An exciting new development for cricket in the central area has occurred in late 2008. The Stirling County Community Cricket Trust (SCCCT) has been set up to assist in the delivery of cricket within the Stirling council area.

The SCCCT have a large number of aims which they are trying to achieve, and are working alongside SportCentral and Active Stirling in order to try and achieve these aims. They include:

·         Increasing the number of children able to participate in cricket

·         Assisting schools in the provision of cricket throughout the Stirling area

·         Promoting the development of fitness, health, social tolerance, inclusion and team work

·         Supporting local coaches to develop their ability to deliver quality coaching support in the community

·         Assisting in creating a link between primary schools and their local cricket club

As a result of input from the SCCCT, there are a series of cricket sessions starting in Primary Schools in the Stirling area from January 2009. Each school will receive at least 6 weeks worth of cricket classes, either during curriculum time or in an after school club. A total of 33 schools will take part in sessions within the next 5 months.

Leading on from the Primary School sessions, there will be Community Clubs beginning in some of the clusters, and these clubs will bring together children from different Primary Schools into the same environment, and will aim to develop the children’s cricket skills further. They will also aim to create a link between the Primary Schools and the local cricket clubs, as the Community Clubs will be run by SportCentral coaches with assistance from local club coaches.

The coaching team in place to deliver these sessions will be headed by Gordon Allan, SportCentral Cricket Coach and UKCC level 2 qualified coach, and his coaching team will include:

·         Chris Morton – Cricket Scotland 2^nd year SVQ

·         Craig Matthew – St Modans Cricket Club Professional

·         Keith Gibson – Active Stirling Coach

·         Tony Philips – McLaren Cricket Club

The SCCCT will work alongside Active Stirling to help develop these coaches through a coach development program aimed at supporting coaches and increasing  their ability to deliver quality coaching.

This is the first year of the program, and the SCCCT hope to be involved in many years to come in developing cricket in the Stirling area.