IN THIS ISSuE Glamorgan Gloucestershire Harrogate ... - Cricket Club

Harrogate | St Georges Road
harrogate
st georges road
Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG2 9BP
T: 01423 56130 E: harrogatecc@btconnect.com W: www.harrogatecricketclub.com
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Front entrance
In 2008 a fire ripped
through North
Yorkshire side Harrogate’s
112 year old Pavilion.
Unfortunately the beautiful
old building was a right off
but set in motion plans for a
sparkling new facility at
their St. George’s Road
home.
A club member since
2004, Steve Culleton has
been Harrogate’s Chairman
since 2008 after being
elected to the position.
Cricket Club Magazine
wanted to find out how the
club has responded since
the fire and where it sees
itself in the future. We
spoke to him this month.
Your new facility
promises to be a
fantastic asset to the
club and the area, you
must be excited by the
prospect of the build?
“To a certain extent the fire
caused us to press the pause
button, in terms of our club
development. We were able
to press on successfully with
our Clubmark and Focus
Club applications. However
the ability to plan and budget
has been exceedingly difficult
and will remain so until the
spade goes in the ground
and the first foundations are
laid. Certainly, the prospect
of a shiny new, purpose built
facility is mouth-watering. We
Images courtesy of Flickr Images
Plague
Images courtesy of Flickr Images
Scoreboard
are so grateful to the YCB,
ECB and the Local Authority
for all the help that they
have provided in bringing
these plans to fruition.”
I’d imagine it
will help with your
community club status?
“Geographically we are at
the centre of a very large
community. On a more
practical level, we enjoy
very close links with the
local schools, providing
coaching during and after
school. We work closely
with both YCB and ECB
to spread the cricketing
gospel to all kids regardless
of ability. Being part of the
‘Chance2shine Programme’
and being an accredited
ECB Focus Club we are able
to significantly contribute
to the growth of cricket
within our town already.
We’ve have over 150 youth
members and the highest
number of accredited
coaches in the county. This
is co-ordinated by our
incredibly dedicated Junior
Cricket Chairman Steve
Clark. Our actual coaching
plans are co-ordinated by our
own in house level 3 coach
Andy Hawkswell, who has
brought a new dimension to
the club and taken coaching
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Match
onto the next level.
As of next season we
will be hosting Yorkshire
Ladies County Cricket at
the County Ground. We
are also in the process of
re-establishing our own
ladies side, together with two
or three junior girl’s sides.
We have some very talented
junior female Cricketers.
Charlotte North has crashed
a century for Yorkshire
against Lancashire, earlier
this season and played
competitive league cricket
for both our 3rd Xi and our
development squad. We see
Ladies cricket as becoming
an integral part of our club.”
What are the
biggest challenges the
game faces at your
club and in the local
area over the next 5
years?
“Harrogate recently
hosted the Golden Oldies
International Cricket
Tournament and the entire
Australian contingent
commented on the amount
of cricket played in our area.
The net result is that
ESTATE AGENTS • CHARTERED SURVEYORS • NEW HOMES
LETTINGS & MANAGEMENT • COMMERCIAL PROPERTY CONSULTANTS
PLANNING & LAND •AUCTIONEERS
Paul Baxter (Area Manager) and all of the
Dacres Team are proud to support
Harrogate Cricket Club
Yorkshire’s Finest Property Awards
Double Winners in 2008 and 2009
The Estate Agency of the Year Awards
Gold: Best Medium Size Northern Agency
Bronze: Best UK Medium Size Agency
01423 877200
pdb@dacres.co.uk www.dacres.co.uk
17 Albert Street, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG1 1JX
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The clubhouse
talent is spread very
thinly and very unevenly,
throughout Yorkshire. We
have already seen clubs
having to withdraw sides
from Leagues due to a
lack of interest. There is no
discernable tier system in
club cricket to channel ability
which has resulted in some
prodigious talent not being
spotted and or developed.”
What are the clubs
ambitions for the next 5
years?
“We want to be able to have
committee meetings where
Harrogate | St Georges Road
we are able to talk about
cricket rather than planning
permission and building
regulations! We’d also be
keen to host a ladies test
match and have our top three
sides playing competitive
cricket in the top division
of their respective Leagues.
Finally, we want to encourage
healthy social Sunday
cricket, any clubs who
fancy a day out in Harrogate
should drop us a line.”
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