SMASH-IT PROGRAMME EXPANDS INTO SCHOOLS NETWORK (20.11.2024)

This past week saw the conclusion of a six-week Smash-It Programme at Castaheany Educate Together National School in Dublin 15.
Castaheany is the first major school in Leinster to roll out an after-school national programme for their pupils. A total of 54 children from the ages of 5 to 9 took part in six weeks where they learned fundamental cricket movement skills such as batting, bowling and fielding.

The schools Sports CoOrdinator, Conor Sheehan commented favourably on how the programme has enhanced the schools sports offering:

"The benefits are obvious, the kids have a new found confidence. It's a great boost for them, along with it being a structured programme, I couldn't recommend it highly enough to other schools. It is a well organised and well run programme and if kids want a taste of cricket, this is the ideal opportunity.”

The numbers participating in this programme is further evidence of the continued growth & expansion of youth cricket across West Dublin.

The local Ongar Cricket Club had over 40 children participate in their Smash-It programme during the summer. The club's youth coordinator, Nagendra Kumar commented on the growing popularity of the sport in the local area:

"Ongar is a rapidly expanding urban centre - we have four schools in the area and all of them have children with so much interest, we can provide them a platform to grow. 
It's really important to partner with the schools. We are hoping to get more children involved with Ongar CC so we are especially focused on ensuring a tight school-to-club link as a means of achieving sustainable growth in our youth numbers.”

The National Programmes have now also been adapted for roll-out in schools and community groups. In the case of Castaheany, assistance in the delivery has been provided by local coaches and officials from Ongar CC, underpinned with support from the Cricket Leinster Development team. This is a repeatable model right across the province.
Killian Molloy, Cricket Leinster's National Programmes Coordinator has encouraged all schools to give the programmes a try:

"Our national programmes are a fantastic addition to any schools sports programme, they can be adapted and run in many different ways to suit a schools needs and timetables. What we have seen with the programme with Castasheany is that there is a growing demand for cricket at schools level and many young children can learn valuable skills from  participation.”

Schools are encouraged to contact Killian Molloy for more information at:

killian.molloy@cricketleinster.ie

Cricket Leinster is committed to supporting the development of cricket across its schools network and in particular, we are focused on establishing strong school-club links.