The benefits of bringing Woolworths Cricket Blast into schoolyards and creating great connections between schools and local clubs are growing with more students joining in this summer.
Spring Mountain State School south-west of Brisbane is just one great example of a schoolyard Woolworths Blast program that has created tremendous excitement while introducing kids to the fundamentals of cricket.
Eighty-three Spring Mountain State School students signed up for the eight-week Junior Blaster program which involved seven Cricket Blast skills sessions and a fun final week wrap-up featuring an appearance from Brisbane Heat mascot Heater and their school mascot, Monty the Lion.
So successful was the Junior Blaster program that a Master Blaster format has now been adopted by the school with teams playing games on the school oval.
Completing the school-to-club connection, nearby Greenbank Cricket Club is helping with sessions and when students sign up for Master Blaster, they also receive Greenbank Cricket Club attire.
The Spring Mountain State School program was initiated by the Queensland Cricket Program and Participation team and is a great example of how organising and promoting a fun school program can bring new participants to the game and provide schools with another way of keeping kids active.
One Spring Mountain State School parent said: “My child would have never even considered cricket prior to the first time Heater came to Spring Mountain State School. But he brought home a flyer and begged to be allowed to do it with his friends! He cannot wait for next term to actually play Master Blasters!”
Joshua Wardell, a PE teacher at Spring Mountain State School, said: “We can’t thank Queensland Cricket enough for their week-in-week-out progression of cricket skills.”
“My students loved it so much that they were begging me to organise them to come back next term (Term 4), where we now have an exclusive Master Blaster format set up for the school and are now affiliated with Greenbank Cricket Club.”
“The parents are over the moon, every week we had at least 30 parents following their kids around the oval for the whole hour!”
Have you considered creating a Woolworths Cricket Blast Program at your school? There is no better way to unite your school and local community through play.
If you would like to start your own Woolworths Cricket Blast program at your school, reach out to your local cricket manager or email schoolambassador@cricket.com.au for further details and support.