This summer, SJ enrolled onto the ECB’s national All Stars Cricket programme. All Stars Cricket is a brand-new initiative from the England and Wales Cricket Board aimed at providing children aged 5 to 8 with a great first experience of the sport, with an emphasis on fun via an 8-week jam-packed schedule of activities and skills development.
The journey started off in May with 4 of our very own ladies stepping up to train as Activators (volunteers trained to execute the programme). They underwent both online and face to face training and were given the (enormous!) kit bag consisting of stumps, cones, bats, balls and beanbags. They were now ready to introduce the girls to a brand new sport!
Alhamdullilah, sign up for 24 girls was full within minutes and in June, we embarked on delivering the Programme. Over the course of 8 weeks, the girls learnt fundamental movement skills including catching, throwing and batting with a focus on the following core skills:
- Batting – hitting a moving ball
- Throwing – underarm and overarm
- Catching – small and large balls
- Bowling – overarm
- Running – lots of movement
- Teamwork – fun games with friends
- Communication – the basics of cricket
- Spirit of Cricket – how to respect others
Soft balls and plastic bats were used by everyone and all participants were given their very own cricket bag full of everything they need to play the game. The girls were especially excited to receive their personalised All Stars t-shirts and wore them with pride to every session!
It was clear that the children had not only learnt key sport skills but had also created fun memories together and made new friends.
InshAllah, we intend to run another 8-week All Stars Cricket Programme for girls in Reception-Year 3 in September.
At this juncture, we would like to thank Sakina Yusufali-Merali & Tehsin Kanji for leading the programme with incredible commitment, hard work and enthusiasm. Your dedication is invaluable to the club and community!
Alongside All Stars Cricket, the ECB also runs a Dynamos Programme for age 9-11 (https://www.ecb.co.uk/play/dynamoscricket)
We are actively looking for volunteers to join the team as Activators and help to establish cricket as a growing sport within SJ and give our 9-11 year old girls the opportunity to participate in Dynamos Cricket.
You do not need any prior cricket experience at all! Just a can-do attitude and a desire to be part of something special so please do come forward and join the team!
If you are interested, please contact our cricket coordinators – Sakina Yusufali-Merali and Tehsin Kanji – or message any member of the EC. Alternatively you can email girlssports@jafferys.org
