Bayford Cricket Club tested a new model for encouraging new/ex cricketers to our club – thanks to the Googly Fund – which saw 16 people come and play cricket at the club on a Sunday – with potential for them to come and join us for some more formal cricket in the future.
Given the issues with getting people into recreational cricket as adults, we are keen to test this model more widely to see if this is something which really works.
We have discussed matters with the Googly Fund and they will provide between £200-£300 (depending on the amount of clubs who want to go-ahead) per club which can be used for pitch preparation, refreshments, purchase of equipment etc for the following:
The core aim of the event is to get adults into cricket – those who have perhaps never played, those whose children play but they don’t or those who previously played and would like to get back into it. This is with a view to getting more adults playing at local clubs and helping to pique their interest in the game.
All we would ask in return – as well as hosting the game – would be to fill out a formal evaluation form/survey so we can collate the results, to take some photos, promote the event through social media and to perhaps get a few quotes/interviews with those playing. We will send information on this element before your match.
Having reviewed the above, if this is of interest to your club, please do drop me an email confirming you would like to be involved and we can then revert back on next steps at savevillagecricket@gmail.com
Given the issues with getting people into recreational cricket as adults, we are keen to test this model more widely to see if this is something which really works.
We have discussed matters with the Googly Fund and they will provide between £200-£300 (depending on the amount of clubs who want to go-ahead) per club which can be used for pitch preparation, refreshments, purchase of equipment etc for the following:
- A cricket ‘match’ (soft-ball?) hosted by your club which aims to encourage new/returning cricketers back to the game.
- The key element of recruiting players would be to find 2 people at your club – those who have children at primary school – to get together a team of parents (mums and dads) for the game.
- You might widen the recruitment by opening up to the local community – or you might have a youth section where there is a group of parents you would engage to play.
- The format of the game would be up to each club – we did pairs cricket which worked well, but you might consider a 100-style competition or similar.
- Given parents are involved in the game we would suggest there needs to be something for the children to do whilst parents are playing – we engaged them as extra fielders, but you might host a coaching session or similar.
- The time of the event would be up to you – we hosted this on a Sunday morning, but you might do something one evening in 2023.
- You must provide some sort of refreshments – we made a traditional cricket tea and BBQ but this would be up to you. We found this a good driver to get people along to the club. We also had the bar open.
The core aim of the event is to get adults into cricket – those who have perhaps never played, those whose children play but they don’t or those who previously played and would like to get back into it. This is with a view to getting more adults playing at local clubs and helping to pique their interest in the game.
All we would ask in return – as well as hosting the game – would be to fill out a formal evaluation form/survey so we can collate the results, to take some photos, promote the event through social media and to perhaps get a few quotes/interviews with those playing. We will send information on this element before your match.
Having reviewed the above, if this is of interest to your club, please do drop me an email confirming you would like to be involved and we can then revert back on next steps at savevillagecricket@gmail.com