In partnership with Derbyshire County Cricket Club, the Derbyshire Cricket Foundation are proud to launch the Early Engagement Programme for girls and boys aged 10-12 in Derbyshire.
What is the Early Engagement Programme (EEP)?
The programme for boys and girls, aged 10-12, will form the entry point leading into the Derbyshire CCC performance pathway starting at U13’s. The EEP provide a fun, inclusive, and developmentally appropriate cricket experience for girls & boys aged 10–12, laying the groundwork for progression through the Early Engagement Programme (EEP) and into County Age Group (CAG) squads at U13.
The programme aims to do the following:
- Build confidence
- Provide a positive experience
- Develop fundamental movement and cricket-specific skills
- Increase access to high-quality coaching to support player development
- Create more opportunities for competitive but development fixtures, enabling players to apply their skills and deepen their understanding of the game
- Identify talent- Fast-track highly talented players into the CAG programme where appropriate.
When will it take place?
Observations will take place late November and Early December 2025. Those selected from our Observations will train together as part of a 10-week winter training programme, before embarking on a high-quality 8-day match-play programme within the season.
Where will it take place?
The programme will be delivered across three centres at each age group, geographically spread across the county, making the programme accessible and reducing travel time. Venues will be confirmed after the closing date for registrations.
Who is it for?
The programme focuses on developing core cricket skills, confidence, game awareness, and resilience, providing a positive and fun experience of cricket. If you are interested in developing your skills and have ambitions to progress onto the boys or girls CAG programme, we would love to see you at one of our observation sessions.
There will be three centres at each of the following age groups for boys and girls, each taking up to 16 players per age group per centre:
Boys
- U10s – 3 centres each with up to 16 players
- U11s – 3 centres each with up to 16 players
- U12s – 3 centres each with up to 16 players
Girls
- U10s – 3 centres each with up to 16 players
- U11s – 3 centres each with up to 16 players
- U12s – 3 centres each with up to 16 players
Registrations are open to all. The registration deadline for observations for the 2025/26 programme is Sunday 26th October 2025.
Cost
All observation sessions are free to attend throughout. For those selected for the winter programme, there will be a cost of £60 to cover the full calendar year. This will include 10 winter training sessions and up to 8 match days during the summer.
We do not want cost to be a barrier to accessing the programme and support is available to those who may need it through our Access to Cricket Grant: https://forms.office.com/e/U8nMzWrx05
Our firm commitment is that no-one will be prevented from accessing our programme due to cost!
The Early Engagement is part of the Derbyshire County Cricket Club Pathway. Players wishing to trial for Derbyshire through this programme should NOT currently be engaged with the pathways of other counties simultaneously. This includes being part of an ongoing trials or observation process at another county. We must ask that all players wishing to be observed for our programme, that are presently engaged with another county in any way, withdraw from their programme before seeking to be observed for our own to avoid conflicts. This ensures opportunities are not unfairly taken away from other players by players who are seeking to gain an offer to go elsewhere. Vice versa, once engaged within our programme, we would ask that players are not registered with other pathways until communicated to us at an appropriate point for release. We are in continuing dialogue with other Pathways around this and check for multiple registrations prior to our observations.
To register for an observation, please click here or fill in the form below:
For more information or to discuss the programme, please contact:
Girls Programme
Contact: Emma Thatcher
Email: emma.thatcher@dcfcricket.com
Boys Programme
Contact: Pete Boot
Email: pete.boot@dcfcricket.com
Please see the FAQ’s document HERE
