More than 300 children attend first schools day of 2015
29 May 2015
More than 300 schoolchildren were given a chance to watch their heroes for free as part of the first Gloucestershire Cricket schools day of 2015.
Pupils from eight primary schools attended the third day of the LV County Championship match against Kent where they also took part in a range of cricketing activities.
The children tested their skills in a series of coaching sessions, conducted a question and answer session with Glos fast bowler James Fuller and filled in a workbook full of cricket-related tasks.
All 300 also took part in a skills session on the outfield during the lunch interval and met the club’s new mascot – Alfred the Gorilla.
Gloucestershire Cricket chief executive Will Brown said: “It was fantastic to see so many schoolchildren at the match with Kent. We hope that these days will encourage them to develop a lifelong love of the game and of Gloucestershire.”
Seamer James Fuller, who grew up in New Zealand, added: “I went to watch some of the Black Caps games against Australia when I was younger and that really inspired me to think that playing cricket was something I wanted to make a career out of.
“A lot of the kids here said that they wanted to be professional cricketers and It would be great if they came down to support us and we can be that inspiration for them.”
The event – which was run by Gloucestershire Cricket and the Gloucestershire Cricket Board (GCB) – is sponsored by the GCB’s education partners Mezzé Restaurants and Chance to Shine. It was the first of four this season - two at the Bristol County Ground and two at the Brewin Dolphin Cheltenham Festival.
The schools who attended on May 20 included St Michaels on the Mount, Meadowbrook Primary, Brentry Primary, St Nicholas of Tolentine, Westbury on Trym, St Mary’s (Bradley Stoke), Hannah More Primary, St Michael on the Mount, Tutshill Primary and Trinity Primary.
Some of these are among the 200 schools that are visited by GCB coaches each year – resulting in around 10,000 pupils receiving coaching.
GCB projects and programmes officer Lisa Pagett, who coordinated the day said: “The schools days are aimed at inspiring children to play and watch cricket more often.
“The majority of children here have received coaching in schools through the GCB and we hope that by giving them the chance to see the Gloucestershire first team in action it will bring cricket to life for them and get them excited about the game.”
One school who has received coaching through the GCB and was present on the day was St Michaels on the Mount primary.
PE Coordinator and Year 4 teacher Lauren Woods said: “The children have all loved it and when I asked them about coming to watch a match they all jumped at it.
“The main reason I wanted to bring them was that none of them had been to a cricket match before. They all love playing it and we are about to do a kwik cricket competition but I really wanted them to see an actual match first. They have all loved it and hopefully they will come back and watch Gloucestershire again.”
The schools days were supported by Gloucestershire’s Cricketeers – volunteers who help out at T20 Blast matches and major events.
The other Gloucestershire Cricket schools days take place on June 23 at the Bristol County Ground and on July 9 and 15 at the Brewin Dolphin Cheltenham Festival.
