Another example of why we have problems at Youth Level!

[LordCharles]

Hi secretaries

I have also sent this to all the under 16s delegats on my list (I hope).

Please can you help out in any way.


It has been brought to my attention that at least 144 under 16s players are expected to turn up for trials at Ince Rose Bridge on Wednesday 17 July.

May I suggest, that in the best interests of the players, that these trials are delayed until the players know where their future lies within the professional body of our game.

It is likely that those players who will be signed professionally will not then be eligible to play for Lancashire Under 17s and it seems to me that it could be a waste of time and effort for all coaches and players, if at the end of the month some of the players find out that they will not be eligible to trialbecause of their professinal commitments.

Can I please appeal to your better nature and ask you to delay the date of these trials by at least three weeks, if not four or five.

Thanking you for your anticipated support.


Hilary Steel M.B.E.
Chair/Secretary
North West Youth

 

Evening Hilary,

As co-coach of BARLA 17s Lancashire I have taken advice from the County Committee and been asked to respond on their behalf.

It is incredibly encouraging to us, that so many people, hitherto not involved, have developed such an interest in our 2013 campaign since our inception a few years ago. Testament to this is just how many players are keen to don the red rose jersey, clearly the fact that we have won the Tri-County Series each year since it's been in recent existence, coupled with the opportunity to then progress on to represent their country on the GB Tour that follows each year is obviously a hugely attractive opportunity for the players.

We thank you for your concerns and have considered them very seriously but we have decided to go ahead with the Trials as planned.

The pitfalls you have highlighted are not unique to this year, we have had the same situation in every previous year also and have coped very well and will continue to cope.

Please be assured we take our responsibilities as seriously as you clearly do and with the likes of all us folks around, the players are surely in good hands, as I'm sure you'll agree.

To the contacts on Hilary's list: It's a little disconcerting you've been circulated with Hilary's concerns when the County Committee were still considering them but nonetheless, yes her sources are correct, we have 144 players trialling over two separate nights, we'll have a number of position specific selectors on duty each night as players are selected on their performance and not their reputation.

We will let players know through their Clubs if successful.

As a lot of you are already aware we have worked hard accommodating your nominations, paying attention to holidays etc to try and make sure as many as possible can get a fair crack. We are too far down the line now to rearrange the dates. We need to have the train on squad named for start of August so we can plan our weekly training leading up to the October matches.

We are proud Lancastrians and a delay as Hilary suggests will compress our preparations to an unacceptable degree and may harm our chances of retaining the Championship, something we are not, in these circumstances, prepared to do as we intend to do our best for our County and the players in our charge.

In our list of nominations we are already aware of those players fortunate enough to be scholars and IF these players trial successfully AND IF they are subsequently awarded a contract of sorts that makes them then ineligible then, in previous years we have had a shadow squad in reserve, which we draw from and this year will be no different.

Hilary, all is well - the players are in caring, experienced volunteers hands - it's worked very well these past few years and we see no reason for this year to be any different but we thank you for raising your concerns and thus enabling us to have the opportunity to respectfully respond and hopefully put them to bed.

Yours in Sport 
Dave Yates

 

 

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