MIlo cricket attracts 9,500 children

With New Zealand's junior cricket season having come to a close thousands of children have taken part in the Milo Have-A-Go and Milo Kiwi Cricket programmes.

Out of the 9,500 children participating in the two programmes, over 800 took to the grounds at half time to show off their skills at the BlackCaps summer games against Bangladesh and Australia.

This was the third season Milo kids have been on the ground. It started in 2008 during England's tour of New Zealand and again in 2009 when the Indian side toured.

For children to participate at the grounds they had to be registered through a Milo Cricket Centre in their region. The idea behind MILO Kids on the ground was not only to recognise the MILO programmes but to reward participants and coaches involved in the programmes.

The biggest turnout for Milo Kids on the ground came from the Waikato and Wellington regions. Each region had over 180 participants with players coming from schools and clubs around the area and travelled from the likes of the Manawatu and Horowhenua/Kapiti to be part of the action at the Westpac Stadium.

Although MILO cricket has finished for the season, registrations will open up again at the beginning of next season. The programmes have been going for 10 years and it helps build a solid foundation that will help make cricket stronger in future generations. The programmes were created to help improve the skills of young cricketers and help them move through the player pathways from MILO programmes to all forms of cricket.

Milo Cricket facts:

• The Milo Have-A-Go Cricket programme is the most popular programme and is targeted at children aged five to eight and goes for 12 weeks;
• The Milo Kiwi Cricket programme is the next step up and is a six week programme which focuses on developing skills and has an emphasis on playing modified versions of cricket;
• The Milo Summer Squad will be going into schools during the end of the third school term and the start of the fourth. They will see over 100,000 kids during that time and will deliver New Zealand Cricket Skills Awareness lessons to children aged five to eight;
• Over 800 children participated in the Milo Kids on the ground in five regions including Wellington, Auckland, Napier, Hamilton and Christchurch.

29th June 2009 - NUTRI-GRAIN AND BILLABONG MOST RECOGNISED SPORTS SPONSORS 

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