Preston Village CC are perhaps Prestonpans best kept secret of sporting success having won the 4th division of the East of Scotland League in 2007 to complement their Presidents Plate win in 2006 .
As recently as 10 years ago the “Village “ People were effectively in Division 9 of the East League set up with around 24 players. Last season the club played over 60 people in their 3 teams and have around 60 scheduled games per season.
The catalyst for the clubs growth was its move to Polwarth Park in 2001 where the pavilion will be refurbished during this year which will complement the considerable grant investment the Club have secured over the past 3 years to improve playing and training facilities
As well as the senior side the club was instrumental in establishing the East Lothian Junior Cricket Association which brought a group of young players into the club who are now the basis of the clubs success This year as a result of its youth development programme which over the past 3 years has focused on Kwik Cricket, Preston Village will be entering a under 13 team in the East Junior League along with various national cup competitions for youngsters. Alongside it’s continued commitment to Junior and Kwik Cricket for primary school aged children, the club have forged links with Preston Lodge and hope to develop cricket at the high school during the spring term.
Why not come along and give it a try? Our 3 senior teams are geared to provide opportunities for players of all abilities, whilst our junior section is open to anyone who wants to give cricket a go.
Senior training takes place on a Tuesday and Thursday from mid April onwards, with youth training taking place on a Wednesday, all session at Polwarth. Indoor training will start in late January
2008 SEASON
It’s been an exciting start to the season for the Village People, with lots going on at Polwarth before a ball was bowled.
The first bit of good news was the ongoing Gothenburg sponsorship. The link to the Goth has been in place for several years now and there’s no doubt that the reputation of the Club has been assisted greatly by the post game hospitality that we are able to offer at our main sponsors. The Goth also paid for new tops for our juniors, The Preston Village Panthers, which were present in early April as part of the official opening of the new wicket.
The new artificial wicket was funded by a grant from Awards for All and was laid in March and is already proving a success. Further smaller sponsorship arrangements were secured with the Falcon and Hayweights bars for stumps and ground equipment and from the ERDC who were the contractors who did such a good job on the new wicket. Seems they were so impressed with the club and have chipped in with some sponsorship for some new equipment. In addition to all the sponsorship news the Council have confirmed that work should start on the pavilion in the autumn.
If the off the
field activities have now taken a back seat as the cricket has started,
all 3 senior teams are up and running whilst history was made on the 7th
May when the club fielded its first ever under 13 team in a competitive
match, hosting Heriots in the Scottish cup before the, starting the
junior league campaign on 19th May, and
virtually every
Monday from then on in.
Resplendent in their new tops the Village youngsters who were far less
experienced than their Heriots opponents
were simply superb as with
enthusiasm and no little skill they restricted their opponents to 80 all
out in the 20th over. The fielding was excellent and the total
commitment was there for all to see.
The Gothenburg Polwarth Oval has rarely seen as many spectators with
parents, grand-parents, aunt, uncles, and senior players adding to the
general feel good factor and support for the youngsters.
The club would like to thank all the parents and families for their
support and especially Steven Dixon, Malcolm Forsyth and Craig
Patterson, the coaching team, for preparing the boys so well and
managing their performance. Hopefully there will be a lot of similar
enjoyable nights during the rest of the season.
Any one interested in junior cricket can contact the club via the
website at at or by calling Steven Dixon on 07751494465
Details of the training and the club in general are available on the Clubs web site at http://prestonvillage.hitscricket.com/home.aspx or by contacting them at prestonvillecc@btinternet.com