Tynecastle High School fought off fierce competition to win Secondary School of the Year 2025 at the Chance to Shine Awards.
The event, held at Lord’s Cricket Ground, London, marked the culmination of children’s charity Chance to Shine’s 20th anniversary celebration and honoured individuals, schools and communities who have used cricket as a force for good. The charity reaches over 600,000 children every year, creating opportunities to play,learn and develop through the sport.
Tynecastle High School, which took part in the charity’s Secondary Girls’ Leadership programme, demonstrated brilliance in engaging girls with cricket, a sport that has had very little prevalence among girls at state secondary schools in Scotland up to now.
At the heart of the programme were 80 girls, with 34 forming a dedicated leadership cohort. Over the course of four weeks, the young leaders embraced every opportunity to coach, lead, and inspire others to take part.
Their leadership skills were exemplified in a youth-led primary school cricket festival delivered to four primary schools, reaching 153 younger pupils, run entirely by the young female leaders.
Rosalia, aged 15, said: “I’ve enjoyed getting out with my friends, playing a sport that I’ve never really played before. I’ve learnt a lot of new skills like having a louder voice so that I can give out instructions.”
Srishti Sharma, Murrayfield DAFS Cricket Club’s captain and a lead coach on the programme, provided mentorship and continuity offering young leaders a tangible connection to the club environment. This created an onwards pathway into the game beyond school, something that Chance to Shine encourages across its programmes.
Cricket Scotland coach Catherine Edwards said: “We started off this programme with fewer than five of the girls having played cricket.
“The programme has created pathways for girls into cricket and instilled leadership skills as well.”
Maryam, aged 15, added: “I’ve learnt that I can actually just be myself. You don’t have to be a specific type of person to play cricket.”
PE Teacher Kirsty Clarke commented: “Our students have developed a lot more communication skills – the confidence to speak to each other.”
Sriram 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 how 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.”
Kate Stephens, Chief Executive of Chance to Shine, said: “We celebrate the incredible people who are embracing the power of cricket to transform the lives of children across the UK. At a time when inactivity threatens wellbeing, their passion and commitment is uniting communities and inspiring brighter futures.”
The Chance to Shine awards are presented by Compare the Market.
