Chance to Shine Street brings cricket to thousands of young people in urban areas. It uses the game to increase aspiration, promote social cohesion and create opportunities in diverse communities. There are 211 Chance to Shine Street projects across the country.
It’s a fast-paced version of the game played with a tapeball - a tennis ball wrapped in electrical tape - in small enclosed spaces. With six players per team and 20 balls per innings, it’s cricket’s answer to five-a-side football.
Why do we offer street cricket?
We feel that every child, no matter where they live, should have the opportunity to play cricket. Chance to Shine Street is a counter for a lack of accessible clubs and green spaces in inner-city areas and aims to make cricket accessible to young people throughout the country.
Street cricket offers a different way into the sport, with 86% of players not part of a traditional cricket club when they joined the sessions. Some - around 1 in 10 - do go on to play at a traditional cricket club or enter park-based T20 leagues but for most the Street project becomes their club.
The projects run after-school or at weekends, they are completely free, players don’t need to bring any equipment and can wear whatever they like. The sessions run in sports halls, youth clubs, parks and community centres for two age groups - Youths (eight–16) and Young Adults (16–24) – and in some locations we run female-only sessions.
All participants involved in Chance to Shine Street projects have the opportunity to take part in local competitions against other nearby projects in the school holidays, with the possibility of progressing to regional and then national competitions each year for the Under 15 and Under 12 age groups.
We also run weekly young adult leagues in some towns and cities with opportunities to progress to regional and national competitions for league winners. The chance to compete against others from across the country is something which they relish, and equally as important as testing themselves against the best in the country is the opportunity to make new friends and to visit new places.
FIND OUT MORE AND SIGN UP FOR FREE STREET CRICKET SESSIONS IN BERKSHIRE HERE
