The Leinster Cricket Union has today released documentation regarding the new Club Accreditation Process [to be known as the LCU ClubGrade Process] whereby clubs are required to confirm that they have completed a series of important steps relating to the governance of their clubs, child safety and protection and club facilities. The LCU has set up an Assessment Procedure, including site visits and a review by the LCU Grounds Committee, to verify that the application for the ClubGrade Mark is in order. It is also possible to achieve a partially compliant outcome. Clubs will have to ensure that standards are maintained from year to year in order to retain the ClubGrade Mark.
The achievement of the ClubGrade Mark is a requirement on all clubs that are members of the LCU and the process must be completed by the end of the 2015 season. In order to encourage clubs to start the process early there is a 10% discount on club fees for clubs in the year that the ClubGrade Mark is first obtained [and 5% thereafter].
Further details on the process and the procedures involved, including the Checklist of Requirements, have been circulated to clubs and are available on the Cricket Leinster website [Regulations > Guidance]. A meeting to explain the process further has been arranged for the 15th May at 19.30 in Pembroke CC and all clubs should attend.
The ClubGrade Process is an important step towards the raising of standards and in improving governance in clubs and is an assurance for club members that proper standards are being complied with and that appropriate protections are in place. The introduction of a club accreditation scheme has been a long term objective of the LCU and follows the introduction of a similar scheme in the Provincial Unions in Northern Ireland. Although the Leinster scheme differs in certain regards it is broadly similar in terms of objectives and scope to the scheme used by the Northern Unions.