Eastern Storm U13 coach Thapelo Ditle has hailed the CSA U13 Regional Week as a vital platform for nurturing young talent, but emphasised that the focus should remain firmly on development rather than pure competitiveness.

The tournament was hosted by the Eastern Cricket Union from November 29 to December 2.

Ditle believes that at the U13 level, players are still mastering the fundamentals of the sport, and putting pressure on them to chase results can hinder growth.

Instead, he says coaches and parents should prioritise teaching the basics, fostering enjoyment, and building confidence in the next generation of cricketers.

“We need to understand that we are in an infant stage of development. The players need to be properly developed. Such tournaments create a lot of competition.

“You find children already competing at age 13 when we should be focusing on development. It’s good, but we should not shy away from the bigger picture, which is development,” he said.

Ditle mentored his youngsters to three wins and one loss, while one match was rained out. Reflecting on his team’s overall performance, Ditle was satisfied with the results, particularly in the two 50-over matches, where he said the players showed character and “really put their hands up and fought.”

“We always spoke about doing the small things correctly and doing them over long periods of time. Their character was tested. At one stage things were not going well, but the boys dug deep. Once we got hold of the steering wheel, we made sure we stayed on it for longer periods,” he said.

While his players fought bravely for the badge, Ditle singled out Nathan Kotze and Aaryan Doorsamy for their standout performances in the two 50-over matches.

“The boys played quality cricket. The highlights were Nathan Kotze coming up with a five-wicket haul in the first game. In the second game, the talented Aaryan Doorsamy fell 18 runs short of a century. It was a great quality top-order innings.”

Asked whether he sees any of the youngsters progressing to provincial cricket, Ditle explained: “These are the 12 best U13 players in our region.

“We may lose some to other provinces. If these boys stay in the system, we are most likely going to see them make it. Some senior provincial and Proteas players are going to come out of this group.”