a keen supporter of the club. Click on the thumbnail for a larger image.