Cullompton launches Cricket Academy

Cullompton Cricket Club is to launch a junior Academy which will run for ten weeks through until the outdoor season gets underway. The concept comes from the Landspeed Meadow club’s committee room which is these days the home to a progressive group of individuals under the leadership of new chairman Richard Stevenson. After a number of disappointing recent seasons, on and off the pitch, the club is now committed to looking forward and not dwelling on the recent past.

The Junior Academy is to be run from the Culm Valley Sports Centre every Friday night from 6pm to 7pm starting on February 6. The sessions will be taken by coaches Trevor Skinner and Malcolm Pavia and Cullompton chairman Stevenson is very excited about the scheme saying:

“As a committee we recognise that much of the recent down-turn at the club is due to the lack of an effective production line of young cricketers and we hope that the introduction of an Academy will ultimately lead a conveyor belt of cricketers coming through into the senior XIs.”

Stevenson continues:

“We are looking to attract all sorts of cricketing abilities from those who have played the game and therefore understand the basics to those youngsters who have never picked a bat up or bowled a ball and would like to try the sport.”

The Academy is aimed at boys and girls from the age of 9 to 14 and behind the scenes the club have been very active in raising finds to finance the purchase of two outdoor nets and the complete revamp of the clubs all weather strip.

Already a number of major sponsorships have been sealed, with Exeter based company Devon Waste Management and the local council providing considerable funding.

Stevenson says:

“The sponsorships we have attracted are going to allow us to provide some excellent facilities at the ground and we look forward to restoring the club to its former standing in the cricketing world whilst also of course looking to take youngsters in the Culm Valley on a cricketing journey with us. Ideally we’ll introduce youngsters to the sport through the Academy; they’ll enjoy the experience, and stay with us over the years ahead.”