Italy establishes
new National Academy
The Italian Cricket Federation (FCrI) this
week announced plans to hold its first Academy in April 2007.
Set to take place 180km North of Rome, at Grossetto Cricket
Club, the Academy will play host to 16 athletes aged between 15
and 19, selected from the six teams in the Italian Cricket
League Division 1.
The main aim of the venture is to bridge the
gap between the activity in schools and senior club cricket,
with an ultimate goal of developing a core of young cricketers
capable of winning U17 and U19 tournaments and that will feed
into the senior Italian side.
Academy Director, James Cheyne, who grew up
playing cricket in England, makes the observation that Cricket
in Italy lacks tradition and spirit, and many youngsters are
drawn away from the game in their teens.
“Youngsters do not grow up with cricket and
miss out on the opportunity to pick up the tricks of the game
and do not encompass its unique spirit.”
“The Italian Cricket federation held a 3 day
U13 championship in which around 120 boys and girls
participated. Five years on, only a few of those boys continued
to play the game. This level of dropout is not good and we must
do something to sustain the development of cricket amongst the
youth”
With this in mind, Cheyne says that the main
focus is on improving the technical capabilities of the athletes
whilst instilling the love for the game.
For the important role of Head Coach, the
FCrI have employed Joe Scuderi, the Italian National Coach, who
is of both Australian and Italian origin, and is based in the
UK. He will work alongside a team of highly qualified coaches,
providing a ratio of at least one coach to every four players.
The five day schedule is an intensive one,
each day starting with breakfast at 7.30am and ending at
10.30pm, after a review and video analysis. Day one focuses on
assessing player skill and fitness levels. Days two and three
comprise group and individual coaching sessions and build up to
50 over match on Day four. The fifth and final day sees further
fitness assessment and individual evaluation.
Each player will take away with him a
personalised training program to follow in the year a head. The
athletes will then undergo two annual check points where they
must reach minimum requirements in a series of fitness tests.
Failure to adhere to the regime and obtain such targets will
result in expulsion from the Academy.
To get the Academy underway in this its
inaugural year, the FCrI are covering the bulk of the costs,
injecting €10,900 of the €15,000 needed to fund the project.
Each participant is also contributing a small amount and the
remainder is coming from the ICC European Annual Support
Program.
In the future, FCrI hopes to secure
additional funding from external sponsorship sources, which will
be necessary if the Academy is to achieve its long term goals.
Even before the first Academy has got underway, plans are being
made to source its own ground and facilities, open it up to
girls, and form an Academy team to play International fixtures.
