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SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT
With cross-stream collaboration and creativity, the Community Cricket Experience team has revamped school engagement. We continued to offer Health and PE programs, Sporting Schools, Mascot Challenge, and School Cups, while emphasising involving local clubs and communicating program information to parents. These initiatives are crucial for maintaining school engagement and fostering the cricket culture. To enhance participation, Cricket Australia’s funding allowed us to offer cricket programs
Beach Blast
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at various times and days throughout the year, taking a ‘365-days-a-year’ approach to school engagement.
The Woolworths Cricket Fund enables us to provide Before, Lunchtime, and After School programs to children, including those from multicultural and lower socioeconomic backgrounds, disaster-stricken areas, and children with disabilities. Participants in the Woolworths Cricket Blast programs are always given a next step, whether it is joining their local club or another Cricket NSW centre. The Growing Cricket For Girls Fund focuses on increasing girls’ participation and love for cricket, and we plan to continue this growth.
In collaboration with the NSW Government, we are targeting culturally and linguistically diverse schools in Sydney, working with a third-party provider to engage previously unengaged schools and alleviate the workload on our casual workforce.
WHERE: Manly Beach
REGION: Northern Beaches
WHEN: March 2023
In March, Cricket NSW piloted the Beach Blast program with 40 students from St Mary’s Catholic Primary School at Manly Beach. This initiative aims to connect the coastal lifestyle with cricket, offering a fun and alternative environment for children to learn new skills amidst the salty air.
YES, MINISTER
WHERE: Kings Langley Public School
REGION: Blacktown
WHEN: August 2022
The Woolworths Breakfast Blast program received recognition when the former NSW Education Minister, Sarah Mitchell, visited Kings Langley Public School. This program is part of the state government’s extended hours pilot project, providing meaningful activities to students before and after school. The Woolworths Breakfast Blast, operated by Cricket NSW’s School Experience team, ran in eight primary schools across the state, offering cricketing skills and a warm breakfast served by Woolworths.
ONE FOR THE GIRLS ON WOMEN’S DAY
WHERE: Collaroy Plateau Public School
REGION: Northern Beaches
WHEN: March 2023
Overcoming Challenges
WHERE: Lady Cutler Ovals, Dubbo
REGION: Far West
WHEN: Term 4 2022
Despite initial flooding challenges, the Woolworths Cricket Blast format was successfully introduced in Dubbo, with 14 teams participating in the Dubbo PSSA girls’ cricket competition over four weeks.
What better way to celebrate International Women’s Day than kicking off an all-girls Woolworths Cricket Blast program on the Northern Beaches?
Lunchtime Cricket
WHERE: St Joseph’s Primary School Gilgandra
REGION: Far West
WHEN: November/ December 2022
In collaboration with students from Gilgandra High School, Cricket NSW delivered a girls-only pop-up Woolworths Cricket Blast program over four lunchtime sessions for more than 20 girls. The program incorporated fun games and allowed high school students to develop their leadership and communication skills, while assisting with program delivery.
Play Cricket With Hannah Darlington
WHERE: Glebe Public School, Glebe
REGION: Inner Sydney
WHEN: January 2023
High school students got a first-hand opportunity to train as Woolworths Cricket Blast coordinators.
Cricket NSW launched an after-school program at Glebe Public School, where NSW star player and Australia’s Indigenous Team cricket captain, Hannah Darlington, assisted with the first week. Following their successful Daughters and Dads night, the school was thrilled to have cricket back on campus, with 30 children signing up to play in the afterschool program.
