MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN THE MIDLANDS

One of Cricket Leinster’s strategic objectives is to expand its ‘development’ focus across the province and this has led to the recent recruitment of a full-time Midlands Development Officer which is Bernard O’Mara.

Since March, the Midlands programme has come under the delivery leadership of Bernard which has involved extensive online meetings with clubs, club & school visits and delivery of activities throughout the Carlow, Kilkenny, Laois, and Westmeath areas.

Youth & Schools:

There has been a full series of coaching visits to schools across the region. These visits began in April, delivering to all class groups and sizes. By the end of the school year, there will have been sessions at 14 schools in the region. Cricket Leinster welcomes not only the feedback from teachers, principals but most of all the commitment from the pupils.

There has been a fantastic response from both teachers and students and this is reflected with the increase in youth registrations across the Midlands area, with over 65 more youth players registered to date, an increase of over 350% compared with last season. 

“It is great to be able to offer our pupils a new sport at our school, and it is fantastic to be having cricket delivered to our students over the summer term. There has been a really positive response to it so far, and I feel the kids will continue to have fun playing cricket” said Mary Nicholson, principal of Kilkenny School Project NS. 

Schoolyard sessions where cricket has been delivered to a new audience include:

-Kilcleagh NS Athlone

-St. Mary's NS Bagenalstown

-Queen of the Universe NS Bagenalstown

-Askea Boys NS Carlow

-Scoil Mhuire Carlow

-Kilkenny School Project NS

-Model School Kilkenny

-Cosby NS Strabally

-St. Coleman's NS Stradbally

-Mullingar ETNS

-All Saints Mullingar

-Gainstown NS Mullingar

-Scoil Mhuire Mullingar

-Presentation Mullingar

Coach Education:

One of the focusses of initial contacts with the Midland clubs was in the area of Coach Education. All clubs felt that with the increased activity of training, especially at youth level, that it was important for clubs to have skilled and qualified coaches assisting with sessions.

Cricket Leinster is pleased to be delivering a ‘Welcome to Cricket’ course at Carlow CC in June for local Midland club members to support their coaching journey.

Jimmy Dooley from Carlow CC is delighted to see this course taken place in the region itself:

“I think that by having courses more locally, it gives people an incentive to turn up to them, because they don’t have to travel as far to do them. It is great for our members to become qualified, because when a child comes to cricket, they know they will have fun and they will get better at the game.”

By attending these courses, clubs will have the opportunity to deliver safe and fun sessions for their youth members and improve the standard of cricket in the area. 

Women & Girls:

It is extremely positive to report the establishment of Women’s sections at Athlone, Kilkenny, and Laois Cricket Clubs and the continued growth of the Women’s sections at both Carlow and Mullingar Cricket Clubs.

Plans are underway to have regular fixtures, to give clubs increased structure to their season, and these are a real sign of progress in Midlands cricket of being a sport open to all.

Throughout the summer, there will be an increased focus on providing youth coaching at Midland clubs. Plans are moving forward in the area for summer camps, representative fixtures for Midland youth teams, clubs playing local youth games along with plans to further strengthen women & girls’ cricket.

A considerable amount of the current work is schools based.  However, as in all regions of Leinster, there is a strong focus on providing youth coaching as a bridge to club cricket once the school terms finish so that we harness the interest generated by the schools engagement programme. 

Any queries regarding cricket in the Midlands area please forward to Bernard O’Mara at bernard.omara@cricketleinster.ie

The future is looking exciting for Midland cricket.