The BSN Becomes a R66T Academy Partnership School

The British School in The Netherlands (BSN) is delighted to announce its partnership with the R66T Academy.

The R66T Academy is all about finding ways to encourage people to play more cricket.

"By making cricket fun, we think we can increase the take-up and retention of players. We want to intensify the experience of young players by using the best available technology and expertise." - R66T Academy.

The BSN will begin its partnership with the R66T Academy in the 2023/24 academic year - offering students, initially in Years 5 to 8, the chance to participate in the Academy. Students will be offered sessions once a week in the winter with the aim of establishing a competitive team that can play friendly matches against local clubs such as Voorburg Cricket Club, Royal The Hague Cricket Club, HBS Craeyenhout and Quick within The Hague.

Alongside the main R66T Academy, there will also be a clinic in the Spring of 2024, which Dutch international coaches and players will lead. Students on the R66T Academy trajectory will be able to develop cricket, lead sessions and develop their thinking and leadership skills.

In addition to improving participation, the ultimate aim is to compete as a school in R66T Academy competitions in the UK and Spain, but also look at a long-haul cricket tour in the summer of 2025. 

Speaking about the partnership with the R66T Academy, Tom Archer, Head of Co-Curricular Sports and Teacher of PE at the BSN, said:

We are delighted to become a R66T Academy Partnership School and work with one of the leading cricketers in the world to provide our students the chance to access opportunities to play cricket as well as developing the students leadership skills. 

"The R66T Academy will be pivotal in providing a focal point for the cricket offering at the BSN going forward, and the innovative methods that we can use due to the equipment available to us will add value to the cricket sessions that we already offer. We hope that the R66T Academy will provide a platform for students to play club cricket in the Netherlands, alongside developing their cricketing skills within the programme and some of the associated skills such as leadership, commitment, discipline and teamwork."

Chris Millard, R66T Academy Managing Director, added: "We are absolutely thrilled that The British School in The Netherlands has become a Partnership School. The school does a brilliant job of providing its pupils with a variety of sporting opportunities, and it is great to extend our brand to the Netherlands to help achieve our mission of becoming the go-to cricket development company globally." 

Heath Monk, BSN CEO, welcomed the partnership: 

"The partnership with R66T Academy provides our students with a fantastic chance to train and develop as cricketers, a sport that I grew up playing and still love. The opportunities to play against local clubs and perhaps even compete internationally are very exciting!

There is so much to learn from cricket: concentration, patience, teamwork, and the values of fair play and sportsmanship that are the indelible hallmarks of this great game.

I look forward to supporting our students and to developing the school's cricket provision further!"

The BSN and Voorburg Cricket Club

The BSN currently has several partnerships with local sports clubs in and around The Hague. One of our partners is the Voorburg Cricket Club (VCC). The club have been running a 'Friday Family Cricket' evening every Friday, which has seen over 45 children - including BSN students - competing against each other in a friendly atmosphere. Many students (and parents) have become members and are now playing competitively in VCC's U9s teams and above. 

"The facilities that Voorburg Cricket Club offer are world-class with one of the few grass wickets and a fantastic indoor centre," said Tom Archer. "On top of this, the coaches that take the teams include Dutch National Team Coaches and full Dutch internationals - several of whom played in the recent successful World Cup Qualifying campaign that included wins over the West Indies and Scotland. As a result, the students have access to world-class coaches through VCC.

We look forward to hosting visiting clubs and schools there in the future.

We have also developed a link with the KNCB (Royal Dutch Cricket Federation) and hosted the Dutch Lionesses for Training Sessions ahead of their tour to the Malvern Cricket Festival in the summer, and we hope to develop this link further going forward." 

This article was first published on the R66T Academy website.