Dandenong District Cricket Association: Beaconsfield appoints Mark Cooper for season 2022-23
Mark Cooper will coach his eighth cricket club after accepting a role in the Dandenong association. He talks about his journey and what every club has in common.
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Mark Cooper speaks with boundless enthusiasm about his latest challenge, as captain-coach of Beaconsfield in the Dandenong cricket association.
He says the Tigers are “on the verge” of being a strong and successful club and he’s pumped to help them get there.
Cooper’s passion, energy and determination have been a hallmark his successful two-decade coaching journey.
Beaconsfield will be the eighth club he’s coached since steering Cranbourne to a premiership in his coaching debut, as a 21-year-old, in 2001-02.
There have been ups and downs, premierships and pain, as he’s coached in various competitions, including the DDCA, Mornington Peninsula, West Gippsland and Warragul associations.
Cooper has won seven premierships in 20 years as coach, taking Cranbourne, Cardinia, Langwarrin and Koo Wee Rup to the holy grail.
“The clubs have all been very different,” he said.
“You learn so much, the different people, networks…how you deal with people and you become hopefully more rounded each time, I think that’s what my journey has been able to do for me.”
Cooper said he never set out to be a much-travelled coach, it just evolved.
“My first year coaching at Cranny, like heaps of the older guys were saying, ‘geez you can do this for the next 10, 15 years at Cranny’,’’ he said.
“But it went pear shape the following year and we got relegated.
“But I learnt so much from that season, and then breaking away from that and taking on Baden Powell, so much out of my comfort zone, and I learnt so much by doing that.
“I’ve gone, ‘I’m actually more of a coach than an actual club person’. I think I’ve got more to give in the coaching space than being a 10-year player at a club.”
Cooper said he’s grown as a person and a coach with each experience.
“The challenge of working with different people has probably kept me, one, relevant and then, two, still passionate about it and still having the energy and enthusiasm to keep on taking on those new challenges, I think that’s actually helped,” he said.
Cooper has seen it all and knows better than most how clubs operate.
He says, while every club is different, there’s a common thread that links them all.
“Yeah, every club has good people that do an amazing job to keep their clubs going in different ways,” he said.
“There are just so many good people, good volunteers that help community sport. You just take your hat off to them.”
Beaconsfield finished in seventh spot in DDCA Turf 2 last season.
Former Koo Wee Rup players Tyler Clark and his brother Riley have also joined the Tigers.
Cooper says he plans to put “building blocks” in place to ensure Beacy can enjoy long-term success.
“I think there are a few things we need to develop and grow,” he said.
“But the structure is definitely there, it’s a big club and has a really good junior structure and a lot of teams.
“I think it’s just a case of piecing it together to help them move forward and take the next step.
“That’s a bit of an end goal down the track, but making sure we’re ready to take that step as well…not just winning it and going, ‘what do we do now?’ Having some really good building blocks in place is our determination there.”