Yorkshire Cricket Board

Westow Cricket Club is a relatively small village club located between Malton and Stamford Bridge, with one senior team playing in the York Vale League as well as a night team in the Ryedale Beckett League.

Westow have been running junior coaching for around three years, with sessions on a Sunday morning. The majority of those coming along to the junior training before All Stars began were boys and girls between eight and twelve. ‘We were going along just fine’ said Westow junior coach Rob Kellock, ‘but I felt we maybe needed a bit more structure, and to also attract some younger children.’

All Stars Cricket proved to be the solution they were looking for. Westow were first alerted to All Stars at an early stage. Rob personally went to the initial launch at Elland Road, Leeds, where Michael Vaughan was amongst the team presenting. From the very beginning, Rob thought that:

‘All those working on the All Stars project along with the marketing seemed very professional. Despite some minor frustrations over kit, the programme was delivered to Westow seamlessly, with all the payments and contact with the parents done through the website. I think this gave the programme massive credibility and was definitely a key to success.’

Westow set up with all their flags and kit for the first session and were thrilled when it attracted over 20 boys and girls! The general feel around All Stars at Westow was fantastic, with other members of the club, including some of the younger senior team members, coming to help on a regular basis. The parents and children enjoyed the sessions straight away. Westow maintained a core of around the same number of children every week, and didn’t seem to lose any kids along the way. A few dipped in and out according to family commitments, but most were there every week.

Rob said that ‘the Sunday mornings, with 20-odd All Stars at one side of the ground and a further 10-15 older juniors at the other, gave the club a real feel good factor and a confidence that we were really securing a safe future for our club.’

Westow followed the advised session plans but also found some room to grow and adapt. Rob made some plans for the later sessions which focused on the areas that the kids had enjoyed most – which proved a huge success. This approach to the sessions proved popular with all involved. Rob was confident that the All Stars programme would be even bigger and better at Westow in 2018: ‘The group of kids and parents really took to our friendly club and I am certain that the news will have spread amongst the parents and school friends for next year.’

Rob also felt that himself and Westow ‘found the mini-hub meetings in our area, run by Mathew Hurren, really useful. These provided me personally with great contacts about local junior league cricket, which we have now entered an under 11’s team into for the first time as a club!’

Westow have done a great job of setting up and succeeding with their All Stars programme! Rob finished by saying: ‘We will certainly be signing up again, and look forward to even more happy cricketing times on our Sunday mornings!’