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deciding itwa But they a


lea Cricket clubs a


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ta msport fa


FOOTBALL lea the tra Increa


ditional tea sing commitmentsa


fighting to survive. We first reported inMa


ms.


gues folding, cricket tea msports in thea t home


rea. lea cting on people’s t the


Maidstone & District Football Lea


gue, the oldest local lea s in da


me to pa s una


ss, the lea ble to continue.


number of clubs a y tha


sitya sidea gue in the wa


ve school, theyma nd rugby ca t wha


their lives,” sa n definitely be ca


rector of rugbyNeilWiltshire. The next genera


nger of folding Those in their 2 0 sa ing with worka


re not the only ones.


tough, with Detling, Hollingbourne a


nd Teston all pulling out of their gues in 2 0 1 8 , instea mesa


nd, in one ca ting if the club ha


ry, fixture secreta nd “every- thing else” a a a


n Gutteridge is chairma ry a


sa


t folding the club. But hea


y nighta t Hollingbourne a tea


msport is on its knees. “It’s alwa


venoa


get pla da


yers who phone up onaFri- nd sa


swell.”


d focusing on se, con-


safuturea n, secre-


some eventorother,whichisusually alie,but theyha the fa


dmits itwa toughdecisiontolook dds: “To be honest, every ys been astruggle, you y they’ve forgotten pprecia


tionof ct they a blokes downa Downs Mail ha dult sport tha


from anumber of sports, a found tha


t is the trickiest. nd ha s


ues to thrive, it is tha nsition into a


twhile youth sport contin- t tra


re also finding it wa


– no ma nt to.


nd fa


gue ments, it ismuch ha pa


Peter Erla s da


y go to univer- st


t isaturbulent time in ysAylesford Bulls di-


rts is slow in coming forwa nd 3 0 sa


rt of theweekend to pla


hits the nail on the hea sa ha


ys: “I think Sunda ve cha


nged tha nd ma


y isashopping da it used to beada The need to ha scriptions to wa yalso be ha


it just tha ercise ha


t thewa s cha


Forwhile pa cricket a t they pla nged? rticipa yed tea nd other tea


tion in football, m sports is


down – just 3 .2 million said in the most recent Sport Engla tha tha


nd survey


re letting 1 0 other a s spoken to clubs


for running showa nd 1 3msa “fitnessa


gym. Sport Engla


ble,wha


n twice inamonth – the figures n increa ke pa


y they ta


m sports more se to 7m,


rt in other


Jennie Price said: “While the over- all a sta


ctivity levels of the na t peoplea


ctivities”, i.e. going to the nd chief executive tion a


“It’s tough, they get ajob, they do ismovingwith the times.” re re choosing to


tion of club stal- rd.


tter how much they ma m, ca


y nowwherea Youth ‘key to future’ at Teston t so much – Sun-


y tra


ws s


vinga


tch top-level sport n impa


y-TV sub- ct, but is


nt to ex- ypeoplewa


TESTON Cricket Club has been hit so hard that it has pulled out of their league fixtures - butwith a bur- geoning youth system, it insists it is just a temporary hiatus. The club decided at the start of


the season not to fulfil their fixtures in Kent Village Cricket League Divi- sion Four. Captain Peter Erlamsaid: “We have struggled for the past two or three years to get two teams out every weekend,” he said. “And that meant we were fielding under- strength teams in our league fix- tures most weeks. This season, we just felt we had reached the end of the road in terms of resources of getting players, so we reluctantly took the decision to withdraw from the league.”


Peter insists that the club is in no


danger of folding – “cricket is in our blood” – but the landscape has changed. “The club had the same tea lady, Ilma Cooper, for 5 0 years,” he added. “But now it’s all down to the players themselves to provide the refreshments. Teston is a small village, there’s not many young families and there’s no school, so for several yearswe’ve not had anyone who lives in the village actually play- ing for the club. Weekend life is so different from how it was 2 0 years ago.” Butwhere the club does stand out


is its strong youth section. “Our opening bowlers on a Satur-


day are 1 3 and 1 4 ,” the skipper added.


FAsearching for afixas football flounders


PARK football ha beena


The ima s, in ma


where in its heyda pitches in use a more tha


t the sa


etched in thememory. But now, the a getting smallera


a nniversa


blow to the ga 2 0 1 7 /1 8 sea just eight tea


of initia ga


Sutera 18


n 2 ,5 0 0 pla ma


ny wa ckneyMa ys,


n institution of English life. ges ofHa


rshes


y therewere 1 2 0 me time – yers – a


re teur ga


The folding of the Maidstone nd District Lea 1 2 5 th a


gue a d of its ry sea


nd smaller. hea


son wa son it ha


sion. TheKent FAa


ms in asolita


me,although in the d contained ry divi-


tives to keep the 1 1 -a -side a me is the pa rticipa ple ha


m, peo- ve


less time, f am i l y commi t - m e n t s , work pa ters, fea


t- the


s a jury tha could lea


r of in- t


d


toaloss of i n c o m e a


mid system, but Senior Football Development Officer a 1 1 -a


nd lea issues to fa


dmits therea ce.


“There’s not just one rea Malling July 2018


dult male football Lee reanumber of


me going outside of the pyra only pla ya


re tryinganumber -side -


d on


t i cal l y , you ca


nd, logis- n


y 1 1 -a urda fternoons or Sunda


-side football on Sa ymorn-


ings. “The challenge is the increa number of other sportinga such a


sonwhy a nd running a


s going to the gym, cycling s well a


-side tea ms ea though tha sing ctivities ha s sport on a


said. “There’s the cost of runninga tea


tion is declining,” he TV, cinematrips etc which ca done when people wa


n be


nt, for a long a


t h e y w an t a n d w h e r e t h e y wa


nt.” Pa


ipa ha i


pa ch yea


tional picture ofa1 0% fall. Lee insists tha


ving toomuch ofa dmits the FAa


t is better tha t five-a re ha


rtic- t ion


s been n


s t ead y decl ine for


the st ten


t- with Kent losing 6% of its a 1 1 -a


n impa


y ear s , dult


n the na grea


r – al- -


-side is not ct, but


ving to think


s pla s


outside of the box to trya yers ba


y wha ck to the full-size ga


side you will continue pla other forma who pla the ga


“Generally, if you pla ts,” he a


me a


portunity. “The key to sustaining a eventually growing 1 1 v1 1 a


rticipa nts a


tives built a nd not ba


st 3 0 sea


structures tha lowing for the la


turn up a football ga


era t we ha


nd pla t every op- nd


tever forma y a


dult


male football in Kent is offering flexible alterna the pa


s y sessions, flexi


round sed on


ve been fol- sons.


“Offering opportunities such a nd pla lea


mes,mid-week footballa ns football will enga ter a


ball on aSa Sunda


t of 1 1 v1 1 a y morning.”


y a


gues with shorter nd vet-


ge with a


pinned by the more recognised forma


turda fternoon or


udience while being un- dult male foot-


nd tempt me. -


dds. “People t love


y five-a ying


mily commit- rder to dedica ying sport y


re find- te


ptain of TestonCC, d when he ding la


y for sport.” ve pa


Players fromTeston Cricket Club


downsmail.co.uk cing biggestma ms pulling out of lea gues...it ha s beenablea tch k summer for


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