Young Sharks and Stingrays ‘Starring’

JUNIOR cricket has made quite the comeback post COVID around the Leongatha District Cricket Association, especially for Inverloch and Phillip Island who battled it out in both the under 15s and 17s Grand Finals last season. 
The two were again locked atop the league ladder at the Christmas break and were even honoured by the Melbourne Stars last week. 
The Stars invited all junior premiership teams from last season to their match with the Adelaide Strikers at the MCG last Thursday night, for a lap of honour on the hallowed turf. 

Having won the under 17s premiership a season ago, the Stingrays squad made the trek to the big smoke, bringing with them members of the premiership side, as well as this season’s new faces. 
Inverloch’s junior co-ordinator Jackie Newman spoke on the experience and how it was enjoyed by all. 
“Thursday night was great, to be invited firstly and to be recognised and acknowledged for winning a premiership and it was also great because we had a mix of last year’s premiership team and this year’s under 17s squad,” she said. 
“So, we had a few younger ones who’ve come into the team this season too, so it was good to just get them on a bus going away and having a night together and they got to watch the Big Bash too!”

Newman also gave an overview of how junior cricket is going for the young Stingrays.
“I would say it’s good, we’ve kept most of our juniors together which is pleasing, we’ve got really good coaches in place, and I think, as a whole, right through our club we’ve got some really good players coming through,” she said. 
Newman mentioned how the under 17s premiership win and the under 15s Grand Final berth a season ago gave the talented squad a boost into this season, where both teams are again in finals contention. 
“I think the experience for them is great, we’ve managed to retain all of those kids, we’ve also got seven brand new families into the under 15s this year so it’s good for them to come in and play with the kids that’ve had the experience of finals and Grand Finals,” she said.

As mentioned, Inverloch has turned themselves into a fierce contender each year, and Newman explained how this came about and what it does for the kids and their cricket.
“Most of the kids that’re coming through the ranks have played a lot of cricket and played a lot of cricket together and most of them play senior cricket as well so they get double cricket on a Saturday,” she said. 
“We also have a large portion of the kids playing representative cricket, so they’re getting a lot of cricket in so I think that helps, but we’ve also got really strong under 12s and Woolworths Blast kids as well, so there’s constantly really strong players coming through the ranks.”

The young Stingrays teams are full of talent, but Newman highlighted some standouts to watch as the season nears the pointy end.
“In the under 12s, keep an eye on Aedan Parker and Noah McMillan, in the under 15s watch Ty Debono, Mia Dugard, Holly Williams and Laighton Radford and in the under 17s Harry Butcher, Jesse Dugard and Riley Harris, I could name them all really,” she said. 
She was obviously too humble to mention her own sons, Cooper and Rhys Newman, who are both having excellent seasons in the under 15s and 17s respectively.  

The Stingrays junior co-ordinator finished by giving her thanks. 
“Our junior coaches, I think deserve a lot of credit, aside from the players the coaches deserve all the credit really for the work that they put into our kids,” she said.
“Not only do they coach them but they genuinely love being around the groups, and they have a genuine pride in wanting to develop all our kids and that’s in all our programs from Woolies to under 17s.”

The Stingrays and Sharks have almost forged a bond through sustained success, as both clubs have played off in the finals for the last few years. 
Sharks’ junior co-ordinator Tarryn Allen also spoke about the state of junior cricket on the Island and their success.

“We’ve got two under 12 sides, we’ve got an under 15s and an under 17s and we’ve got really strong numbers in each one, the Milo Blast has been getting between 30-50 each week so that was nice and strong too,” he said. 
“It’s very positive down on the Island to be honest, we’re trying to get some money from the Council to upgrade our nets and cricket pitch because the amount of traffic and numbers it gets is growing each year, it’s very positive though.”

Allan explained that the high participation rates in the Shark’s junior ranks has sparked a feel good vibe around the club. 
Although his club is deeply successful, Allan reiterated the importance of the ensuring the togetherness and of club is number one.

“We only had two of the under 15s go up to the under 17s and the rest have stayed, I think the last three years in the 15s it’s been Inverloch versus Phillip Island in the Grand Final and if you played finals tomorrow it’d be the same again,” he said.

Getting kids back involved in sport post COVID has been a big challenge, so seeing such great amounts of them playing cricket locally, enjoying it and succeeding warms the heart of the entire community. 
Allan praised the work of his junior coaches and how they’ve elicited success from the young Islanders. 
“The majority of that under 17s team and half the under 15s team are all playing seniors as well which is really good to see,” he said. 
“I think for the 17s, they’ve got coach Connor Epifano and he’s been fantastic with those kids, he’s a fantastic cricketer himself, so he’s able to really teach them and hone their skills to be very competitive each week.”

Allan also explained the value of finals cricket and the kids playing in big games. 
“It’s unbelievable, it just helps with their confidence, the majority of the three LDCA junior Gippsland Cricket League teams are made up of Phillip Island kids which is fantastic,” he said. 
“Everyone’s got really good relationships across the league, it’s really good, all the kids get nervous in those games but it’s only going to help their confidence going forward I think,
“If they stick at it at Phillip Island, they’re more than likely to play finals for the next six or seven years.”

Allan then finished by highlighting some players to watch in the second half of the season and also gave his thanks. 
“The standouts for me in the under 12s look for a little kid called Jaxen Marshall, great little player, fast bowler and can bat, the main kid to watch in under 15s is Jobe Williams, unbelievably quick for his age I think he’s just turned 13, can bat very well too,” he said.
“Then in the 17s, you’ve got the likes of George McCausland and Heath Womersley, they’re stars in that team, and both played A grade on the weekend so what more could you ask for with two 14/15-year old’s,
“We’ve got Dan McCausland who’s the president, doing a fantastic job and his right hand man Andy O’Brien, they’re doing a great job as you can see with the state of our juniors and seniors.”