New cricket program for kids bowls up competition for Cricket Australia
A kids cricket program has been set up in Melbourne to take on Cricket Australia’s popular Woolworths Blast program, with a former Cricket Victoria employee — who lost his job in a wave of cuts earlier this year — one of the brains behind it.
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Howzat for some cheeky competition for Cricket Australia?
In what amounts to a David and Goliath battle in under-age cricket, CA’s popular Blast program for young players has a new rival, with a company called Cricket 4 Kids starting in the southern bayside region.
It’s the creation of former Cricket Victoria state participation manager Chris Gorrie and ex-Premier player Ryan Heywood, both of whom are attached to Washington Park Cricket Club in the South East Cricket Association (SECA).
Gorrie is going into his second year as president of the club.
He was among the many Cricket Victoria staff members who lost their jobs in a wave of cuts earlier in the year, and he expects his foray into junior cricket to tweak a nose or two with CV and Cricket Australia.
SECA is happy for Cricket 4 Kids – C4K for short – to be offered as an alternative, according to president Phil Cox.
Gorrie and Heywood will be presenting to SECA clubs in the next few weeks.
“There’s a big hole in the community cricket market, and we feel we’re on to something that can help sustain local cricket, and obviously the SECA do as well,’’ Gorrie said.
“Basically what we’ve put forward is an alternative to the Woolworths Cricket Blast. It’s about getting kids in, keeping them in and hopefully providing sustainability for the local comps. We’ve got a motto of gain, retain and sustain.’’
Gorrie said the advantage of C4K was that $25 for each participant would go back to the local association.
That appeals to SECA, which is working towards hiring a full-time administrator.
About 2000 youngsters were registered in the Woolworths Cricket Blast programs in the region last season. On those numbers, the local association could pocket $50,000 if clubs switched to Cricket 4 Kids, Gorrie said.
Money could then be invested in coaching and development resources that were lost in the Cricket Victoria cuts.
C4K also has the backing of former Australian batsman Rob Quiney, a product of Washington Park.
Its model is similar to the Blast program in that club volunteers run the sessions.
Youngsters aged five to eight sign up, spend four weeks at the club and have their skills assessed by the co-ordinators. If they are ready for mini-games they will go to a SECA hub. They return to their clubs for the last two weeks.
Gorrie said the pathway was Cricket 4 Kids, junior cricket and senior cricket.
“We’re trying to simplify it for our clubs. At the moment it’s a bit complicated. There are a million different things to do, and our co-ordinators, who are just trying to get kids for their clubs, are saying, ‘Well, how do I this?’ We’re trying to strip it back to keep it nice and simple, and build fun, inclusive environments.
“These programs aren’t designed to make a heap of money. They’re designed to get kids into the game. Previously you had all this support from the state bodies to help train co-ordinators and work with the associations. But they’ve now stepped away from that. Their focus is probably on Premier Cricket and above and they’ll put up a few webinars and have a few Zoom meetings. Apart from that, grassroots cricket is now probably Premier Cricket and there’s a big hole in the local area.’’
Gorrie said he expected 2020-21 to be a “slow burn’’ because of COVID-19 but he was confident of a full rollout in 2021-22.
He said he and Heywood would like to run C4K successfully in SECA before expanding.
“In reality we can’t take on the state. We’re trying to do it in one association and do it well. We want to build and hope others look at it and say, ‘Hang on, what’s going on here’.
“We’re not here to change the world. We’re two passionate local cricket people who want to see cricket survive.
“We think we’re on to something that has merit. We know it’s going to take time and we’re here for the long haul.’’
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