Huge strides have been made for cricket in the North Inner City this winter. From the end of September to the middle of December, sessions have been ongoing at four different secondary schools:
The programme was mainly targeted at girls aged 12-15 years old. All schools have received 8-10 weeks of schoolyard sessions learning the basics of the game. The coaches involved in the programme included Fintan Mc Allister, Michael Cotter and Rony Hoque.
Commenting on this new initiative between Dublin City Council and Cricket Leinster, senior sports officer Bruce McDevitt was quick to offer praise "It’s been great to get cricket introduced into the North East Inner City. Cricket was something completely new and different for the pupils in the area and the sport has really taken off at the participating schools. The programme went down particularly well amongst girls and shows the huge potential the sport has to attract new participants into the game".
In addition, each school received their own Dublin City Council branded cricket set that can be used for P.E. classes. The schools will compete in a blitz in April 2018, that will be held at the Phoenix Park. Each student will also receive a leaflet with details of their nearest cricket club if they want to explore this further.
Finally, PE teachers from all schools have shown a keen interest in cricket and hope to attend the annual Coaching Workshop for Secondary School teachers run by Cricket Leinster staff at Wesley College on Wednesday, April 11th next.
Fintan McAllister
Cricket Development Officer
Cricket Leinster/Dublin City Council
December 2017