Yorkshire Cricket Board

Bolton Percy Cricket Club is a well-established village club located near York, North Yorkshire. The club has two senior teams and runs five junior teams, ranging from U9s to U15s (totaling around 70 juniors).

Lesley Atkinson, All Stars Cricket Activator at Bolton Percy, admitted that the club was ‘jumping into the unknown’ when they signed up to the All Stars programme. However, a member within the club had seen Milo Cricket (Australia’s Version of All Stars) and reassured all at Bolton Percy that it would act as a major positive for the club. It didn’t take long for these reassurances to come true! In the first week of registration, Bolton Percy saw 20 sign-ups and this momentum carried on until the club had a massive 52 little All Stars!

Bolton Percy used a combination of e-mail, social media, Yorkshire Cricket Board taster sessions, community promotion (posters in village shops etc.) and word of mouth to promote the programme. Lesley & the team also pushed the programme further internally. They stated that a key driver was word of mouth, proving particularly effective on the school playground! Lesley’s son Tom was also particularly influential in driving sign up numbers through his work on the club’s social media. They also noted that parents were keen to sign their kids up as they saw the All Stars Programme as great value for money!

Alongside the growth in young cricketers Bolton Percy, one of All Stars Cricket's main aims was to further push parental involvement within sessions and to make All Stars Cricket a community event for small villages and towns. All Stars has helped regenerate the community in Bolton Percy, with the local village all coming together for Wednesday nights down at Bolton Percy CC to take part in the programme. Lesley said that:

“It has proved to be a great social gathering for parents; many of whom have formed better links with existing club members. There is a stronger feeling that the club is giving generously to the local community.”

Here’s what some of the parents had to say:

“The programme is great value for money; I can’t believe what they get for £40 – 8 weeks of training, bag, bat, ball etc. It’s fantastic!”

“We’d love the All Stars Cricket Session to go on longer!”

“My children now have grown massively in confidence and that’s all down to All Stars at Bolton Percy CC!”

More members of the club turned out to help as well, as Lesley saw:

“We had more first team involvement than ever before; and all enjoyed it and said it was something they’d like to support more in the future. Many have asked about further ECB Coach Education courses they can attend to coach junior teams.”

It's been a fantastic effort from all down at Bolton Percy! The club has shown that All Stars isn’t just about the Cricket; they have turned Wednesday evenings into a community event with over 50 children participating week in week out! Well done to Lesley, Tom & all involved at Bolton Percy Cricket Club!