Chance to Shine Skills Festival at Darfield Cricket Club

A Chance to Shine Skills Festival recently brought together four local schools for an afternoon of cricket activities at Darfield Cricket Club.

More than 90 children from Upperwood Academy, Outwood Primary Academy, Springvale Primary School and All Saints Academy enjoyed batting, bowling and fielding drills while Little Urn, the Yorkshire Tea van, served brews.

In this feature with Yorkshire Tea, who supported the event for Key Stage 1 children aged 5-7 years, we’ll look at the club and primary schools collaboration and the work of their long-time charity partner, Chance to Shine.

Each skills station was run by young people from Astrea Academy Netherwood who had seen a demonstration by Yorkshire Cricket Foundation’s Children and Young People Development Manager, Sharon Butcher.

Young leaders

At Astrea Academy Netherwood, Sharon set up the carousel of eight-minute activities from Chance to Shine session plans and All Stars drills. It allowed the young leaders to see everything in action and they could then pick which ones to deliver at Darfield Cricket Club.

Chance to Shine, who have helped facilitate cricket and learning for over seven million children and young people in state schools since 2005, also offer free cricket resources for schools.

The Chance to Shine Skills Festival itself in South Yorkshire involved a number of local partners including School Games Organiser, Angie Buckley, after Darfield Cricket Club had hosted successfully in 2025.

Talking about the event, Associate Vice Principal of Outwood Primary Academy Adam Brightmore said: “It was a really good opportunity for those younger children to have some experience of cricket.”

As to the Chance to Shine drills, he noted: “Really quick activities in rotation which I liked. They were well run by the coaches but also had a lot of fundamental movement skills.”

At Outwood Primary Academy, schools festivals such as this ties in nicely with cricket that’s already taught in the curriculum for KS2 pupils. Meanwhile, cogs are turning about what comes next to continue the momentum by tapping into the relationships with local schools, including their secondary school, Netherwood.

Outwood Primary Academy has also been the recipient of Chance to Shine sessions for their Years 3-6, funded and delivered by the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation across half-term.

Cricket back at school and teacher CPD

It’s further touch points with the game as well as giving Continued Professional Development (CPD) to teachers who learn more about cricket and can pass that knowledge on themselves.

Meanwhile, Schools Festival hosts Darfield Cricket Club have their own momentum that’s growing with the aim to increase junior participation and start a girls team.

The club is based on School Street in the village to the East of Barnsley and they are doing a Roses programme, the girls-only Dynamos sessions, this summer.

The Chance to Shine Skills Festival is win-win in that a club that’s conveniently based for the attending schools can show all that they’re about.

Equally, the kids can see where the cricket club is, get a strong first impression and for anyone who might be nervous about joining, it serves as a friendly introduction.

Alongside Darfield, other cricket clubs are running ECB national programmes for All Stars and Dynamos this summer.

There are also extra events happening such as a YCF bursary-funded programme, earmarked for Thurnscoe Institute Cricket Club in July and a girls sessions running at Worsbrough Bridge Cricket Club.

This is just a small snapshot in the Barnsley area with regards to a broader offering involving schools cricket.

The festival at Darfield tied into a broader Chance to Shine competition and Skills Festival week. Sheffield Hallam University Sports Park was the host for a Girls-only Countdown Cricket event for years 5 & 6.

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You can learn more about the work of Chance to Shine for formats, events and their undoubted impact.

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