Photo Credit: Cricket NSW
The Cricket NSW Foundation, the charitable arm of Cricket NSW, took cricket to the country these July holidays for children across the state to be able to play and love cricket free of cost.
The Foundation sponsored a number of holiday clinics across Country NSW in the most recent school holiday period in July. This is in line with the CNSW Foundation helping address and remove barriers to participation in cricket across NSW. By providing funding, the clinics were conducted free of cost for Country participants, and also enabled the delivery to be more widespread across the state, spanning across 21 locations in two weeks. A total of 1026 participants joined in to pick up cricketing skills and enjoy a fun-filled day with their friends.
The holiday clinics offered a fun, positive and engaging environment for girls and boys aged 7-12 of all skill levels to enhance their cricket skills. The program included variety of tailored drills, activities, and modified match play to ensure that each child received a comprehensive experience. The high-quality coaching provided at these clinics helped develop their skills and overall understanding of cricket.
The clinics were held in diverse locations, especially to include towns that had not had a clinic in the recent past, such as South West Rocks, West Wyalong or Crestwood. Some of them were held in locations such as Muswellbrook and The Entrance, not far from Sydney, while there were clinics scheduled in the Far West (Dubbo), southern towns such as Wodonga, and Northern Inland locations such as Armidale and Gunnedah.
Jake Balnave, Head of the Cricket NSW Foundation, said:
“The Cricket NSW Foundation was thrilled to provide support in the form of funding to enable all of these holiday clinics to run across Country NSW. It is a wonderful sign for the season ahead that so many boys and girls chose to play cricket this early in the season.
“We are delighted to be able to provide these opportunities, addressing both geographical and financial barriers that might have otherwise prevented the children from having access to cricket.”
The clinics continue to be well received by the local communities.
Leanne Medhurst, Secretary, Muswellbrook Junior Cricket Club, said:
“Thank you for bringing the cricket clinic to Muswellbrook. Our boys enjoyed it today. A big thank you to the coaches, especially with today’s cold weather.”
Lucy Cattle, who participated in the clinic held at West Wyalong, said:
“(The Cricket Clinic) made me enthusiastic to continue playing cricket.”
It is Cricket NSW’s mission for every boy and girl to want to play and love cricket. As a new playing season begins, register to continue to play cricket through www.play.cricket.com.au
If you would like to support the Cricket NSW Foundation to help deliver more programs across NSW you can donate at https://asf.org.au/projects/new-south-wales-cricket-association/cricket-nsw-foundation
