The season is in full swing for the club’s youngsters, with more than 80 matches having already been played by our junior sides this summer. 450 youngsters have registered to play for the club this year and those players are all in their ninth week of the summer training programme at the present time. Head Coach Scott Simmons and his team have been working with these young players since mid-April and the results of this can be seen with the performances of our junior sides in a variety of competitions they are playing in.

County Competitions
2025 saw the club’s U12 Ultras claim the Brian Taylor Trophy and this year’s U12 Ultras also put in some fine performances in the group stages of the competition. The side lost a last ball thriller to Brentwood before bouncing back with wins over Hadleigh & Thunderlsey and Hutton. This set up a final group game against Billericay where the winners would clinch second spot in the group, and it was Billericay who took the honours by 76 runs.

Our U14 Ultras remain on course to reach the knockout stages of the Sir Alastair Cook Trophy having won their opening two games. Hutton were beaten by ten wickets in the opening contest of Group Four before Benfleet pushed the Ultras all the way before Upminster came out on top by 20 runs. The side face a crunch contest tonight (Tuesday) when they travel to Springfield before finishing the group stage with a game against Hadleigh & Thundersley.

Our U15 Girls remain in contention in the West Group of the Catherine Dalton Cup. The team kicked off their campaign with a win over Bancroft Lions before two tough games against Wanstead & Snaresbrook and Buckhurst Hill resulted in losses. The side will look to bounce back in their next game against Woodford Wells where they will hope to keep alive their chances of reaching the knockout stages.

In the Cordelia Griffith Cup West Group our U13 Girls have already completed five of their matches. They picked up an excellent win over Woodford Wells, but losses in their other games means they will need to win their final three contests in the group stage to have any chance of progressing to the next phase.

Sunday saw the U11 Girls play their first match in the Kelly Castle Cup and the girls put in a tremendous performance to beat Writtle by 51 runs. Their next match in the competition is this Thursday (18th) when they take on Orsett & Thurrock.

Our U16 Ultras begin their Matchplay campaign this Sunday when they travel to Billericay. It is 19 years since Upminster last reached the final of this competition and as well as Billericay the team will face Harold Wood, Wickford and Shenfield in their other Group Four matches. Meanwhile the U19 Ultras have been drawn in Group Four of the Ravi Bopara Trophy and will face Basildon & Pitsea, Hadleigh & Thundersley and Billericay (dates to be confirmed).

Central Cups
Finals Days for the Central Cup competitions at the end of season are always tremendous occasions, and a number of Upminster sides are still on track to be part of those days.

Unfortunately, our U17 Ultras won’t be there after a narrow loss to neighbours Hornchurch in their quarter final while our U15 Ultras also fell at the first hurdle as they lost by seven wickets at Brentwood.

The U14 Ultras will entertain Great Baddow in a quarter final match at the end of June while the U13 Ultras beat Springfield by nine wickets in the first round and will now face a home quarter final against Billericay.

In the U12s competition our Ultras beat Writtle in their first round match and will now take on Bentley for a place in the last four, while in the U11s competition the Ultras lost by 50 runs to Billericay in their opening match.

Our U10 Ultras won their first round tie against Galleywood and will play Hornchurch Athletic this Thursday (18th) for a place in the semi finals, while the U9 Ultras overcame Bentley in their opening match and now face a tough looking semi final against neighbours Brentwood. In the U9s Softball Cup our Ultras won an excellent game at Maldon in the first round before losing out in their quarter final against Billericay on Sunday.

Matches in the girls’ cup competitions have yet to commence but Upminster has sides in all five of these (U15s, U13s, U12s, U11s, U10s). This means at this stage of the season there are Upminster sides still in 10 of the 14 cup competitions and they will all be hoping to make it all the way to those Finals Days in August and September.

Central and Havering Leagues
The recent bout of wet weather led to a number of league games being postponed, but a lot of Upminster sides have still been making good progress in both the Central and Havering Leagues.

Our U17 Ultras are yet to complete any league games, but our U15 Ultras have played two games in Central League Division One, winning both, their latest victory coming against Galleywood on Sunday.

Also competing in U15 Central League Division One are our U14 Ultras, and they have won one and lost one match so far, while in U14 Central League Division Two our U14 Ultimate beat Belhus by 83 runs before losing an excellent game against Bentley by 10 runs.

Our U13s are always amongst our busiest sides and 2026 has been no different so far!! In Central League Division One the Ultras have recorded wins over Hornchurch and Great Baddow but did lose their last game to Billericay, so they will be looking to bounce back next week when they take on Springfield. Meanwhile the U13 Ultimate won their opening Havering League game against Rainham before losing their first match in Central League Division Two when they were narrowly beaten by Billericay.

Our U11 Ultras have only played one game so far in Central League Division One, which resulted in a win against Bentley, while the U10 Ultras came out on top in their U11 Havering League contest against the U11 Ultras. The U10 Ultras also won their other Havering League game against Gidea Park & Romford while they have also picked up two wins from two games in U10 Central League Division One. In U10 Central League Division Two the U10 Ultimate beat Broomfield in their opening game before losing out to Galleywood last Sunday.

Both our U9 and U8 Ultras are competing in U9 Central League Division One and the U9s have won one and lost one game so far while the U8s have lost both of their first two matches but are showing huge signs of improvement in their first season of competitive matches. Our U9 and U8 Ultras and Ultimate sides are all competing in the Central Softball Leagues as well, and everyone playing in these games has been gaining valuable experience, whatever the results.

In the Central Girls’ Leagues, our U13s opened their campaign with a win over Hutton last night (Monday) while our U12 Girls have won two out of two so far, their latest win coming against Harold Wood on Sunday. The U11 Girls won their first match against Harold Wood while that side are also playing in the U12 Softball League where they have won one and lost one so far.

Festivals and Friendlies
There have also been a number of festivals and friendly matches taking place in the opening weeks of the season including the U13 Essex Girls Softball Smash where two Upminster sides took part and enjoyed a brilliant day.

We would like to thank the organisers of all the competitions that our teams take part in for their ongoing work and assistance, and we must thank all of the managers, coaches, match officials, ground staff and other volunteers who help to ensure our young sides get to play so much cricket.