Founded in 2007 by Andrew German, the Nantes Cricket Club (NCC) has set itself the mission of promoting cricket in France to new audiences, creating women's, men's and junior teams, and developing cricket in schools.
Over the years, the tireless efforts of the players have paid off: the NCC is now a club recognised in France for its dynamism, its spirit and its superb cricket pitch, which has several natural tracks as well as an artificial one.
Each year, the club carries out numerous actions: practice in schools from primary to high schools/universities, annual indoor and outdoor tournaments, travel throughout France, annual tour in England, players in the French team).
The Nantes Cricket Club is focused on the discovery and development of the sport among the French people and it works. This is our challenge, the ambitious challenge of promoting a sport that is so little known in France and yet the 2nd most practiced sport in the world!
Nantes' cricket, a reference throughout France
Since its creation, the NCC has been in a constant process of development, both in terms of the number of participants and the popularisation and promotion of the sport among the French.
Today, the NCC has very encouraging development results:
> With more than 50 members, three quarters of whom are French, who discovered cricket directly in Nantes, our club is a driving force in the Grand Ouest. Unlike expatriate clubs (British, Indian, Sri Lankan, ...), our aim is to anchor the practice and interest in the local population.
> In order to perpetuate the club and to develop the number of members, we have been working for several years on the teaching of cricket, for example in Le Loquidy College in Nantes, at the primary school Sainte-Claire d'Assise and other establishments in the Nantes metropolitan area. In 2015, we opened a mixed section dedicated to young people every Thursday evening from 6.30 to 8pm.
> Since 2012, the NCC has strongly developed women's cricket. This is still a new approach for cricket in France, and the results of this commitment to sporting diversity are bearing fruit, as with 9 female players selected for the French team and successive Nantes captains, the NCC is the undisputed leader in women's cricket in France.
