Colt's training is now back in full swing. Sessions are held at St. Cuthbert Mayne's Sports Hall in Torquay each Thursday night. 6pm till 7:30pm for the under 11's and 7:30pm till 9pm for the 11 to 17 year olds. All New Players are very welcome. For further details contact Jim Parker through his contact details on this site or through the clubhouse.

Coach Adam Parker getting the Under 11's into action.

COLTS FIXTURES

PRESENTATION NIGHT

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Above are some of the many prize winners at the 2006 Colt's Presentation Night. A full review of this evening will follow on this page shortly. Thanks must be given to all the coaches and parents who gave up their time to enable ALL of the youngsters to play and train in 2006. Without the help of you all the club would not be able to run such a successful Colt's section as it has done over recent years.

No shortage of Volunteers it seems??????

The Colts

The colts' section was brought back to life 14 years ago with just a handful of kids. Now we play in four divisions of the South Devon Youth League and boast a colts section of more than 50 children aged from around seven to 17.

Coaching, led by ECB qualified coaches, takes place all year round. During the winter the demand this year for coaching has been so strong that we have had to hire out the sports hall at South Devon College. During the summer dozens turn up for our Sunday morning training school.

The ‘Fathers' beat the ‘Sons' in 1995
(click photo to enlarge)

A vast array of trophies has been bagged by the youngsters over the years, including several South Devon League championships. County cups have also been won at under-15 and 16 levels.

Several of our youngsters have been picked for regional and full Devon teams. Nick Watkin, Adam Parker and Richard Milton were lucky enough to be selected for a ground-breaking Devon Youth Cricket Board under-16 tour to South Africa some ago with Jack Porter following in their footsteps 12 months later.

Adam and Aaron Williams have since returned to Cape Town and the Kruger Park with the Devon – as coaches. Well done, lads.

From the playing fields of Pavor to the green slope of Cricketfield Road, a large number of the colts have now broken into senior cricket, including the first team and Premier Division games.

The future

The whole purpose of the colts' section is to breed tomorrow's first team players. Some regard our youth set up as the best in the county. Without the youngsters there is no tomorrow and we must strive to make sure they blossom for the sake of the club.

The unthinkable happened in 1999 when we were relegated from the Premier Division. But – just as we did in 1980 – we put on a united front and decided to rebuild and start again.

Swift promotion followed back to the top flight. Consolidation in the Premier was accompanied by another shot at the Devon KO Cup, narrowly losing in the final to Paignton that same season. And in the 2003 season we missed out on that elusive championship title by just a point.

It's that sort of fighting spirit that has kept Barton at the forefront of county cricket over the past 20 years.

It hasn't been easy going all the time, either on or off the field. A brilliant band of volunteers have managed to steer the social side of the club through some stormy waters and now it's back on an even keel.

Add that kind of dedication to an army of supporters second to none anywhere in the West Country and you have a recipe for success.

Stir in new senior recruits during the winter and add to them the prospect of our Sunday morning kids becoming the Saturday afternoon stars of the future and you have a mouth-watering future.

That's if we continue to back the younger players and all continue to pull in the right direction in typical Barton style. It's something that every other club in the country envies fiercely.

Jim Parker and all the coaches and volunteers that help to run the Colts section at Barton Cricket Club, wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and look forward to seeing you all in 2007.

09/05/06.

Barton Cricket Club U17 Colts 2006

Back Row, S Tolchard, A Edwards, E lennon, T Whittle,

 L Adderley, R Williams, T Porter (coach)

Front Row, M Hill, D Bullock, S Lewis, J Hands,

S Adderley.

 Photo: Glyn Wills20060509_001

Tom Porter teaches the forward defensive shot.

Jim Parker runs the rule over another of the aspiring Kevin Pietersen's!!!