NatWest OSCAs - nominees 2006 - Building Partnerships - Volunteers in Cricket - Volunteers - Development

NatWest OSCAs - nominees 2006 - Building Partnerships

Gary Pike won the Osca in the Building Partnerships category - the full nominees list for the 2006 OSCAs are was follows:

John Askew

John is Chairman of Massey Ferguson CC and Coventry District Cricket Board. He runs Massey's youth section single-handedly and is a dedicated member of Coventry's Voluntary Services Group.

John is a brilliant networker who pulls people together to realise common goals. He works with clubs, the Board, community groups, the local authority and schools to bring more and better cricket to kids in Coventry. What separates John even more is his commitment to working in tough inner city areas: he brings cricket to areas others fear to tread.

He will not let any economic, financial or social barriers get in the way of children's cricket. As Chairman of the Coventry Board he has united a number of different clubs and people in his vision of bringing cricket to all types of young people in the City.

Chris Johnson

Chris has been key to establishing and maintaining flourishing links between Old Knebworth CC, which runs six league teams on a Saturday and a 220-strong colts section, and bodies such as Stevenage Borough Council, North Hertfordshire District Council, local schools, Hertfordshire County Cricket Association and local rivals, Stevenage Cricket Club.

He has run schemes in 12 primary and secondary schools for each of the past three years, with coaches holding classes each week throughout the summer term. The object has been to get cricket back on to the school agenda and to introduce children from less privileged backgrounds to cricket.

Around 300 sessions have been run, reaching 1000 children, more than 50 of whom have joined the club, while many have joined other clubs. Chris has had a major impact on the wider local community and schools, whilst bringing young people the benefits of cricket and its standards for life.

Gary Pike

In partnership with the Sefton Leisure Services, Gary created the first ever Junior Indoor Winter League on Merseyside, which he christened ‘Winter Wickets’ and involved nine clubs from the borough. This was a huge success and a huge inspiration in the development of cricket in the area.

Club/school partnerships have been formed up with 13 Primary and Secondary Schools and these schools have received coaching from club coaches and this has been instrumental in giving local youngsters all from deprived backgrounds the opportunity to play cricket.

He has set up schemes involving the local community/volunteer groups who helped with the costs towards the training of coaches and has made sure that coaches and volunteers have the opportunity to attend workshops to aid their development. Gary has recently formed a partnership with Liverpool University which allows the Sport Graduates to gain work experience by working alongside these coaches.