Indoor Leagues, Disability Cricket, Hits & Missus, Women's Cricket, Volunteer Recruitment and Training.
A new range of projects is being launched, specific to Leeds, to get more people from a diverse range of communities involved in Cricket.
Leeds is amongst five cities selected nationally by the ECB to run a comprehensive Community Cricket Programme. Other cities included are Bradford, Birmingham, Leicester and a London Borough. Upcoming projects have a particular focus on areas including Chapletown, Gipton, Harehills, Sheepscar, Roundhay, Moortown, Burley, Armley and Beeston.
There will be a number of projects running, with the aim being to effectively engage with the different communities and increase the amount of people from diverse backgrounds playing cricket whilst integrating with one another.
As part of the ECB initiative, the projects also aim to increase the representation of people from different cultures and backgrounds in the cricket workforce as well as increase satisfaction for these grass roots cricketers in Leeds.
Indoor Leagues: In the New Year, indoor cricket programmes will commence to attract new players, as well as current and lapsed players. These leagues will provide varying opportunities and consist of beginner taster leagues as well as Inter-faith and restaurant, takeaway and taxi leagues. These activities will be based indoors with exit routes for a summer programme.
Disability Cricket: The Yorkshire Cricket Foundation will be working with schools on different initiatives to support community needs, such as creating a Development Centre for children aged 5-8-years old and providing a diverse disability inclusion session.
Hits & Missus: 6 schools from diverse communities to have been invited to 12 hours of free cricket sessions to encourage more girls to be more active; leading into a tournament; ‘Hits & Missus’.
Volunteer Recruitment and Training: The importance of developing a diverse workforce in the cricketing community is paramount. This will aid the sustainability for the projects, as well as offer people opportunities to get involved with cricket. The Yorkshire Cricket Foundation are currently looking at the recruitment and training of volunteers.
Women’s Cricket: New ways to engage women of all ages, backgrounds and abilities in the community are being explored, considering the barriers that women face and aiming to find solutions to meet their needs.
If you would like to get involved in any of the Diverse Community Projects or would like more information, please contact Kendal via Kendal.James@yorkshireccc.com