Luke spent most of his childhood on a cricket pitch. What started as a bit of fun for an energetic three-year-old has grown into a lifelong passion for the sport, and his commitment to making it accessible for as many people as possible has earned him a Chancellor’s Scholarship at Edge Hill University.
Luke has been involved with East Lancashire Cricket Club since he was young, playing for the junior teams and volunteering behind the scenes. But it wasn’t until his younger sister took up the game five years ago that he realised he could use his love of the sport to help others.
“I’d realised by then that I wasn’t going to be a professional cricketer,” smiles Luke, who is in the third year of a primary education degree, “but I knew I could help younger players reach their potential. The girls weren’t able to play competitively after a certain age because they weren’t allowed in the boys’ teams, so I took a coaching course and helped develop the club’s first girls’ team.”
As well as being a volunteer coach for the girls’ team, Luke has been team manager and head coach for several mixed teams, including two in one season. He currently coaches the Blackburn with Darwen district under-11 team, which recently won the North Lancashire District Cup for the first time since 2010.
Luke has also worked with children with autism, adapting his coaching techniques to address the children’s individual needs and allowing them to participate competitively.
“Cricket improves fine motor skills, and parents often tell me that they see improvements in other areas of their children’s lives after playing cricket,” says Luke. “I really enjoy seeing all the kids progress. It’s so rewarding to see them start as beginners and turn into proper cricketers.”
Since he began his degree, Luke has juggled his studies with his coaching commitments. He has continued to widen access to cricket during his degree, running after school clubs for boys and girls as part of his school placements. He has also helped to reintroduce cricket to Edge Hill’s sporty students, co-running the university’s fledgling cricket club and becoming vice-captain of the men’s first team in 2013.
Luke is also a keen fundraiser for East Lancashire Cricket Club, raising vital money which helps the club reduce costs for participation and ensure children in challenging economic circumstances can still access sport.
“I do struggle to fit it all in sometimes,” he says. “I do my teaching practice, then after school I coach. I then go home to study before going off to train or play with the Edge Hill team or my local club.
“Receiving the Chancellor’s Scholarship makes all the hard work worthwhile. I don’t volunteer for the recognition, but it’s nice if people notice you’re doing a good job. It’s also a high accolade and will make my CV stand out; it shows leadership and a willingness to get involved which will hopefully go down well with the schools I apply to in the future.”
The Scholarship also gives Luke a much-needed financial boost. “I’ve recently invested quite a lot of my own money in coaching equipment for the club I volunteer with, so the prize money will help cover costs and enable me to purchase more equipment to support the kids I coach.”
Edge Hill University offers a range of scholarships to reward excellent students and to help those from lower-income families.
Each year, the university gives out thousands of pounds to those students who have made valuable contributions to university life, either by excelling academically, raising the profile of Edge Hill in a positive way, promoting equality, motivating others, or by overcoming personal circumstances in order to achieve.
To find out more about the scholarships available to prospective and current students visit the Edge Hill Website.
