Introduction to Copley Cricket Club.
Copley Cricket Club is a Yorkshire Cricket Board (“YCB”) Focus Club – one of only 27 in West Yorkshire and 2 in the Halifax League - and has been awarded Sport England’s Club Mark accreditation. This means that we have met all the necessary criteria as to; playing programme, coaching, child protection, sports equity, ethics, club management and that we continue to provide a high quality and welcoming environment for young people in sport.
In addition to our three senior sides (two play on Saturday and one plays on Sunday in the Halifax Cricket League) we are particularly proud of our thriving junior section. We are a member of the Halifax Junior Cricket League and run teams in the U9’s, U11’s, U12’s, U13’s, U15’s and U17’s age categories. In the 2009 season, our U11’s team won the League’s Collinson Cup competition (for the second time in three years) and our Under 17s team won their League title in both 2007 and 2008. We have around 100 junior members, of all abilities, with ages ranging between 7 and 17. We are very pleased to have a number of very keen girl members and would hope to increase girl membership. We now have more qualified ECB coaches working with these youngsters than ever before (8 level 2 coaches and 6 level 1 coaches), and we also now have two female coaches.
Copley Cricket Club is a Yorkshire Cricket Board (“YCB”) Focus Club – one of only 27 in West Yorkshire and 2 in the Halifax League -
In addition to our three senior sides (two play on Saturday and one plays on Sunday in the Halifax Cricket League) we are particularly proud of our thriving junior section. We are a member of the Halifax Junior Cricket League and run teams in the U9’s, U11’s, U12’s, U13’s, U15’s and U17’s age categories. In the 2009 season, our U11’s team won the League’s Collinson Cup competition (for the second time in three years) and our Under 17s team won their League title in both 2007 and 2008. We have around 100 junior members, of all abilities, with ages ranging between 7 and 17. We are very pleased to have a number of very keen girl members and would hope to increase girl membership. We now have more qualified ECB coaches working with these youngsters than ever before (8 level 2 coaches and 6 level 1 coaches), and we also now have two female coaches.
The Club enjoys an excellent site for playing and watching cricket in an extremely picturesque setting. There are now good quality seats surrounding the playing surface which makes the ground ideal for the staging of “cricket festivals” and “major games”. For many years Copley has been one of a limited number of Halifax League clubs to be able to stage major cup finals – and in 2008 hosted the most well attended Parish Cup Final in the history of the Halifax Cricket League.
Aims and objectives
Our aim is to continue to be one of the leading cricket clubs in Calderdale but, at the same time, to maintain our long standing reputation as a friendly, family orientated club. The development of our juniors, and indeed Junior Cricket in general, continues to be a top priority and is an integral part of the Club’s Mission Statement.
Current initiatives
As far as the Junior Section is concerned, for 2010 we have taken the decision to form two Under 13s teams; one in the Halifax Junior Cricket League and the other in the Bradford Junior Cricket League. This will create more opportunity for junior members in this key age category to play in a competitive environment.
Since the end of last season we have also signed a new Partnership Agreement with Hipperholme & Lightcliffe Sports College and a growing number of local school partners. This incorporates the English Cricket Board’s (“ECB”) “Chance to Shine” initiative that the Club has entered into alongside Blackley Cricket Club, the Yorkshire Cricket Board (“YCB”) and Calderdale’s two Sports Colleges, Hipperholme & Lightcliffe and Brooksbank. This is another important initiative for the Club and will see our own coaches working alongside a newly appointed Community Coach within our partner schools (primarily years 5, 6 and 7) over the next 3 years.