Chance to Shine Schools 2022-23
Last academic year, the Lancashire Cricket Foundation engaged almost 70,000 children through our primary programme. The school delivery team provided more opportunities for children to access cricket across our Whole School Progammes, Engagement Days, Competitions & Cricket Festivals. Over 950 schools participated in one of our programmes, up 31% from the previous academic year.
One of the highlights of the year came when James Anderson visit his old primary school in Burnley. Many of the pupils had never played cricket before and the visit helped inspire the children to say, ‘cricket is a game for me’. Lancashire & England Women’s player, Emma Lamb, also attended the school visit offering some brilliant batting skills. You can find more information about the visit here.
School Games Competition & Lancashire Cricket Foundation
Throughout the summer terms, we delivered a variety of school cricket competitions across Lancashire. Over 7,000 children attended one of our school competitions, which included ‘Dynamos Schools’ (our competitive offer), ‘Participation’ (friendly competition for all), ‘Skills Festivals’ (KS1) & ‘Inclusive Dynamos’ (SEND & those with behavioural challenges). The Inclusive Dynamos events was our brand-new offer to ensure everyone had an opportunity to attend their local cricket club and provide young people with the opportunity to compete and achieve their personal best. Supported by the School Games Organiser network, we delivered more competitions than ever with 599 schools attending one of our competitions.
Additional ECB Youth Strategy Funding helps to support Young Cricket Leaders
The Lancashire Cricket Foundation were able to run 6 brand new Young Cricket Leaders events across Lancashire engaging over 260 secondary school pupils to lead cricket sessions. Many of the pupils that attended the 4-hour YCL’s events went on to support at the local primary school competitions providing them the opportunity to put their learning into practice.
120 Brand-New School Cricket Champions
We launched the School Cricket Champion project last academic year (2022-23). In total, we delivered 9 formal teacher CPD events which engaged 120 teachers across Lancashire. The 6-hour course provided a fantastic opportunity for teachers to upskill themselves in delivering cricket in their schools/community; a sport many knew very little about. Nicola Patrick from Mills Hill Primary School said about the event, ‘the day was fun, really informative and gave you the confidence to deliver cricket in school without the fear of not knowing anything technical about the game. Lots of helpful resources to use in lessons and help you plan for any age group.’
Of the 120 teachers that took part, many expressed their eagerness to utilise their newfound confidence in delivering cricket. Natalie Parkes-Thompson (Salesbury Primary School) said it was the ‘best course I have done for a long time. It was practical, fun and easily transferable into school. Starting my first after-school cricket club in the summer, so wish me luck!’
As well as gaining confidence in delivering cricket, all attendees also gained a Chance to Shine Teacher CPD Certificate and those within areas of high deprivation had an opportunity to run a fully funded (bursary) All Stars or Dynamos programme within their school. This collaboration with the Chance to Shine funded CPD events and the ECB’s National Programmes ensured an additional 5 All Stars/Dynamos programmes was delivered in Lancashire. Those that took this offer up became ECB Cricket Activators, taking a step further on the cricket coaching ladder.