Waringstown CC - Excellence through Participation

Who We Are

Waringstown Cricket Club, with a proud history and six All-Ireland trophies to its name, has long been a hub for cricket excellence and community engagement. Over recent years, we have focused on building strong foundations for youth and women's cricket. In 2024, our Women's 1XI won the Premier League, Challenge Cup and were runners up in the All-Ireland Final.

However, we are ready to take the next step. With the growing interest in cricket among local schools and the success of our free U13 girls’ sessions, we now aim to formalize our efforts by entering dedicated teams into formal leagues and driving participation levels through structured programmes.

Why This Project Matters

At Waringstown, we believe cricket is more than a game—it is a vehicle for developing teamwork, confidence, and resilience. Yet, we recognize that cricket remains underrepresented among girls and young women in our community. This project seeks to change that by bridging the gap between schools and our club, creating a pathway for participation at every level.

Through this initiative, we will:

• Formalize Competitive Opportunities: Enter youth Girls’ teams into formal NCU competitions for the first time, ensuring clear development pathways.
• Drive School Engagement: Deliver morning cricket sessions in secondary schools and afterschool clubs in primary schools, focusing on introducing cricket to girls who may not otherwise have access.
• Build Long-Term Participation: Offer girls-only school outreach programmes to encourage more young players to join the club and sustain our future growth.

Our Project

To build on our current successes and create meaningful opportunities for women and girls, we are launching a multi-faceted programme aimed at expanding our reach and supporting players at all levels.

• Morning Cricket Sessions in Schools: These sessions will focus on secondary schools, introducing cricket as part of their curriculum and encouraging participation in both school and club cricket.
• Afterschool Clubs in Primary Schools: Running 8–10 weeks of cricket coaching at primary schools will help children develop basic skills while fostering a love for the game.
• Girls-Only Outreach Programmes: These initiatives will provide a safe, encouraging environment for girls to try cricket, helping overcome barriers to participation.
• Equipment - Tennis Balls: We will purchase essential equipment in the form of tennis balls to support the various sessions.
• Batting Cage: Purchasing a batting cage for the club to support the planned increase in registrations, to ensure a quality product for our participants.

How You Can Help

With your support, Waringstown Cricket Club will:

• Formalize competitive teams for girls, creating the first pathway of its kind in our history.
• Provide accessible cricket opportunities for over 150 young players in schools and at the club.
• Inspire the next generation of female cricketers and volunteers, building a strong, inclusive community around the game.

This project will not only help Waringstown Cricket Club grow but will also ensure that cricket becomes an accessible and enjoyable sport for everyone in our local area. Thank you for considering supporting this initiative to make cricket a game for all.

Budget

200 hours in Primary Schools x £25 per hour = £5000

100 hours in Secondary Schools x £25 per hour = £2500

Batting Cage to Support in club coaching = £2400

100 Tennis Balls = £100

Project Timeline

Graeme Hunter and Emma McMurray will deliver our Primary and Secondary schools outreach coaching. We intend to start the project in January(School term 2) where it will run for the entirety of the  term(12 weeks - Finishing end of March) and will then after the project is complete, it will lead into our own programmes in the summer. Over our 12 week delivery period in the school term, we hope to enable more people to take part in sport and physical activity as well as joining our club long-term.

We are making new relationships with a variety of schools to try and widen our reach and enable more cricketing opportunities to be given to all members of the community. We will be running our afterschool clubs in the primary schools and delivering morning cricket before school starts in the secondary schools. These schools include:

Secondary: Newbridge Intergrated - Killocomaine JHS - Dromore - Lurgan JHS 

Primary: Waringstown - Moira - Rowandale - Bleary - Edenderry - Tandragee - St Patricks