How to use this guide
This is the practical guide for players selected into the pathway and for their parents. It covers what happens and when, what to bring, who is responsible for what, and who to contact.
If you are still deciding whether the programme is right for your family, read the programme profile first — it explains what the programme is and what it costs.
Anything in this guide that is not yet confirmed is marked as such. We would rather tell you a section is still being written than fill it with something that changes.
Before you go
Paperwork
To be written. Consent and medical forms, passport and visa requirements, travel insurance, emergency contacts, dietary and medical needs, and the date each is due back.
Payments
The programme price and payment schedule are set out at the parent information evening and published on the website on the same day. Nothing is payable to try out.
Travel
To be written. Flights and who books them, departure and arrival times, who meets the group at each end, and what happens if a flight is delayed or missed.
What a day looks like
To be written. A typical day at the camp: wake, breakfast, sessions, heat breaks, meals, evening, lights out. Parents ask this question more than any other.
What to pack
To be written. Cricket kit, clothing for the conditions, footwear for the surfaces, sun protection, water, medication, adaptors, and what not to bring.
Supervision and duty of care
Every arrangement for a player under 18 is made with a parent or guardian from the outset. Supervision, accommodation and duty of care are settled in writing before travel.
To be written: who travels with the squad, the ratio of staff to players, who is responsible at each point of the trip, and how supervision works at the accommodation.
Health, safety and emergencies
To be written. The nominated hospital, how medical treatment is paid for and claimed, who holds medical consent, how a parent is contacted, and the 24-hour contact number for the duration of the trip.
Behaviour and expectations
To be written. The code of conduct players and staff sign, what is expected of a player representing the programme, phone and social media use, and what happens if the code is broken.
Staying in touch
To be written. How and when players contact home, how the group communicates with parents during the trip, and who to contact with a question while the squad is away.
Coming home
Every player receives a written post-tour assessment they can hand to anyone — a club, a coach or a selector — and returns into the Australian January block: Dowling Shield, Premier Under 18s and representative trials.
To be written: when the assessment arrives, what it covers, and the review conversation that follows it.
Who to contact
Enquiries come to info@vecl.au and are read and answered by the managing director. During a camp there is a 24-hour contact number for parents, published before departure.