Ossett CC's All Star experience.
Ossett Cricket Club is a well-established club situated in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The Cricket Club operates a comprehensive junior section alongside their senior teams.
In 2017, Ossett decided to take part in the new All Stars programme. Steve Coulthard, junior coach and new All Stars Cricket Activator, admitted that the club was slightly sceptical about the idea of All Stars Cricket at first. At a club committee meeting, the first impressions weren’t good, with reservations about the £40 cost of the programme. These reservations didn’t last long though. After a few weeks of the programme, Steve had this to say:
“I feel privileged to be part of All Stars Cricket. Overall, All Stars Cricket looks very professional. The banners and signs, combined with the uniforms give the feel of a privately run cricket course. I've had a number of parents ask me if I work for the ECB or the club and they were impressed and surprised to hear I'm a volunteer!”
Steve had no trouble getting going with the All Star sessions:
“The tools and equipment provided to Activators are great. The kit bag has everything you need to run the sessions. Also, the online support is good – being able to watch the activities on the iCoachcricket site and discuss/share best practice on the Activator Facebook page is excellent!”
All Stars Cricket has had a huge impact on Ossett Cricket Club. Ossett Chairman, Bob Schofield, stated that All Stars Cricket fulfilled their expectations tenfold; but not just from a cricketing point of view; Bob identified that:
“The Introduction of All Stars has brought families to the club; not only introducing youngsters to cricket, but parents are enjoying the environment and facilities and with that we hope to increase membership at Ossett. The club is delighted with the success of the programme so far and hopes it will be continued in future years.”
To promote All Stars Cricket, Ossett chose various avenues, ranging from school taster sessions/assemblies to basic club communications. The club also did lots of promotion via various social media channels. Steve & Bob did a fantastic job and relaying the All Stars Cricket message to all involved with the club and that really was the key to success!
Parent engagement is a huge part of the All Stars Cricket Programme - aiming to get not just the little All Stars running around, but get the big ones involved too. It didn’t take long for the parents to get into the swing of things and start letting both Steve and Bob know their thoughts on the programme and what the Little All Stars were getting up to at home:
“As soon as he received his kit with his name proudly on his top, he was out in the garden with me, practicing with his good quality bat and ball!”
All Stars Cricket allowed Ossett to engage more people from the local community and get them down to the cricket club. Parents were full of praise for Ossett’s welcoming approach:
“Very warm welcome from the club and especially Steve & Lynda!”
“I’m sure quite a lot would like to join Ossett Cricket Club when the sessions finish.”
The impact of All Stars Cricket is clear to see at Ossett and the work that has been put in by Bob, Steve and all the Ossett CC team has been incredible. Ossett CC have shown that All Stars Cricket is as much about creating a fantastic experience down at the club as it is the Little All Stars taking their gear home to play with mum and dad!
There have been so many successes with All Stars cricket this year. If your club has a story to tell and would like to be featured, please email J.Stockdale@yorkshirecb.com and make sure you follow https://www.facebook.com/YorkshireAllStars/ for dates of upcoming roadshows!