The Sticky Wicket Project

YCCC have joined a partnership with Hipperholme and Lightcliffe School and Sports College to re-brand their school dining hall with a cricket theme.

Hipperholme and Lightcliffe School and Sports College are a 11-18 mixed comprehensive with a specialist in sport and second specialist in ICT and Maths. The School is oversubscribed annually and is the lead school in Calderdale School Sports Partnership covering half the secondary and primary schools in the area.

Since the School Lunches initiatives on television aiming to improve school dining, Hipperholme catering services has experienced financial difficulties and is now re-branding it's dining area with a cricketing theme in association with Yorkshire County Cricket Club. The re-brand aims to provide children with and encourage them to eat healthy options on-site rather than using off-site fast food stores.

The new catering facilities include the following features:

• Name - 'The Sticky Wicket'
• 4 food bars to ease queuing - Slips, Square Leg, Cover, and Mid Wicket
• Signs, banners, paintings, pictures of players, rules of cricket around walls
• Cricket memorabilia at each station to emphasise the theme
• Special deals on the menus labelled 6s, 4s, singles etc
• Twenty20 coloured staff uniforms
• Catering staff in 2 teams - 'batting side' and 'fielding side'
• Cooks - team captains, catering manager - the Umpire
• 6^th Form bistro - 'The Pavilion'
• New dining area to be built in Summer 2008 where the garden currently is - 'The Gully'
• External eating areas - 'Outfield 1' and 'Outfield 2'
• First and Second sitting - '1^st Innings' and '2^nd Innings'
• Reward schemes for chosing healthy eating including free tickets to watch the cricket + other prizes

Through the use of loyalty and reward schemes, pupils dining in The Sticky Wicket will win the chance to attend Yorkshire County Cricket games, win merchandise and become a Yorkshire Tykes member as well as have the option to train with YCCCs coaches.

The Sticky Wicket was launched on Tuesday 10th June and Deon Kruis, Yorkshire bowler, officially opened the dining hall as well as providing cricket coaching for some of the students.

It is hoped that through this partnership more children will be encouraged to eat healthily and to engage in sport either through participation or through attending games at Headingley Carnegie Cricket Ground. The partnership will also offer opportunities for Hipperholme and Lightcliffe students to gain top class training and create pathways for those showing a keen interest and potential in cricket.

For more information please contact Alison at agiles@yorkshireccc.com.

For more information about Hipperholme and Lightcliffe School and Sports College please visit http://www.hiplight.calderdale.sch.uk/. Sporting facilities include:

• Large sports hall with cricket nets
• Separate gymnasium
• 3rd generation full size floodlit artificial turf pitch
• 20 acres external grounds for sports fields
• Dance studio, climbing wall, fitness suite
• New changing facilities
• Dedicated ICT equipped coach education room
• Community Sports Centre evenings, weekends and holidays with 3 full time staff plus casuals