TYNECASTLE NAMED SECONDARY SCHOOL OF THE YEAR AT CHANCE TO SHINE AWARDS
There was Scottish success at the 2025 Chance to Shine Awards held at Lord's on Thursday 20 November.
Tynecastle High School in Edinburgh were deserving winners of the Secondary School of the Year Award, for the work done by the school and coaches to empower young female pupils in leadership through the power of cricket, via the Chance to Shine Girls Secondary Schools Programme.
With limited opportunities for cricket in state secondary school girls in Scotland, this programme has set the standard for developing young female leaders through leadership opportunities and creating local cricket pathways to get involved in the sport. Participants from Tynecastle were on hand to collect the award at Lord's.
The Tynecastle programme has marked a major step forward for Cricket Scotland, and its success reflects a bold commitment for the organisation as it directly aligns with the 2024–2028 strategic objective to inspire women and girls to get involved in the sport. It contributes to the key outcomes of the strategy, including developing female coaches, celebrating female role models, and creating the right places for girls to take part, including girls-only teams.
Sri Muramalla, Cricket Scotland's Community Development Manager, said:
"It was absolutely brilliant to see Tynecastle awarded Secondary School of the Year for the Girls Leadership programme. We had 80 girls included in this programme, and perhaps the best thing for me is that for many of them, this was their first experience of cricket, so the opportunity for them to develop leadership skills whilst learning a new sport has been fantastic and it has made a massive impact.
"It was wonderful and inspiring to hear from the girls involved about they developed the programme, how they've grown in confidence, and how many of them led a primary schools cricket festival at the end of their programme. The impact of having the local cricket club Murrayfield DAFS on board with the programme from the start cannot be underestimated either, along with the buy-in from Active Schools and the school community itself.
"Ultimately it was the coaches and pupils involved that took the programme to another level, and everyone involved should feel incredibly proud about receiving this national recognition. We look forward to seeing what the next steps are at Tynecastle off the back of this success."
Cricket Scotland was also delighted to be nominated as one of three shortlisted finalists in the Delivery Partner of the Year category. The governing body was praised for its work in delivering a series of high quality programmes that have been showcased through engaging written and video case studies.
Cricket Scotland's ongoing collaboration with Chance to Shine delivers coaching and competitions in state primary schools, as well as helping young people to continue playing out of school in their community, whilst our coaches empower teachers to deliver cricket sessions themselves.
"It was a massive achievement for us to be nominated for Delivery Partner of the Year, considering how young our partnership with Chance to Shine is and also competing the counties that have far bigger reach and resources than we do," said Sri.
"We are proud of our relationship with Chance to Shine and its development year on year, and it's great to see the impact our programmes have had in the community. We are looking forward to expanding our programmes in 2026 and beyond, particularly in areas like Glasgow and Dundee, so we owe a massive thanks to Chance to Shine for their continued support in helping Cricket Scotland to reach so many young people and give them the chance to play cricket."