ALMOST 400 pupils, representing nearly all the schools in the Bega Valley, attended a special Milo T20 blast cricket day at the Bega Athletics Field on Thursday.
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Cricket NSW/ACT senior development officer Matt Paton said it “is a work in progress to rebuild the culture in junior cricket”, but gala days are making strong headway for the junior competition.
“Here today we have 42 teams consisting about 420 kids, which is a 50 to 60 number improvement on last year,” Paton said.
“A lot of schools are sending more teams and getting the kids more familiar with the game.”
Aimed at pupils in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6, the day isn’t competitive Paton said.
“It is not about winning or losing, the day is participation based and we want the kids to have a bit of fun for their first try of cricket,” he said.
Spread across a shortened T20 format, the day included 21 fields of games and also featured a number of novelty events.
“It is more than a cricket day, there is a high-catching competition, fundraisers and the dance- off, it’s a bit more like a community event,” Paton said with a laugh.
Over the day, teams took part in four matches each as well as the fun events.
“The game is fast-flowing so the kids don’t get bored.
“We also have music playing in the background that keeps everything energetic,” he said.
Kids were also encouraged to hone their dancing skills while they were in the field ahead of the dance-off competition.
Paton said a highlight for him was the even participation between boys and girls.
“The bonus for me is the number of girls taking part, about half the players here today are girls,” Paton said.
“That means over 200 are girls.”
There is no pressure put on the kids to sign up for cricket, but they are provided plenty of information on the sport if they want to join.
“Every kid goes home with a flyer, stickers and some Milo,” Paton said.
“It is more about getting them familiar with the game.”
The growing strength in the junior competition will inevitably provide strength to the senior grades.
“There are a lot of talented cricketers down this way,” Paton said.
“The progress we need to make is to boost club level cricket so those players enjoy more cricket and a higher level of competition each week.
“That will happen with more participation days like this one. There is a lot to be done, but we are getting there,” he said.
