Short pitch: Giveaway
At my club, the junior membership package comprises for a single fee: all matches, training sessions, sports club membership, an end of season event and a giveaway.
The free item has, in recent years, been a club playing shirt, a club cap and a training shirt. We have thought of giving a ball, stamped with the club crest. But this year, with a new sponsor in place, we have reverted to providing a club playing shirt.
The shirts arrived one week late, but just in time for this evening’s training session. With gratifying pride in the club’s colours, some of the players changed straight into their new shirt.
The manufacturer described the shirt as offering:
Improved cricket specific fit to aid athletes’ movement during sport for greater comfort and performance.
Some of our younger boys put the shirt to the test and found its versatility was being undersold as it afforded the athlete a comfortable fit, not just for cricket, but wrestling, tumbling and grass-sliding.
As the clouds rolled in, the temperature dropped into the low single figures and spots of rain fell, we waited for another day to try out the remaining features of the shirt’s specification:
Moisture controlling materials draw heat away from the body.
Collar for UV protection
Maybe next year, I’ll suggest something really useful and sensitive to the local climate for our junior membership giveaway: pocket hand-warmers.
Declaration Game cricket blog 