Sport England’s much coveted ‘Regional Participant of the Year’ Award was presented to a young cricket player from Stevenage earlier this week.
14 year old Holly Grace has been named East Satellite Club Participant of the Year in recognition of her contribution and outstanding commitment to taking part in community sport and was presented her award by Graham Keen from Sport England.
"Satellite Clubs are a key part of the Sport England strategy in providing community sport opportunities for young people. This is a fantastic celebration and great example of the how a partnership approach between the School and local sport club can create opportunities for young people like Holly to take part and enjoy their sport."
Holly attended the cricket satellite club at Nobel School delivered by Stevenage Cricket Club and Hertfordshire Cricket, which culminated in her joining and captaining the junior Stevenage Club team. Holly won the award for the fantastic progress she has made over the last year at the Satellite Cricket Club. Holly has impressed the coaches and staff with her commitment, enthusiasm and development both on and off the field. Hertfordshire Cricket support the running over 22 satellite clubs in the county and look to build on this for the future.
She also received a prize from England Cricketer Lydia Greenway, who attended courtesy of Chance to Shine, who spoke about her experiences as an international player and the challenges she has overcome. A number of other distinguished guests joined the celebrations including Cllr Sherma Batson, the Mayor of Stevenage.
These extensions of community sports clubs can offer a different sporting experience for young people, and by 2017, every secondary school in England will have been offered a satellite community sports club on its site. Satellite clubs are delivered by community sports clubs supported by the network of county sports partnerships, as well as national governing bodies of sport.
Herts Sports Partnership Director, Christine Neyndorff said:
“I’m delighted that Holly Grace has been recognised for her outstanding commitment and achievement in sport. Satellite clubs offer so much for young people from helping them to start and continue to play sport and lead active lifestyles to boosting skills such as teamwork and confidence. I hope Holly continues to be an ambassador for the sport in her community.”
Hertfordshire Cricket Development Manager, Ben Wallis said:
"Holly, and what she has achieved, is a prime example of development of the satellite club programme, and what it is there to achieve. The commitment of all the partners in project has been fantastic. Through the support from both the Cricket Foundation's Chance to Shine programme and Sport England we hope that the satellite club programme will grow and grow to support the development of cricket across both schools and clubs."
Holly is one of over 130,000 young people who have attended more than 3,000 satellite clubs across England since 2012.