CL PARTICIPATION UPDATE (2021 TO-DATE)

With the 2021 club cricket season now in full flight across the province, it is useful to review our registered playing numbers (as a proxy for participation) at club level this year to-date.

Some quick highlight points as follows:

• There are 46 clubs with teams participating in one or more CL competitions.

• The total registered player base now stands at 4,563 which is growth of 57% over 2020.

• The largest club in the province (in terms of playing numbers) is Pembroke CC which now has exactly 300 players registered with CL (see top 10 below)

• There are now 824 female players registered across 30 clubs versus 407 players across 19 clubs last year (with many of the clubs having registered female players for the first time).

• The six midland clubs (Athlone, Bagenalstown, Carlow, Laois, Kilkenny and Mullingar) identified for specific development support have, in aggregate, doubled their registered playing numbers to 428 in 2021 and expanded their offering to include youth and, in some cases, female teams.

• There are 62 players registered to play in CL competitions from clubs affiliated to other Provincial Unions.

• 2,014 youth players have registered this season which is 146% up on 2020 (the first year of youth registration).

• There are 607 under 9s registered across 32 clubs, most of whom are first-time cricketers.

• CL development staff have so far delivered over 1,700 youth starter packs with more being distributed this week in response to the unprecedented demand.

Whilst these growth numbers are hugely encouraging, a key challenge for all parties (clubs, committees, staff etc) will be to determine how best to organise our multiplicity of activities, competitions and events in the future to ensure optimised, equitable and fair use of the available facilities for all.

This is a key factor in ensuring that we can sustain and further develop participation (and enjoyment) rates at club level on a year-by-year basis.

In overall terms, the top 10 clubs (in terms of registered playing numbers) are as follows:

Whilst the clubs referenced above are the largest clubs, it is worth noting where some of the most impressive growth stories are occurring including:

We expect to receive delivery of our competition medals order from MMI this week – so one final statistic is that 1,184 medals will be presented across all CL competitions (open, women’s and youth) between now and the middle of September – plenty to play for in addition to the enjoyment of it all.

So still time to register if you haven’t already - www.cricketleinster.ie/news/registration-for-the-2021-season