When it comes to a national campaign to encourage more people to take up rounders – “the Burnley Council team can!”
The council’s graphics “squad” teamed up with Rounders England, Burnley Leisure and Burnley Rounders Club to show they were “big hitters” when it came to shooting a short film to encourage women across the country to take up the sport.
The video was shot in Towneley Park and features players from local teams explaining why rounders is such a fun and social sport for people of all ages and abilities.
It was launched on the Rounders England site in September 2015.
The video, called This Girl Can: Rounders vs Work-Life Balance, brings to life what rounders means to those people who love it, play it and are involved with the game. It builds on the success of Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign which featured Burnley’s Joanne Baldwin and her team Scruples.
Councillor Bea Foster, the council’s executive member for leisure and culture, said: “Playing rounders is a great way to keep fit and have fun. It’s a real boost for Burnley that it was chosen by Rounders England to feature in its national online video campaign. The fact that the video was produced in Burnley by the council’s graphics team makes it even better.”
Janet Roundell, sport and play development officer at Burnley Leisure which organises the Burnley Rounders League, said: “Sport England, which was behind the This Girl Can campaign, identified rounders as one of the sports they wanted to include in it. We have one of the flagship rounders projects in the country and they came to visit to see what we are doing.
“With Jo Baldwin featuring in their poster campaign, Rounders England wanted to build on that and asked if we could help out. We were really happy to get involved and we used the expertise of the council’s graphics team to help shoot the video, most of which was done at Towneley over one evening.”
You can see the video by visiting Rounders England’s site www.roundersengland.co.uk or on YouTube by searching Rounders vs Work-Life Balance.
The Burnley rounders leagues are run by Burnley Leisure’s sport and play development team as part of the Get in2…Rounders project that is part funded by Rounders England and Burnley Rounders Club.
Anyone interested in taking up rounders should contact the leisure trust’s sport and play development team on 01282 477167 or email getin2@burnley.gov.uk
The winter leagues are about to start shortly but are full up. However, recruiting for 2016 summer league teams will beginning soon and the play and development team are planning a number of informal sessions for those just starting out in the game.
