Last Friday we rounded out an amazing summer of cricket with a HUGE celebration for local children on the pitch of the Seat Unique Riverside.
Over the last 5 months, club volunteers and our coaches at Durham Cricket Foundation have delivered All Stars and Dynamos sessions to over 3000 children with nearly 1000 of those children from socially deprived areas accessing the programme and free lunches funded by Karbon Homes.
This has created memories which will hopefully last for years and inspire a whole new generation of children to take up cricket. The weather hasn’t always been on our side, but the determination and hard work of club volunteers and our coaches shone through with each session and each activity. This has seen us move up to 10th overall in the country for the number of children signed up to National Programmes and 7th for girls signed up which is a testament to how much love there is for cricket in the County of Durham.
On Friday 30th August, over 110 All Stars and Dynamos joined us on the pitch for a morning of games and drills designed to introduce the fundamentals of cricket to new audiences and enhance the skills of younger cricket lovers. The drills were monitored and managed by a whole host of coaches from Durham Cricket Foundation as well as an array of volunteers, dedicating their time to helping the next generations.
The kids on the pitch were joined by members of the Durham Cricket’s first team. Brandon Glover and Jonathan Bushnell took time out of their schedules to come and get stuck into the drills, take pictures and sign autographs for the children. This highlighted the togetherness and unity at Durham Cricket and showed the family environment we try to create.
David Selby, Cricket Development Officer, and organiser of the event said: “As a team we are delighted with how Friday went, seeing over 100 children enjoy cricket on the outfield at the Seat Unique Riverside. I would like to say a huge thank you to staff and volunteers for their time and effort throughout the morning.”
He continued “Finally, one last thanks to Vic and his team for allowing us to use the ground at such a busy time of the year with the International only a few weeks away.”
We should be very proud of the efforts we have put in over the summer and as the autumn months roll in, we can look back with pride with what we’ve achieved.
We’ll go even bigger and even better next year!