Shelburne Cricket Club

Sharing Recipient Stories

2022 Dufferin County Community Grant Recipient
$8,200

Sharing our grant story

We work for the game of Cricket in the Town of Shelburne and in Dufferin County in general to create opportunities for Cricket lovers to come together and grow the game of Cricket in Shelburne and its surrounding areas. We promote diversity and multiculturalism by bringing people together for the love of cricket regardless of their age, gender, or ethnicity. We strive to provide a safe and healthy environment for our youth to play and socialize with like-minded individuals. Our club stands on the basic principles of displaying best behavior, Inspiring success, confidence & discipline.

With the requested funds, we started a local umpiring program. Umpires are needed in this sport to referee the game and make sure that the game is progressed according to rules, on time and with discipline. This program helped us to train residents interested in the game of Cricket to take a crash course. Once trained, we paid them to umpire each game instead of requesting and paying the umpires from the GTA to come. This resulted in individuals earning while enjoying what they love and the money stays and flows in Dufferin County. To start this umpiring program, we needed equipment such as sports cameras to teach and show techniques and to train coaches with the video footage. These funds helped us to secure the needed equipment to make sure this program is a success and is utilized in the coming years as well. By having the said equipment, we elevated the club from recreational level to competitive club level by becoming the first cricket club training its players with the footage and having the option of DRS technology for the House League Final. We also bought cricket kits (playing equipment: Bat, Gloves, Pads, and helmet etc.), which our members can share once it is properly sanitized. Even the basic of cricket equipment is expensive and most of the youth/seniors are not able to afford it.

By elevating our club from recreational to competitive club level, more people registered for the game. From 30 paid members in 2021, we jumped up to more than 70 members. Having a good equipment helped more people develop their skills. With the requested funds, we were able to host more out of town guest/away teams instead of us going to their ground to play. This helped in bringing people to Shelburne and help promoting local businesses and help in local economy.

Having these extra funds also helped us to promote cricket in women. With the funds secured, we hosted the first ever women exhibition game in Shelburne. We were surprised by most women who showed their interest in the game and were able to provide one match day for them. This is something we are looking forward to in the upcoming season. These extra funds also helped us organize several fund-raising events, one of which was the Royal Afternoon Tea. That event was a success and people of Shelburne enjoyed it thoroughly.