“Ten years ago Corley CC had a couple of senior teams, a small junior section, and only sold lager and bitter behind the bar. Now the club boasts five senior teams, a thriving junior section of over 100 children, and a buzzing clubhouse selling popcorn, ice cream, pizzas and drinks for the whole family” Heather Randle, Club Treasurer
In this second article focusing on cricket in Coventry, we meet the team at Corley CC and hear how, over the course of a decade, they have transformed a cricket club with what appeared to be limited prospects into a vibrant, successful family cricket club.
Club Treasurer, Heather Randle describes how, “Ten years ago Corley CC had a couple of senior teams, a small junior section, and only sold lager and bitter behind the bar. Now the club boasts five senior teams, a thriving junior section of over 100 children, and a buzzing clubhouse selling popcorn, ice cream, pizzas and drinks for the whole family”.
Andy Wyles, WCB Participation and Growth Manager, admits he was mystified at first when Corley CC applied for small grants for a pizza oven, ice cream fridge and candy floss machine when other clubs were applying for covers and equipment. “Then I started to see how they were transforming the club into a thriving venue for the whole family, and it all fell into place,” he continues. “Corley CC is a great example of what can be achieved by a group of volunteers committed to the club, with a clear plan of what they want to achieve.”
How exactly was this impressive turnaround achieved? Input from Heather Randle (Club Treasurer) and Paul Williams (Club Captain) reveals the key factors in Corley CC’s journey:
- A strong committee with a clear strategy
- Developing junior cricket
- Investing in home grown coaches
- Giving juniors a clear pathway into senior cricket
- Creating a family environment
- Involving young cricketers in running the club
A strong committee with a clear strategy
Club captain, Paul Williams, describes how a sub-committee of four people drove the change, picking up and building on the work started by the previous chairman and committee. “Our focus was a five-year goal of taking the club from an old man’s drinking club to a family run club.” The sub-committee comprised of Paul himself, Treasurer Heather Randle, Chair Simon Randle and Vice-Chair / Club Secretary Iain Ward.
Heather Randle observes there was a combination of strong leadership and winning over the hearts and minds of others in the club to contribute towards coaching and building up a junior section. The committee gained wider support for the move to a more family orientated environment. Strong leadership and wider teamwork have been key to success. “This has not been an easy transition, but the chairman and vice chairman have stood together and with the support of the management committee we are now thriving,” Heather concludes.
Developing junior cricket
Having taken the decision to transform the club and focus on families, developing the junior section was critical to success. Paul Williams describes how Corley CC ran a Little Batters programme in 2014 and started to expand the small existing junior section that year by adding an U8s team. It is an understandable source of pride to Paul that the core of this U8s team has continued all through the age groups and are now in the U15 Premier League/U16 Coventry League. Each year new teams have come online at the youngest level as this team moved up through the club.
In addition to having run their own summer camps in the summer holidays for a number of years, Corley CC has also embraced All Stars and Dynamos as part of their junior cricket offering. Paul Williams acknowledges the challenges of running these programmes alongside U9 and U10 teams. He is realistic about wanting to transition children into junior cricket and re-invest in the club. “We are a small club run by volunteers, so from our perspective there has to be an interest in cricket and more than just childcare. We want to encourage participation by children and families who will still be part of the club in the longer term.”
Four such participants who have stayed at the club for the long term are James Parker, Sam Ward, Jack Hancock and Charlie Thompson. They are members of the original U8s team, now aged 15/16, who started in 2014. Jack Hancock (15) says, “When we started hardball cricket, we weren’t very good, but we have progressed well with good coaching and tied recently with the national champions.”
In addition to internal developments, Paul Williams also highlights how important advertising in the local primary schools has been in growing the junior section, as well as improved signage at the front of the club to advertise the junior section to traffic passing by.
Investing in home grown coaches
Paul Williams is clear that an integral part of the transformation strategy was to invest in existing players and club members to form a coaching team for the junior section. Their aim was to get as many members of the senior teams as possible qualified as Level 2 coaches and involved in the junior section. Mentors in the early days included Level 3 coach Stuart Brennan.
There were other clubs Corley CC used as templates, explains Paul, but with the key difference that Corley made the conscious decision to reinvest in volunteer coaches from within the club itself. For example, first team captain Tom Randle (aged 23) runs All Stars and Dynamos sessions, and also coaches the club U9s & U10s. Tom has also encouraged parents to get involved in helping out at All Stars sessions, and even go on to take coaching qualifications themselves.
Heather Randle summarises the progress made. “Senior players began getting involved in coaching and we currently have over ten senior players who are Level 2 qualified coaches, running our thriving junior section (which has grown from being very small to well over 100 children over the last 10-15 years). We are now at a stage where the first significant group of junior players are coming through, and the cycle is repeating itself with them now getting involved in coaching.”
Giving juniors a clear pathway into senior cricket
Reflecting on that first U8s group from 2014, it is a great source of pride to club captain Paul Williams that all of them are now playing senior cricket at the weekends. Corley CC runs three Saturday teams and two Sunday teams. The Saturday 3rd XI captain Steven Whatsize is tasked with bringing players from U13s and above into senior cricket, in a supportive environment, hopefully to progress on into the 1st and 2nd XIs.
Fifteen-year-old Sam Ward has made that journey and plays for the Corley CC 1st and 2nd XIs, saying, “It’s good to stay and socialise on a Saturday. When I was younger, the senior players used to talk me through my shot selection after the game, which was helpful.”
Paul Williams uses the word ‘reinvest’ frequently to describe Corley CC’s approach to development. The investment also extends to facilities and equipment, with two new fixed nets and a roll-on net (which Paul says the juniors love to use as it gives them that feeling of playing out in the middle). Charlie Thompson (15) agrees, “I spend a lot of time up here working on my bowling.”
Creating a family environment
Bringing families into Corley CC has been a major part of the turnaround strategy over the last ten years. In addition to the junior cricket programme, Heather Randle describes the efforts made off the pitch to make the club a more family-friendly place. “We started the change by restocking the bar with pop, snacks, sweets, wine and much more to make something available for the whole family. This encouraged children, wives, partners and families into the club.” The next stage was the arrival of the pizza oven, candy floss machine, ice cream fridge and popcorn maker.
Parking and kitchen facilities have also been improved, and since April 2021 there has been a café on site serving food when cricket is being played. Even more recently, Corley hosted a successful family camping event when club families came to camp at the ground for the weekend, enjoying a live band in the evening as well as the cricket and bar. All four members of the U15/16 teams interviewed talk enthusiastically about the camping weekend and Jack Hancock summarises the situation perfectly when he remarks, “This is a family club – all the families come here.”
Involving young cricketers in running the club
Involving graduates of the junior section in adult cricket and coaching is only part of the story. Corley CC have gone one step further and actively encourage their young cricketers to become involved in running the club and maintaining the grounds. Year 11 students James Parker and Tyler Lynch have taken on roles as junior groundsmen with responsibilities for grounds management that include rolling and cutting the square and outfield. Paul Williams elaborates, “They will come up here to work on the ground and then stay for a net, so they end up quite happily spending most of their day here.”
One such junior groundsman is sixteen-year-old James Parker, who was happy to be asked to take on the role. “It’s something new. I am here most days, and it gets me out the house. I like being outside all the time.”
The team at Corley CC have taken the club on an impressive journey over the last ten years, but they aren’t resting on their laurels. Paul Williams wants to keep the club moving forward and says their next ambition to start a girls’ section. There have been girls playing in at the club for a while, notably Ria Fackrell (in the Birmingham Phoenix and Central Sparks squads), but a dedicated girls’ section is the next step.
WCB’s Andy Wyles is full of admiration for what the team at Corley CC has achieved. “What I love, is that none of it is overly complicated. Corley CC has been transformed by a series of determined and well thought through steps in the right direction. Change has been orchestrated by a group of volunteers committed not only to the future of the club, but the future of cricket in the Coventry area.”
Corley CC – a timeline from Paul Williams
2001 - Corley 1st XI begin their journey from Division 6 East to Division 2 over the next decade
2005 - Two new fixed nets (renovated since)
2008 - New patio (lottery grant)
2009 - Bigger focus on junior teams, senior players becoming involved in coaching
2010 - New covers
2011 - New sightscreens
2012 - Multiple junior teams beginning to get together
2013 - Junior players beginning to play in senior teams
2012 - 3rd team on a Saturday created
2013 - Little Batters introduced
2013 - Host a Lashings tournament
2013 - Pizza oven, BBQ, Candyfloss and popcorn machine purchased
2013 - Bowling machine purchased
2013 - Players and parents begin to go on Level 2 coaching courses with Stuart Brennan Head Coach (Level 3)
2014 - The start of the very popular Summer Camps, multiple coaches running 2 - 5 weeks of sports camps throughout the summer (at very good value)
2014 - National award for volunteers (Heartbeat of the club - Adam Webb)
2014 - Roll on net purchased
2014 - Junior indoor winter nets
2015 - Juniors sent to Warwickshire trials on an annual basis with limited success
2015 - Small management committee formed rather than a wide, diluted committee
2015 - Junior Sportsman of the year award (regional) - Thomas Randle
2016 – Allstars introduced
2017 - Regional and National Awards for volunteers (Heartbeat of the club - Paul Williams / lifetime achievement - John Bates)
2018 - First junior team to enter a championship league
2019 - First junior team to enter a premier league
2019 - Warwickshire Junior Sports Team of The Year runners up - Corley U13s (Won the Warwickshire U13s Championship undefeated)
2021 – Dynamos introduced
2020 - 1st team league success
2021 - Food provided by The Food Corner at our club allowing members to stay for longer
2021 - Junior Groundsman working as apprentices
2021 - New signage outside of the club and leaflets in local villages
2021 - Juniors sent to Warwickshire trials with multiple success, approximately 8 county development players and 3 county players
