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Extra-curricular activities

Find advice on the best extra curricular activities in secondary schools and primary schools here.

All-stars cricket

9 replies

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 29/02/2020 22:10

Have any of your DC done this? I think DD will enjoy it, but she's a bit unsure. I would love to know what you thought of it.

(Also looking at Dynamos cricket for 9yo DD but I know that's new this year).

OP posts:
bloated1977 · 29/02/2020 22:17

It's good but be prepared to join in as a parent!

SunInTheSkyYouKnowHowIFeel · 29/02/2020 22:43

My son took part last year aged 6 and LOVED it. I say this as a parent of a child who often grumbles about activities and hates trying things out especially for the first couple of weeks. With All Stars I was shocked, he ran off straight away and joined in fine, and has been asking when it starts again this year for ages (obvs have signed him up again!).

An earlier poster mentioned parental participation; at the club we chose there were 90 children signed up to All Stars and they had loads of coaches or older teenagers helping out so no parental help or involvement was needed (although if you wanted to join in and help you could have done - most didnt as preferred watching from a deckchair with a glass of wine) HOWEVER I know another local All Stars club did have a lot more parental involvement where you needed to join in. So my advice would be ask the club you are thinking of and perhaps join a bigger club which has more support if you can.

I'm really pleased there is now a follow on to All Stars called Dynamos which caters for 8+ as I think this will work really well to keep up the sport. .

What I liked about All Stars was that firstly the price, £40 and you get 8 sessions (if it rains and gets called off they organised a catch up session) plus all the kit - a personalised t shirt, ball, bat, bag, cap, rucksack, activity booklet which my child was really excited to receive and made them feel like part of the gang when they turned up for the first session. Then also the club we chose was super welcoming and friendly, the activities they did were suited to all abilities and aimed at being fun and varied, and has given my child a real interest in cricket precisly because it was fun and welcoming.

I'd really recommend it, as im sure you can tell from my post! As well its such good value for money that even if your child didnt enjoy it its only 8 weeks and not too expensive, plus they get all the kit. And if your older one can take part too then thats really nice, plus hopefully your club has a bar and you can relax in the sunshine and watch with a drink?!

The one thing I would say is if you sign up, try to do it at least 3-4 weeks before the first session starts as it took us about 2 weeks to get the kit (they say 10 days I think) and it only just arrived before the session started, so leave plenty of time for that. I've seen other reviews online mentioning the kit taking a while so worth knowing as everyone wears it and your child might feel a bit put out if they go along to the first session and dont have all the gear with them.

If you have any other questions just ask and I will try and answer

Pascha · 29/02/2020 22:46

Ds2 did All Stars last year and he loved it. He really wants to do it again this year so I will sign him up. I did help a bit but they mostly had teens along to help.

Neighneigh · 29/02/2020 22:53

My eldest discovered cricket last spring & it's the only sport he has taken to. It's a great team sport, our club never singles anyone out (I don't like this whole 'player of the week' thing), instead they all get praised in what they've achieved. Our youngest will do All Stars and I'm actually going on a coaching course to help out. For an un-sporty family that's pretty good!

pippitypoppitypoo · 29/02/2020 23:07

DD did it last year when she was 5YO. She enjoyed it more than she thought she would- she had to be strongly encouraged to try it out! As you'd expect there weren't many girls which made her a bit shy to join it at first but it was pretty inclusive. She was also the youngest by quite a bit (most were around 7YO at our club) so some bits of her game were quite a way behind others.The ppl running it were fab and helped make her feel part of it and not get disillusioned. She will be doing it again this summer aged 6YO and a year has made a big difference to how well co-ordinated she is. So I'm thinking her batting and catching will be much improved and hopefully this will help her with both her confidence and enjoyment.

justcleanyourbloodyteeth · 29/02/2020 23:23

I thought All Stars was fantastic value for money. My elder DS joined the club that hosted our AS's sessions once he'd finished the course, and absolutely adores the game. My younger one wasn't quite as into it but it was a good introduction and he's now started team training too.
At ours there was no expectation that parents would help out. I also like that it was mixed boys and girls.
I would definitely recommend it!

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 01/03/2020 08:49

Thank you- I will work on persuading DD to give it a try. She wants to play rugby, has tried ski cross (and is working towards the downhill racing team at her ski club), leaps of tall structures without warning... But thinks cricket looks too dangerous.

OP posts:
wendz86 · 07/03/2020 10:13

My daughter did it a couple of years ago but got bored after a few weeks . She was one of only a few girls too and they were quite keen to get her involved but it just wasn’t for her . She is sporty but more of a dance / gymnast girl .

Michaelbaubles · 07/03/2020 10:15

DS did it last year and enjoyed it - he isn’t sporty and doesn’t like team sports so this is good! DD was gutted she hadn’t been signed up when we got there - there were loads of girls. So this year I’ve booked them both on. DD also does a similar thing called Hockey Heroes that she loves. It is good value for money too.

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