Successful applicants for this elite program will also possess high levels of cricket skill and fitness, be self-disciplined, highly motivated and aged 12 years or above.

Our talented and experienced coaches work under the guidance of Elite Cricket founder and former Australian XI and Australia ‘A’ representative Mark Atkinson (Level 3) with specialist coaches.

Academy participants will train like a first class player and be challenged by an intensive program to further enhance their existing skills.

Players will have the opportunity to choose specific training in their preferred disciplines with expert coaching in Wicket keeping, Batting, Pace and Spin Bowling.

• Sessions on captaincy, strategy and tactics
• Analysis of bowling action by video
• Extensive bowling machine batting technique work

SCHEDULE
Gladesville Indoor Sports, College St, Gladesville – 1st October 2010

Gladesville Indoor Sports, College St, Gladesville – 8th October 2010

The program runs 9am-3pm.

Cheers

Mark

On Sunday, 60 talented young cricketers donned their whites to take part in the Sydney Cricket Club’s annual Junior Tigers Program.

The Academy, run by Elite Cricket Coaching for the Sydney Cricket Club, is designed to provide a pathway for the development, coaching and mentoring of talented young cricketers who will eventually see the Sydney Cricket Club as their home as they mature into Grade cricketers.

The program was launched in 2008/09 and head coach, Mark Atkinson has been delighted with the outcomes to date, “Happily I am able to report that 10 of the final 13 players selected for Green Shield in both 2008/09 and 2009/10 were Academy program graduates, of which 10 players have already progressed into grade cricket, including selections in the NSW U/17 squads, City U/16 representative teams and Tigers 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade teams.  Clearly, if talented young players are looking to progress into grade cricket and beyond, the Academy program represents not only a great stepping stone for their career but also an outstanding opportunity to develop their skills.  We are very hopeful of having our first Junior Tiger selected in 1st grade this season”

The program will include the appearance of some special guest coaches including former Blues legends Wayne ‘Cracker’ Holdsworth and David ‘Freddy’ Freedman who will share with the boys their views about succeeding in cricket and taking your game to the next level.

The program takes place over 6 sessions and will focus on teaching correct techniques, developing tactical awareness and game sense, injury prevention and preparation for competition and includes a fitness component where the boys will be put through a challenging routine to ensure they are fit and match ready for when the posts come down and cricket pitches reappear on the grounds.

More information please contact Mark Atkinson 0422 787 727

Pre-Season 2010 Wicketkeeping enrolment form

A good wicketkeeper is critical to the success of any team. They need to be reliable, fit, skilful, tough and at times brilliant but this key position can often by occupied by the player who is, at times, a forgotten man at practice.  A good keeper can turn a game their team’s way with an outstanding catch, stumping or run-out and in order for a wicketkeeper to excel they must put in quality time and effort to work on all aspects of their game.

This intensive program is most suitable for aspiring wicketkeepers who have already had some experience in match play situations, covers all aspects of the art of wicketkeeping and leaves players feeling confident and ready for their best season behind the stumps.

Coached and designed by Mark Atkinson

I am very pleased to announce the schedule for our October 2009 High Performance Academy program.

• October 9th Drummoyne Oval
• October 12th and 13th St. Ignatius College, Riverview
• October 16th Five Dock Indoor Sport – Boot Camp

High Performance Acadmey enrolment form

1 Day Boot Camp application form

Places are limited and the programs are specifically designed for those cricketers playing at representative level or its school equivalent and is a key feeder program to Grade and Green Shield teams.  Successful applicants for this elite program will also possess high levels of cricket skill and fitness, be self-disciplined, highly motivated and aged 13 years or above.

Academy participants will train like first class players and be challenged by an intensive program to further enhance their existing skills.   On both days, players will have the opportunity to choose specific training in their preferred discipline with expert coaching in Wicket keeping, Batting, Pace and Spin Bowling.

• Turf Nets
• Sessions on captaincy, strategy and tactics
• Video analysis
• Individual batting session with bowling machine

Again I am looking forward to the opportunity bringing a group talented players together with excellent coaches and terrific facilities where I hope all players will gain some valuable insights, experience and inspiration from the program.

Cheers.

Mark

Elite Cricket is pleased to confirm the finalised venues and dates for our January 2009 School Holiday Program. We are excited to introduce three new venues to our program – Shore School, Northbridge, Morrison Bay Oval, Gladesville and Five Dock Indoor Sports Centre.

JANUARY HIGH PERFORMANCE ACADEMY

High Performance Academy – January 2009 Enrolment Form

• St. Ignatius College, Riverview – 8th & 9th January 2009

JANUARY SCHOOL HOLIDAY PROGRAM

January 2009 School Holiday Program Enrolment Form

• Lindfield Oval, Tryon Road – 12th, 13th & 14th January 2009
• Morrison Bay Oval, Gladesville – 14th & 15th January 2009
• St. Ignatius College, Riverview – 19th & 20th January 2009
• Shore Sports Fields, Northbridge – 22nd & 23rd January 2009

JANUARY ‘ON THE BALL’ PROGRAM

January 2009 On the Ball Program Enrolment Form

• Lindfield Oval, Tryon Road – 12th, 13th & 14th January 2009
• Morrison Bay Oval, Gladesville – 14th & 15th January 2009
• St. Ignatius College, Riverview – 19th & 20th January 2009
• Shore Sports Fields, Northbridge – 22nd & 23rd January 2009

JANUARY HIGH PERFORMANCE – BOOT CAMP

January 2009 High Performance Boot Camp Enrolment Form

• Five Dock Indoor Sports Centre – 21st January 2009

Cheers

Mark

Cricket has been well and truly out of the news and many will be surprised by how quickly the season has come around. But it’s here! For many of you club games will start mid-September and trials for Grade, Shires, Representative, Green Shield and School cricket are under way.

To ensure that you blow away the winter cobwebs I recommend you put in some quality practice over the school holidays. This can be done with mates, with your team or at one of our School Holiday Programs (details below).

You may also find it useful to review some of the Masterclass articles on the Elite Cricket website and here are my top 4 recommended articles for starting the season although there are many others you may also like to read:

• Masterclass: Planning For The Season
• Masterclass: Planning Your Performance To Succeed
• Masterclass: Train How You Play
• Masterclass: Mental Toughness

I also recommend that you do a cricket stocktake of yourself.

• Are you ready for competition?
• How’s your fitness? What areas need attention?
• What are your goals for the season? (Write them down somewhere)
• What actions do you need to take to reach your goals? (technical, tactical and game play)
• Have you got a plan to succeed?
• How’s your equipment – get it out, try it on, partcularly protective gear – does it still fit properly?

Click on the links below in red for application and enrolment details

HIGH PERFORMANCE ACADEMY PROGRAM

Successful applicants for this elite program will also possess high levels of cricket skill and fitness, be self-disciplined, highly motivated and aged 13 years or above. Over 2 days our Academy players will train like first class cricketers and be challenged by an intensive multi-disciplinary program to further enhance their existing skills and match awareness by a range of high performance coaches.

• Drummoyne Oval – 29th & 30th September 2008
• Waverley College – 9th & 10th October 2008

SCHOOL HOLIDAY PROGRAM

The program is suitable for ages 7 – 14 and will be conducted from 9am to 3pm in both 2 and 3 day formats across the range of venues listed below.

• Lindfield Oval, Tryon Road – 29th, 30th September & 1st October 2008
• Scots College, Bellevue Hill – 1st, 2nd & 3rd October 2008
• St. Ignatius College, Riverview – 7th & 8th October 2008
• Drummoyne Oval – 9th & 10th October 2008
• Waverley College – 9th & 10th October 2008

THE ‘ON THE BALL’ BEGINNERS PROGRAM

‘On the Ball’ is for girls and boys from 5 -7 years, who have perhaps never played cricket or who have just begun their cricketing career. In these sessions run from 9am to 12pm and are a great way to have fun and learn about the game of cricket.

• Lindfield Oval, Tryon Road – 29th, 30th September & 1st October 2008
• Scots College, Bellevue Hill – 1st, 2nd & 3rd October 2008
• St. Ignatius College, Riverview – 7th & 8th October 2008
• Drummoyne Oval – 9th & 10th October 2008
• Waverley College – 9th & 10th October 2008

EARLY BIRD BOOKING PRIZE

Your chance to win:

• 3 x HIGH PERFORMANCE INDIVIDUAL COACHING SESSION
• AERO LOWER BODY PROTECTOR (STRIPPER)

Enrol with your payment for any of our October programs before Wednesday 17th September 2008 and you’ll go into the draw to win 3 x High Performance Individual Coaching Sessions PLUS an AERO Lower Body Protector (Stripper) – TOTAL VALUE $300!

BRING THE WHOLE TEAM AND ONE PERSON COMES FOR FREE!

Enrol your whole team of 11 players (or you and 10 of your mates) in any of our October School Holiday Programs and one person comes for free. The free enrolment can be used for a club fundraiser or the reduced cost divided amongst the 11 players – up to you! To take advantage of this offer all 11 enrolment forms must be sent in together

Cheers

Mark

One of my favourite sayings is, ‘It’s not how many times you get knocked down, it’s how many times you get up that counts’.

I think that this is a very relevant expression for us as cricketers. Basically it means that in order to succeed you have to be prepared to accept and learn from failure.

Although failure is not a pleasant part of your job, it is nevertheless part of your job and as such you will need to deal with it and learn from it. Anyone who has tasted success in any field in my view has been prepared to get up at least one more time than they were knocked down! If you give up or admit defeat you risk never tasting success and let’s face it success in any field does not come easy and one of the main challenges in successfully attaining your goals is coping with failure!

You need to develop the belief and mental toughness not to be beaten by failure, you need to develop persistence. In order to succeed you need to summon the courage to pursue your goals and dreams, despite failure in the short term, after all ‘Form is temporary, Class is permanent!’

I will detail three brief examples of persistence, where successful cricketers have turned adversity into success by persistence.

• Justin Langer, Damien Martyn and Matthew Hayden were all dropped from the Test team in the mid-nineties and came back years later to be devestingly, effective Test players
• Shane Warne’s comeback form suspension and personal crisis to achieve his best ever Ashes series wicket haul of 40 wickets since his debut in 1991
• Ricky Ponting comeback from a disciplinary suspension to become Australian captain and one of the world’s best batsmen

If these guys gave up when faced with adversity, disappointment and defeat they would never have gone on to achieve the wonderful success they did. These guys had the belief, courage and persistence to keep going when they were seemingly knocked down! Persistence is a key attribute of a champion and has very little to do with your outswinger or cut shot and the beauty of it is anyone can be persistent! Persistence does require courage, discipline and effort, but the effort is well worth making if your dreams and goals mean a lot to you.

How is your persistence? Is it strong enough to help you achieve your goals?

Cheers

Mark