International Travel Terms

The short version

The road to Melbourne

We intend to select two players from every age band in Season 1 — 10 to 15 players in all — to play in the VECL tournament in Melbourne in December 2027. It is an intention, not a guarantee.
The league pays for accommodation in Melbourne, match fees, and an Elite staff member from Chennai who travels with the group.
The family pays for return flights, the Australian visa, travel insurance and spending money.
Travel depends on an Australian visa being granted, which is decided by the Australian Government, not by us.
Supervised at all times, with at least one adult for every ten players and never fewer than two.

Selection

Selection and the written offer

Who is selected: Selectors choose from Season 1 performances. The decision is final, and every family can ask us for an honest explanation of it.
The written offer: A selected player receives a written offer setting out the dates, the staff travelling and the tour lead, exactly what the league pays for and what the family pays for, any amount payable and when, and these terms.
Accepting: A place is confirmed when the parent or guardian accepts the offer in writing and returns the forms listed below.

Costs

Who pays for what

The league pays: Accommodation in Melbourne, the tournament's match fees, and the travelling Elite staff member. Anything else the league pays for is listed in the written offer.
The family pays: Return flights Chennai–Melbourne, the Australian visa application, travel insurance (below), and spending money.
Payments: Anything payable to the league is in rupees, through the Elite app, to Elite Cricket Academy and Sports Gear Private Limited.
Book flights after the visa: Families should not buy non-refundable flights until the visa is granted and the league confirms the itinerary. The league is not responsible for flights booked before then.

Passports and visas

Getting to Australia

Passport: Valid for at least six months after the return date.
Australian visa: Each family applies for the visa the player needs. Australia asks for the consent of both parents, or a court order, before it grants a visa to a child under 18. The league gives every selected family an invitation letter and the tournament details the application needs.
No advice, no guarantee: We cannot give visa or immigration advice, and we cannot influence a decision. If a visa is refused, the player cannot travel; no amount the family has paid the league for the trip is kept.

Supervision

Who looks after players in Australia

At all times: League staff supervise the group at all times: in transit, at the accommodation, at matches and overnight.
Ratio: At least one adult for every ten players, and never fewer than two adults with the group. If girls travel, at least one female staff member travels.
The staff: The Elite staff member from Chennai travels with the group and is joined in Melbourne by league staff, every one of whom holds a verified Victorian Working with Children Check. Their names and the tour lead are in the written offer.
Accommodation: Players share rooms only with players of the same gender and a similar age. Adults never share a room with a player who is not their own child. Staff stay at the same accommodation and do a room check every night.
Parents who travel: Welcome, at their own cost and on their own bookings. They are not part of the supervision ratio. A player stays with the group for the whole trip; a parent may take their own child out for a visit by arranging it with the tour lead in advance, and is responsible for the child until they hand them back.

Insurance

Travel insurance is required

Each family buys travel insurance for the player and gives the league a copy of the certificate at least fourteen days before departure. A player without one does not travel. Visitors to Australia are not covered by Medicare, and hospital care there is expensive, so the policy must cover, at minimum:

medical and hospital costs in Australia of at least US$250,000;
emergency evacuation and repatriation;
cricket as an activity, including matches;
the full dates of travel.

Cancellation cover, to protect the flights, is strongly recommended. Staff carry every player's policy number and their insurer's emergency number throughout the trip.

Medical care

Health, medication and emergencies

Before departure: Every family completes a medical form — conditions, allergies, medications, injuries, dietary needs — and signs a treatment authority, so a doctor in Australia can give emergency treatment if a parent cannot be reached in time.
Medication: Travels in its original packaging, in the player's name, with a doctor's letter. Staff hold and give medication where the parent asks them to, and record each dose.
First aid: At least one travelling staff member holds a current first aid qualification. A player who takes a blow to the head does not play again until a doctor says so.
In an emergency: Staff make the player safe and call 000; contact the parent; contact the insurer's emergency line; and where needed the Consulate General of India in Melbourne. Families have a 24-hour number for the tour lead, and every incident is written down and a copy given to the family.

Conduct

Behaviour on tour

Players follow the league's conduct rules and the tour lead's instructions throughout. Serious or repeated breaches — alcohol, drugs, leaving the group, or behaviour that puts anyone at risk — can mean a player is sent home, after the tour lead has spoken to the parent. The family pays for the early return, and a staff member stays with a player under 18 until they board.

If plans change

Withdrawals and cancellations

If the family withdraws: Tell us as soon as you can. The league does not charge for the place it was paying for, but cannot refund flights or visa fees the family paid to others.
If the league cancels: If travel becomes unsafe or impossible — government travel advice, a natural disaster, illness in the group — or the tournament does not go ahead, the league tells families as soon as it knows and refunds in full anything the family paid the league for the trip.
Your rights: These terms are governed by Indian law. Nothing in them takes away a right you have under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

Consent

The forms we need before departure

A parent or guardian signs, for a player under 18:

acceptance of these terms and the written offer;
consent to travel with the league's staff, for the dates in the offer;
the medical form and emergency treatment authority;
a medication authority, if staff are to hold or give medication;
photography consent under the Photography and Media Policy;
the conduct agreement, signed by the player and the parent.

A player aged 18 or over signs for themselves.

Coming to Chennai

Players from outside India

VECL is open to players from anywhere; where a player lives has never decided whether they can play. A player who comes from outside India to play in VECL Chennai:

arranges and pays for their own travel, Indian visa, accommodation and travel insurance; the league does not sponsor visas and cannot advise on them;
if under 18, is in the care of a parent or a guardian the parent names in writing, who is in Chennai for the season and is the league's contact for that player;
follows the same registration, selection, safety and conduct rules as every other player.

Questions

Ask before you accept

Write to info@elitecricketacademy.co.in or call +91 93846 63776. Every question about safety, supervision or cost is answered in writing before a family accepts a place.