It was a fun filled and busy summer for cricket all over the Fingal area. Children were playing all forms of cricket – Backyard, street, club matches, tournament, etc.
U 15 Six-a-side Tournament
A very successful day at North County was run with a 6-a-side tournament for the Fingal clubs U 15’s. The day was attended by North County CC, Hills CC & Malahide CC. North County’s under 15’s for the third year came out on top beating their Fingal rival clubs. The players learned the value on hitting the ball in gaps, bowling at the end of innings, backing up in the field.
Under 9 Tournament
The Hills CC was the host for the Fingal under 9 Tournament. There were more than 50 children enjoying a lovely sunny day with lots of parents supporting the children. The picnic baskets and blankets were spread all over the ground with a fantastic family atmosphere. After a brilliant day The Hills CC won the tournament for the 3rd time, all children had a fantastic time. It was great to get all these youngsters playing a tournament after a whole summer of training at their local clubs.
Summer Camps
Over 500 schoolchildren attended a number of summer cricket coaching camps held within Fingal cricket clubs making them the most successful camps run in recent times. The summer camps were run over 4/5 days at different venues within Fingal – Swords CC, Balbriggan CC, North County CC, The Hills CC, Castleknock CC, Ringcommons CC & Malahide CC. The growth of cricket in Fingal was clear to see during the running of these camps with over 100 of these children experiencing club cricket for the first time. All the camps experienced record numbers attending and this is mainly due to the great work that local clubs, Fingal County Council & Cricket Leinster are doing through the 'school visit coaching programme' that has been running for some years now.
I special mention has to go out to Ringcommons CC and Castleknock CC that ran a very successful first ever summer camp. The camps were well organised and ran professionally.
Girl’s u 11 Tournament
For the second year running girls from all over Leinster attended the tournament. It was brilliant to see all the girls turn up at Malahide CC for the tournament. We had clubs from all around Leinster attending (Malahide CC, Phoenix CC, YMCA CC, North County CC & The Hills CC. Over 80 girls showed of their talent and at the end of the day, The Hills CC beat North County CC in an exciting final to become the winners. We will be hosting this tournament every summer to promote cricket for girls and get more girls playing.
Finally special thanks to all Fingal clubs and coaches for all their hard work over the summer.
Reinhardt Strydom
Fingal Development Officer