The Surrey Cricket Foundation are a charity responsible for the recreational game across the county. They work with schools, clubs and communities to grow the sport at a grassroots level. Find out more about the work that they do below.
Schools
In 2023, the Surrey Cricket Foundation (SCF) primary schools programme will provide over 3000 hours of free cricket coaching to around 150 schools across Surrey and southeast London.
In 2021/22 this coaching allowed nearly 22,000 children to receive cricket coaching at their school, with half of these getting regular sessions each week across a school term. For many children, this coaching is their first taste of cricket allowing them to try their hand at a totally new sport! SCF coaches also work closely with the schoolteachers in order to upskill them and improve their confidence when coaching cricket in order to allow them to continue cricket sessions once the coaches have left.
Over the summer months there are around 50 primary school competitions: for Year 5 pupils, Year 6 pupils and girls only. These are a great entry point for the children to take part in competitive cricket and are a highlight of the Foundation’s and the school’s calendars. These competitions culminate in a county final, where the best 18 teams from around Surrey and southeast London compete to be crowned champions of Surrey. In 2022, over 400 primary school teams took part in these events, with even more expected to be involved in 2023.
Throughout all these cricket experiences, SCF work to signpost children to the next step on their cricket journey. Often this involves encouraging children to join their local cricket club, or to take part in the ECB’s national programmes – All Stars and Dynamos.
The opportunity to offer this coaching to schools is often priceless, as it not only gives children the chance to learn a new skill but also helps to teach valuable life lessons through the power of cricket. A teacher at a recent Chance to Shine school commented that the sessions “encouraged children to be resilient when not succeeding” and “increased their confidence and desire to try new games”.
Communities
The Foundation have been doing some incredible work connecting with local communities across south London. They run several exciting programmes that look to bring young people to The Kia Oval to experience the game and all that it has to offer. The very successful Vauxhall Loop programme has engaged hundreds of young people from local schools where they were able to spend time at the ground, explore the local community and take part in other activities including DJ’ing, beekeeping, and cooking.
SCF have supported several programmes around south London that work closely with local refugee communities that provide cricketing and personal development opportunities. These vital programmes are a crucial way to help those who have arrived in this country in real need of support to begin to feel comfortable and to connect with their local communities through cricket.
A team organised by SCF will be representing team England in the Street Child United programme. The programme aims to provide opportunities for more local young people to play cricket, participate in personal development workshops and work experience – this will culminate in a trip to India for eight young people to compete in the 2023 Street Child Cricket World Cup and Arts festival.
SCF work in partnership with Chance to Shine to help bring weekly Street cricket sessions to disadvantaged areas and those that have limited opportunities to play cricket. By offering children and young people aged eight to twenty-four consistent organised activity, the sessions aim to develop them as individuals through playing sport. By broadening their horizons and showing them relatable role models within the sport, they too can dream of following in their footsteps.
There are 19 Chance to Shine Street projects across South London that run in disadvantaged communities all year round. These are comprised of 16 Youth Programmes (up to the age of 16), two of which are Girls Only & three Young Adult Programmes (16-24 years old).
Women & Girls
The Women and Girls’ game is one of the fastest growing areas of cricket within the UK. The Surrey Cricket Foundation provide a huge amount of support to the Women and Girls’ game across the county with the programme expanding every year, now being recognised as the leading county in this area. Opportunities include girls-only leagues and festivals, secondary school programmes, female-coach education sessions and volunteer support. Working alongside the Club Support Officers, the delivery team help to enhance and engage with communities and clubs across the network.
Clubs
Clubs are the heartbeat of the game and in Surrey we have over 200 clubs of all shapes and sizes providing great experiences to players of all abilities, ages, genders, and ethnicities. Clubs play a vital role for the sport and SCF have a team of dedicated Club Support Officers who work with our clubs to provide advice, guidance, and support.
There are a range of initiatives and programmes designed to help clubs achieve the ambitions they set out in their development plans. This includes providing access to training courses for coaches, officials and grounds people, funding support to deliver capital and revenue projects and advice on how to develop and grow specific areas of the game such as junior cricket, disability cricket and cricket for girls and/or women. SCF also help deliver the Surrey Junior Cricket Championship, the largest cricket league in the country, which provided cricket to over 17,000 young people alone in 2022, facilitating what is a growing game in Surrey.
Disability Cricket
Surrey Cricket Foundation is committed to providing opportunities for people with any Disability to enjoy the physical and social benefits of playing cricket. For some, this can involve playing competitively for one of the County Representative Teams in Pan Disability or VI Cricket. Surrey teams have enjoyed success over the last few years, reflected in several players from both formats representing the respective England teams.
Broader programmes, supported by Lord’s Taverners and the Foundation’s sponsors First Sentier Investors, allow them to deliver specialist clubs across South London and rural Surrey. SCF deliver nine weekly Super 1’s Hubs, targeting people between the ages of nine and twenty-five, providing the chance to be physically active and socialise with other young people with similar challenges. Moreover, they strive to improve participants’ quality of life and life chances through delivering workshops including Healthy Eating, Safe Travel, Employability and Mental Health Awareness.
This year SCF have piloted a Disability version of Young Leaders in Cricket programme along with VI All Stars and Dynamos sessions and are currently working with the ECB and Valley End Rascals to develop a structure and format of the game for players who are wheelchair users.
