A new era of junior representative cricket will officially kick off this weekend when the Illawarra's youngsters take part in the NSW Youth Championships.
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With a decision made by Cricket NSW to streamline the junior representative pathways, separate Country and Metro streams have been established.
As a result, the Illawarra, along with Central Coast and Newcastle, will now sit exclusively within the Country pathway and will no longer play in the Sydney DCA competition throughout the early months of the cricket season.
Instead, the region's under 13s, 14s and 15s will contest the newly-formed Youth Championships, which start in Dubbo this weekend.
Acting as a prelude to January's Bradman and Kookaburra Cups, the Greater Illawarra Zone will send two teams to Dubbo, the Illawarra Highlanders and the Southern Marlins, a combined South Coast-Shoalhaven squad.
The new representative structure has received pushback from Cricket Illawarra and associations across the state, with many questioning the role and timing of the new Youth Championships.
While they have their concerns about the new structure, Cricket Illawarra's Glenn Bridge said the association hopes to ensure the region's juniors remain well-positioned to play high-level cricket.
"The situation is not ideal, but all we can do is try and make the most of it," Bridge said. "Our preference is to have a stronger inter-association competition, but we're willing to try the new structure and see how it goes.
"We don't want to pick teams before a ball is bowled, but the way it has been structured, it means kids picked in the regional academies have first go for the Youth Championships. The way it's been spaced out, with rounds in October and November, it affects our inter-association."
While the new setup has received criticism, Cricket NSW is confident the pathways have been structured to provide a clear route to junior representative cricket for regional youngsters.
Cricket NSW South East and ACT coaching talent specialist Stephen Davies said the competitions have been placed to ensure cricketers develop their skills across a 12-month period.
"The pathways have been split into Metro and Country. In the past, Illawarra were invited into the DCA. Now they play in the Youth Championships," Davies said.
"The new structures allow juniors, whether they're from Broken Hill or Nowra, the opportunity to play in a competition that's equal. Only teams from Sydney play in the DCA, so this is a fair opportunity for country cricketers, no matter where they live.
"I don't think Illawarra kids are missing out by not playing in the DCA. They have the opportunity to play in the Youth Championships and progress through the Country pathway."
The Youth Championships will wrap up in early November, before the Greater Illawarra inter-association competitions begin.
From there, Greater Illawarra squads will be selected for January's Country Championships, where the top players will push for State Challenge selection.
The idea of picking Youth Championships squads before the inter-association championships has been criticised.
Davies, however, said the junior representative season starts in June, with the zone academy program, which is where the Youth Championships squads should be picked from.
"We look at it as a pyramid. What underpins it all is the zone and regional academy programs. Then we have the inter-association competition, with the four associations playing. That goes up into the Youth Championships with two teams, then into Country Championships with one team.
"Then it's up to the higher representative honours, with the State Challenge and for the 15s, nationals."
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