Community Gamechangers

In our final episode for the pilot season, I sat down with Angelo D'Agostino, President of the Leschenault Cricket Club in WA - and winner of the Cricket Australia Community Cricket Club of the Year Award. There is a lot in this episode and we covered everything from partnerships with schools and the local men's shed, starting new programs, how they recruit volunteers through to how they cultivate a strong transition for juniors into their senior program. There is something in here for every club and Angelo really does showcase how the club  really embraces creating the best environment for their community

This weeks episode i sat down with Daniel Smith, our national winner of the young leader of the year, who at the age of 23 is the President of the Sorell Cricket club in Tasmania We talked about a whole range of topics but most of all we hear the story about how a club goes from premiership success to struggling the following season and the comeback story that is underway (and how they are going about rebuilding). Daniel has a great way of reminding us why we volunteer and join community sporting clubs - in that it is about creating a great place to play sport and create life long friendships.

This weeks episode is with Karen Washington from the Bateman Junior Cricket Club in WA who is also our National Inclusion and Diversity Initiative award winner for her role in the club beginning an integrated cricket team and Star Blast program. Karen is definitely a breathe of fresh air and this episode has plenty of bite size bits of information for anyone wanting to start a new program whether that be in the disability space or any other idea you may have at your club.  After the episode if you are keen to know more, Karen is more than happy to assist and lend an ear to help any of you listening at home.

In this weeks episode I sat down with National Community Cricket Award Finalist Nathan Fitzpatrick who is a local teacher and the Junior Coordinator at the Bendigo and District CA in regional Victoria. We spoke about a range of topics across junior cricket including   How the Association takes a role in connecting clubs to schools How the Association Hosts Blast Centres and loops in their clubs to ensure the kids have a clear pathway Representative Cricket Starting a flourishing girls program

In this weeks episode I sat down with Kirk Teasdale, President of the Moama Cricket Club to hear about all the work they are doing which led to them becoming a national finalist for Community Cricket Club of the Year. We spoke about everything from their junior program, connecting with local schools, how they support their sponsors as well as their off season rep program.

Todays guest is National Community Cricket Award winner Leya Wilson from the Newcastle Junior Cricket Association & Charlestown Junior Cricket Club in NSW. Leya won the award for the Women and Girls Initiative of the Year and we sat down post awards to talk about her nomination and how she is helping transform girls cricket throughout the Newcastle region.

This weeks episode I chat with Burwood District Cricket Club President Mark Blundell around how the club has embraced social media and as a result have seen increasing growth in their member base. Through channels such as Facebook, Youtube and other forms of technology to support club operations, they have been able to reengage past players, recruit new ones and turn around their declining participation into a once again thriving club.

In this episode I am joined by Joe Hill, President of the Alexandra & Eastern Hills Cricket Association in South Australia. As winner of the 2020-21 Cricket Association of the Year, we talked about what made up their nomination including, the governance behind the Association, seeking partnerships to provide valuable outcomes across a range of cricket operations areas as well as how they engaged their players and parents to inform hard decisions which has led to the Association now providing cricket to over 1000 participants

In this weeks episode, I say down with Jordan Jones who is not only the President of the Blowfly Cricket club at the young age of 18, she also came runner up in the Young Leader of the Year category at this years Cricket Australia Community Cricket Awards. Jordan is an energetic, passionate and confident leader who is inspiring people with a disability to be involved with not only cricket, but with a support network of broader community to challenge, unite and have fun. Jordan aims to use cricket as a tool to not only support those with a disability, but provide opportunity for anyone, no matter what their age or ability, to come together and be part of something bigger to enrich their lives through skill development, confidence building and community connection. 

In this weeks episode, I sat down with Nicki Renfrey from the Barkers Creek Cricket Club to hear all about how she started a social women's cricket competition in country Victoria. In the episode we covered how she got started, where the competition is now and how the club was able to open their doors to more females from their community and make them feel part of the Barkers Creek Cricket Club