Thornton Cricket Club volunteer wins Lancashire Cricket Foundation’s Lifetime Services to Coaching Award
Peter Elson, a coach who volunteers at Thornton Cricket Club, received the Lifetime Services to Coaching Award for his 20-year commitment to developing and upskilling young players.
A Fylde coast volunteer has been recognised for his outstanding contributions to grassroots cricket.
At the Lancashire Cricket Foundation’s annual Cricket Collective Awards, Peter Elson, a coach who volunteers at Thornton Cricket Club, received the Lifetime Services to Coaching Award for his 20-year commitment to developing and upskilling young players.
The LCF Cricket Collective Awards invites cricket clubs across Lancashire to nominate volunteers into 12 different categories, including Coach of the Year, Grounds Management Team of the Year, Girls’ Cricket Champion of the Year and Lifetime Achiever.
This year, the competition – now in its fourth year – received a record number of nominations, with a higher quality standard of entry than ever before.
Peter took home the award for his exceptional dedication to developing generations of young cricketers. Having led the club's coaching set-up since the mid-2000s, he has played a central role in nurturing players throughout the junior pathway and helping them progress into senior cricket.
He said: “To receive the Lifetime Services to Coaching Award is a real honour, although for me, coaching has never been about recognition. The reward has always been seeing a young person pick up a bat for the first time, helping them develop and then seeing them still playing and enjoying cricket 15 or 20 years later.
“Cricket gives people so much beyond the game itself, too. You can move anywhere in the country, join a cricket club and immediately make friends and become part of a community. If I can help give young people that lifelong connection to cricket, while making sure the same opportunities are there for the next generation, that’s what will make all my years of coaching worthwhile.”
Winners were announced during a glittering on-pitch celebration held at Emirates Old Trafford, the home of Lancashire Cricket Club, on Friday, August 4. Awards were presented by Lancashire and Scottish women’s cricketer Ailsa Lister, right-handed batter Paul Coughlin and fast bowler Ajeet Singh-Dale. They were joined by LCF’s Chair, John Murphy.
Jen Barden, Managing Director for LCF, said: “Peter is a shining example of how instrumental volunteers are to the development and potential of club cricket. Without their hard work and determination, young players’ cricket wouldn’t be progressing in the way that it is at Thornton and at Longridge cricket clubs. It’s clear their impact has been extraordinary.
“On behalf of LCF, I’d like to congratulate and thank all our winners and nominees as well as those who contribute to the game week in, week out across Lancashire, because they each make community cricket what it is.
“I’d also like to acknowledge the brilliant LCF team who work tirelessly to support cricket clubs across the region. To have received a record number of nominations this year is testament to their dedication in celebrating volunteers and their vital work, ensuring they feel a valued part of the wider cricket eco-system in Lancashire.”