Into Cyberspace

By Samantha Shilton

As Upper Hopton C.C. is very much your typical local cricket club, you might wonder if a website devoted to it is necessary.

Everybody seems to know everybody else, through family connections or friendship groups, and the club secretary knows most people’s telephone numbers off by heart. But webmaster Daniel Heaton, 24, insists that there are many advantages in having a fully functional website.

“Well, obviously the club is small and therefore there are only a small number of people affiliated with the club. But I update the website regularly, about twice a week now that we are back in the playing season, and for the juniors in particular it is nice for them to be able to see their names up on the website, they seem to enjoy that”.

Daniel updates the site with all the upcoming fixtures and recent results, as well as little bits of news such as the recent, rather extensive groundwork that has been carried out at the club. “It’s useful to have all the fixtures and results up on the site, and I think that more and more people have started to use it,” says Daniel.

Having all the fixtures up on the site means that parents can have instant access to them and therefore can better plan their week’s activities to include dropping the kids off at the club for a game.

Furthermore, the club likes to organise social events for the juniors, including BBQs and things of that nature, details of which Daniel uploads to the site as he gets them. “It streamlines the whole process really, people can access the information in their own time and it’s much easier than having to ring round everyone”.

And is the website effective in attracting new members to the club? “Well, that’s the ideal situation obviously, and it’s great for the club to have this facility in order for that to happen. Without the website, you’re relying on word of mouth to get people joining”.

The website has had a “complete rebuild” since Heaton took over about 18 months ago, complete with a makeover in order to make it more attractive to prospective parents and players. “I started from scratch really, and my main focus was to create a site that was easy for people to use, but that equally was easy for me to update”.

And this has been achieved; Upper Hopton’s website is not only aesthetically pleasing thanks to a variety of pictures on the site, but it is incredibly easy to navigate and all information is presented in clear, reader-friendly formats.

Heaton has successfully created a site that is beneficial to the club, not only for its existing members, but also for those members of the public who might wish to become members of such a club. In that way, the website has a distinct purpose and plays a pivotal role in the future of the club.