Commonwealth Games & Community Sport for All

Aim

Betley CC is celebrating its 175th anniversary. In doing so, we want to provide a legacy of sport in the community for years to come.

Help Betley CC celebrate 175 years of cricket in the community, and bounce back from COVID-19...

The last few years have seen Betley CC provide cricket for a wide range of adults and juniors in the local community, against a backdrop of COVID-19.  We pride ourselves in a being a diverse and inclusive cricket club and an active part of the local community. This includes rural Staffordshire and the inner city regeneration areas of Stoke, Crewe, Burslem and Silverdale. Our junior teams comprise both girls and boys of all ages and abilities with junior training being led by Warren Mellor and have had the pleasure of hosting the Staffordshire Disability Team and Porthill Park CC Girls team matches.  

The club has become an integral part of supporting well being in the community, be it with Cricket, outdoor events, Football, Croquet and school sports days.

The last few years have been difficult for small community sports clubs.  BCC has been no different - a lack of players have seen our senior sides drop from 3 to 2 a few years ago, and our junior teams have been lacking for a number of years.

The Club During COVID-19

Then COVID hit - and we lost further income and sport throughout 2020 - with 50% of adult and all junior competitions cancelled.  During this time, under the previous Chairman and Secretary, the club built strong foundations in terms of senior players (25) and juniors (50) via our All-Stars and Dynamo's. We have also rented the ground out to larger local clubs for Junior matches and hosted numerous Staffordshire Disability matches.

In 2021 the club became a mainstay in supporting the community and players through the mental health challenges of COVID 19.  The ground regularly saw 150 people on a Friday evening for junior nights and Saturday and Sunday cricket was well supported.  Our sponsors kindly donated a Marquee for a period of time allowing us to remain operating.

However, the constant flux of COVID rules meant that we were unable to plan our usual fundraising events - including annual Gin & Beer festivals, Football nights and Comedy Nights - we also had to strip back our Friday Community nights as we could not risk these being cancelled. As a result, we became heavily reliant on COVID grants and our financial reserves to stay afloat.

2022 Events & Commonwealth Games - Looking forward

As we head into the 2022 Season, we return to 3 adult sides and start building competitive junior cricket into the sporting calendar. We also plan to extend our Community Outreach into the regeneration areas of Crewe, Stoke, Burslem, Silverdale and through North Staffordshire.  

#thebetleyway - is our ethos in terms of social inclusion, combating mental health, increasing sports activities and building back community engagements - is now key as we enter a third summer living with COVID.

The Commonwealth Games gives a new focus to promoting sport and well being to our local community - and in particular our juniors. The local Primary Schools provides many of our younger players in All-Stars and Dynamo's and this 175 Project gives us an opportunity to repay the school with enhanced sports day, track and field opportunities plus a number of soft ball cricket events.

Beyond the younger members, these events bring together the community in celebration of sport, the club and the Jubilee - allowing people to get together and enjoy the facilities in a way that has not been possible in the past 2 years.

What is Required?

This project will fund:

• A dedicated outside seating area for spectators to watch all ages of cricket and support the school sports days and junior sports events
• This area can be used for sports / fitness training - further extending our community sporting hub
• 8 new picnic tables and parasols - available for the whole community to use
• Outdoor BBQ and Bar area
• New Junior Cricket Equipment
• New Athletics Equipment for Primary School ages
• Ground improvements - Levelling off of areas of the ground to support improved sports
• An increase of Friday night cricket evenings from 8 to 14.
• A new Fixed Cricket cage free to use for the community.
• Increased usability of our mobile training cage for grass wicket practice.

More about our club can be found at our website.

What is the Benefit?

This project will benefit the local community by:

1. Increasing the volume of juniors and young adults playing sports (from 50 to 90 per week over the next 3 years). 

2. Increase the ability to provide social inclusion and well being to the rural and elderly community.

3. Improve the local community by providing additional outdoor fitness areas.

4. Provide Track and Field activities to multiple primary schools in the area.

5. Increase our senior membership from 30 to 45.

6. Increase the number of senior cricket matches played from 30 to 55 per season.

7. Offer financial bursaries to families / individuals who are not playing sport due to financial hardship.

Main Capital Project Work:

Two major capital projects are:

Replacing the current worn out fixed & mobile practice cages and replace the mobile cage netting and anti-vermin protection.

Replacing the waste land with a purpose built 90sqm multipurpose astro area for entertainment, outdoor classroom and fitness training space.

Plans for the Future

BCC has a 6-step plan for the future of the club, for the benefit of the players, irrespective of age, social members and the wider community.

These are:

• One - Secure Cricket for the near future  - we have invested heavily in new ground equipment, sight screens, covers, boundary rope and internal redecoration.  We have also attracted new players to the club to ensure a return to 3 adult sides.
• Two - Improve Outside Space for the Club, celebrate the 2022 sporting year, Queen's Jubilee and  Commonwealth Games
• Three - Improve our Energy Efficiency and Green Agenda
• Four - Develop the Clubhouse
• Five - Build Permanent long term outside function space
• Six - Return to full Juniors and 4 adult senior teams.

This project successfully funded on 30th March 2022