Where this leads
Player pathway
A seven-year-old who has never held a bat and a fifteen-year-old playing East Midwest Hub games in the USA Cricket Junior Pathway need completely different things. This is how a CYCC player moves from one to the other — and what happens at every stage in between.
How development works
Three stages,
not three years
Players do not all start at the same point or move at the same speed, and the stages overlap. A child can be developing their batting while still learning the basics of spin bowling. What matters is that every session meets them where they actually are.
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01
Beginner
No experience needed
Grip, stance, a safe bowling action, catching and the laws of the game, using soft and modified balls and shortened formats so everyone bats and everyone bowls.
- Looks like
- Making contact, throwing properly, wanting to come back next week
- Moves on when
- The basics are repeatable and hard-ball safety has been taught
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02
Development
Building the game
Repeatable technique, shot selection, bowling in areas, and the fitness base to play a full match. Players start working on individual focus areas rather than the same drill as everyone.
- Looks like
- Choosing the right shot, holding a line, lasting a full innings
- Moves on when
- Skills hold up under match pressure, not just in the nets
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03
Competitive
Playing to win
Match tactics, role clarity, pressure situations and preparation for league and representative cricket. Players learn what their job is in a side and how to do it on a bad day.
- Looks like
- Reading a game, adapting a plan, performing when it is tight
- Leads to
- East Midwest Hub games, tournaments and trials beyond the club
Squads
Four age groups,
one club
Players train in the age group that suits their stage, not strictly their birthday. A strong younger player can train up; a player who needs more time gets it without being made to feel behind.
How selection works
Match squads are picked on merit and attendance. That second word matters: a player who turns up every week and works is ahead of a more naturally gifted player who does not.
- • Coaches explain selection decisions if you ask
- • Every registered player gets meaningful participation and development time
- • Not being picked this week is information, not a verdict
How progress is tracked
Each player works on individual focus areas alongside team skills, with technique reviewed on video and progress revisited through the year rather than judged in one session.
- • Individual development focus areas
- • Video review of technique
- • Progression through the CYCC age groups
What parents can do
More than you think, and less than you might want to. The most useful thing a parent does is get their child to training consistently and leave the coaching to the coaches.
- • Consistent attendance beats extra coaching at home
- • Ask about effort and enjoyment before asking about runs
- • Support every child on the field, not only your own
The wider game
Cricket in the
United States
Most parents new to cricket assume it stops at the park. It does not. This is the structure your child would be entering, and it is more established than most people expect.
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Governing body
USA Cricket
The recognised national governing body for cricket in the United States. It runs the men’s, women’s and youth national teams, and sanctions the leagues below.
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Development league
Minor League Cricket
A national T20 competition that acts as the development tier of the American game, with teams spread across the country, including the Midwest.
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Professional tier
Major League Cricket
The top professional T20 league in the United States, sanctioned by USA Cricket, drawing international players to American grounds.
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2028
The Olympics
Cricket returns to the Olympic program at Los Angeles 2028. A child who is eleven now will be thirteen when their sport is played for medals on home soil.
Where CYCC already is
Our U11, U13 and U15 squads play
in the East Midwest Hub
Hub games are the regional age-group competitions of the USA Cricket Junior Pathway — the route through which junior players are seen and selected for representative cricket. CYCC plays in the East Midwest Hub. This is not something we are planning: three of our four squads play in it now, and you can follow the fixtures and results yourself on the USA Cricket Junior Pathway site.
Our U19 squad takes a different route: they will be playing in the Midwest Cricket Tournament (MCT), the regional competition played across Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
We are also working toward enrolling our teams with the Association of Minor League Cricket Academies (AMLCA).
The ceiling
Where cricket
can lead
Youth cricket in the United States is in a different position than it was a decade ago. The sport returns to the Olympic program at Los Angeles 2028, the USA has a national team playing international cricket, and the number of American children playing is growing rather than shrinking.
We are honest about this: CYCC is a local club, not a talent factory, and most of our players will play cricket because they love it rather than because it takes them somewhere. But the ceiling is real, and a child who starts at seven has a great deal of time to find out how high theirs is.
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Tournament cricket
Competition against clubs from across the Midwest — including the Midwest Cricket Tournament for our oldest players — where standards go beyond anything one club can provide on its own.
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Representative cricket
Hub games feed regional and state-level selection, which is where the route toward USA Cricket’s national youth programs opens up for players who want it.
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School and college cricket
A growing number of US high schools and universities field cricket teams. Several of our older players will be the first cricketer their school has had.
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A sport for life
The most common outcome, and not a lesser one. Adult cricket in Greater Cincinnati is active, and a teenager who leaves CYCC has somewhere to keep playing.
Every player starts at stage one
Including the ones who end up at stage three. Tell us your child’s age and experience and we will tell you where they would start.