The Yorkshire Cricket Foundation and Yorkshire County Cricket Club work closely with the Leeds City Council Youth Services and Out of School Activities teams to ensure increased participation in cricket in Leeds.

Case Study: Royal Park MUGA programme

Yorkshire Cricket Foundation, YCCC, Leeds City Council Youth Services and Positive Futures run cricket skills sessions in the Royal Park area of Leeds, within half a mile of Headingley Carnegie Cricket Ground. The programme, run on Thursday evenings between 6.30-8.30pm, targets boys and girls from Burley Park area, specifically young Asian people, in an area of social deprivation.

Around 20 children have regularly taken part in the activities involving cricket skills and attendance by the Youth Service Mobile Van which helps deliver key messages about healthy eating, drugs, knife crime, contraception and sexual health etc. These subjects are often seen as ‘taboo’ within Asian communities and due to a lack of education, this can often lead to problems for youngsters.

Yorkshire players Jacques Rudolph and Jonny Bairstow attended the sessions last year and were impressed with the work being carried out in the area and how it has helped engage young Asian youths.

Case Study: Cricket and Film Project

Yorkshire Cricket Foundation, Leeds City Council’s Youth Service, and the national Positive Futures programme, held a programme from Weds 18^th – Friday 20^th August at Headingley Carnegie Cricket Ground to provide 15 young people in the Burley and Hyde Park areas with an insight into the life of a professional cricketer and sports journalism.

The workshop, was provided free of charge and targeted boys and girls aged 12 and over. 8 young people completed the programme which included:

• Behind-the-scenes tour of the famous Headingley Carnegie Cricket Ground
• Coaching by professional Yorkshire coaches in the YCCC Indoor Cricket Centre
• Sports journalism training including the opportunity to interview two Yorkshire players using high-definition cameras and the latest editing equipment

The final film was shown on the big screen at Headingley before the CB40 Yorkshire Carnegie v Essex Eagles on Saturday 4th September and those involved were invited to attend free of charge.

The workshop was a celebration event following a successful year-long programme of cricket coaching and related activities held at the Royal Park multi-use games area. Funded by Sport England, the programme has seen young people from the area meet some of Yorkshire’s star players as well as enjoying coaching sessions and matches.

“This free workshop is a fantastic opportunity for young people in Burley and Hyde Park to take part in something money really cannot buy by providing a unique insight into what it takes to be a professional sportsperson. This project has proved a great success and we are delighted with the wonderful support we have had from Yorkshire County Cricket Club to hopefully inspire all those taking part to be active and make the most of their abilities.”

Mark Allman, Head of Sport, Leeds City Council

Case Study: Street Cricket Competition

Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Breeze on Tour launched the first annual

Leeds Street Cricket Tournament in June 2010. The tournament brought together street teams from across the City to compete for the title of Breeze Street Cricket Champions.

Two teams battled it out in the final at Headingley Carnegie Cricket Ground on Saturday 4^th September ahead of the CB40 Yorkshire v Essex match and Andrew Gale, Yorkshire Captain, presented the trophy and medals. 

Case Study: Youth Services Art

On 10^th July, the Alexandra Park Mela took place in Leeds with a variety of activities and cricket coaching. An Urban Arts session was held with a cricket theme and local children worked on an 8ft squared display which was put on show at the Pakistan v Australia Test Match at Headingley Carnegie Cricket Ground.