Grant gives kids the gift of cricket

THE recipients of this year’s Active Kids Grants have been announced which could see up to thirty thousand kids in sport benefit.

Bendigo Cricket Club was one of 126 sport organisations across Australia to receive a grant, with an allocation of $2600 for new equipment.

A spokesperson for the club said the money would help the club reduce young player’s financial barriers to entering or staying in the sport.

“We are very hopeful this grant will help us ‘bridge the gap’ and allow our junior teams to remain competitive and in turn, enhance our kids’ enjoyment of the game,” the spokesperson said.

Bendigo Cricket Club offers low registration fees to junior players, but the cost of the sport can still run high.

“Parents often baulk at the cost of having their child play cricket, with registration fees, uniform and playing equipment,” the spokesperson said.

“Being able to refresh some of our match/training equipment will make our juniors ‘walk taller’ and encourage their participation.”

The Active Kids Grants is the result of a partnership between the Dickinson foundation and the Australian Sports Foundation.

ASF CEO Patrick Walker said the program would bring relief to clubs seeing lower community engagement since the cost of living had increased.

“Community sports clubs are crying out for support across Australia, so it is fantastic that so many clubs will receive grants for equipment and uniforms to help reduce costs and encourage greater participation,” Mr Walker said.

A total of 35 clubs across Victoria received a grant from the statewide funding pool of more than $107,000, which could help an estimated 7700 young people access sport.