Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) have announced plans to increase the amount of age groups in which young cricketers can compete as well as bringing girls' cricket into the fray.

Currently there are under-10, under-13 and under-16 age groups for young players. Now the BCB are looking to broaden the competition to get more children involved at a younger age.

"We are looking to change things around a bit," said Neil Speight, executive director at the BCB. "Starting with the under-10s moving up to under-11s, under-13s will become under-14s, and under-16s to under-17s."

"Last year we went from six teams to 20 in the under-10s, splitting up into west and east divisions with the winners of the two divisions facing off in a final for bragging rights.

"We are looking to introduce something safe and fun for the kids on a Friday evening, so we came up with the idea."

In 2004, there were 200 children playing organised cricket, compared to 975 currently enrolled and an additional 1900 being exposed to the sport as schools become more involved.

Bermuda School Sports Federation (BSSF) have been working with the BCB to enable children in the school system to work alongside the governing body.

"This is a great stepping stone for youth to get involved in cricket," said Speight. "By joining with the BSSF, it enables us to having feeder teams that will identify good young talent and put them into our programme which will flow into other national teams as the kids get older."

The under-11s will play on Wednesday evenings from 5.30 to 7.30 p.m., under-13s will play on Friday evenings from 5.50 p.m, to 7.30 p.m., while the under-17s will play their matches on Saturday mornings.

Girls cricket will also be included in the season as there are plans in the works to have all girls' teams, such as those at Bermuda High School, and co-ed teams participate in the respective age groups.

"We will have the girls in the leagues as well," Speight continued. "They will play in the evening leagues along with our two new junior national teams, under-11s and under-16s.

"The under-12 girls team will compete in the under-11 age group while the under-16 girls team will participate in the Under-14 league.

"This will get them playing against boys at their level of play. All girls games will be played with a soft ball," said Speight.

In the under-17 league, there will be an All-Star match at the end of the season, in which, Speight said, few girls had already played in.

"We have had girls picked for the All-Star game in previous years, so it is beneficial and also exciting to see."

A new addition to the youth ranks will be an under-six and under-eight league, which is designed to hone the skills of the very young enthusiasts.

"Our aim is to split the younger kids up to ensure they get the developmental chance to excel later on. They will get bowling and fielding exposure.

"The more young players we have coming through our system, the more variety we will have later on down the road."

Members of the West Indies Cricket Board are scheduled to arrive on the Island soon to assist in coaching courses for those looking to get certified.

Speight said he was aware that time and energy was needed in order to bring the current youth system up to a global standard.

"It is key to run a safe and sound programme from a worldwide perspective," he said. "All programmes must be run through the same criteria and methods, so that players can make a smooth transition from team to team as they get older.

"At the end of the day, it isn't about losing, it is about the community and the player as a whole. We don't want to inject the philosophy of 'if we don't win we are losers' into the kids."

Also on the agenda is international exposure.

This avenue will be covered with the under-13s going to St. Kitts for an invitational tournament, the Under-15s travelling to Antigua to play members of the Americas region every other year, and the Under-19s will continue to go to the Sir Garfield Sobers tournament.

"We would also like to encourage the clubs around the Island to work with us for better overall development. We are looking to the clubs to have more cricket for the youth in the July-August months," added Speight.

The season starts on April 23 through to June 28. The deadline for children to sign up is March 28.