Clubmark Accreditation

Carrickfergus Cricket Club has become the latest club to be accredited on the Cricket Ireland / Clubmark NI Club Accreditation Scheme. The local club becomes one of only four cricket clubs, and twenty clubs from all sports in Northern Ireland to reach Clubmark NI accreditation status, with another 150 Clubs from a large range of sports currently working towards obtaining the prestigious award. To reach this status means that the club has demonstrated that it meets the scheme's standards in the three Clubmark NI core criteria: Effective Management, Quality Coaching and Competition, and Safety in Sport.

Carrickfergus Vice President and Northern Cricket Union Chairman Roger Bell receives the Club Accreditation Scheme certificate from Cricket Ireland’s Club Development Manager Tim Simmonite. Also included are Sport Northern Ireland Performance Consultant Simon Toole and other representatives from the Carrickfergus club including Ireland international Paul Stirling, President Leslie Thompson, and Committee members Brian Stirling and Wallace Luney.

Carrickfergus Cricket Club Vice President Roger Bell, a key driver in the Club's work towards this prestigious award said, “Undertaking the Club Accreditation Scheme has been a very worthwhile exercise for our club. It has helped us get better organised, and will assist in making sure that our club is run properly for years to come. It was also gratifying for our club to find out that we were already doing so many of the right things, and this has formalised some things that were previously being carried out on an ad hoc basis. It has been a worthwhile exercise that I would thoroughly recommend to all progressive clubs and we now fully intend to progress through the next stages of the process.” He also paid tribute to the Club's Management Committee members who had assisted with the process over the last few months, in particular former Coaching Director Andrew Cowden, and also to Cricket Ireland officials Mark Garaway and Tim Simmonite for their support. Sport Northern Ireland are key stakeholders in the Scheme, and Director of Performance Dr Shaun Ogle praised the initiative, saying “Clubs impact upon sport by providing opportunities for participants to enjoy positive sporting experiences and environments where young athletes can be supported to realise their full potential in sport. The involvement of the dedicated club volunteers who perform a range of coaching, management and administration roles and more, is vital not only for the sustainability and development of their own clubs but also makes a huge contribution to future sporting performance by providing a high quality sporting foundation for our young participants.”