Tarneit Cricket Club president Sam Singh is eagerly anticipating the new WDCA season. 68268_01 Picture: KRISTIAN SCOTT
By LIAM TWOMEY
NEW kids on the block Tarneit are looking to build on a successful first season in the Williamstown and District Cricket Association.
Having formed last year, the club enjoyed outstanding results, powering to a premiership in the B-Grade Matting competition as well as being runners up in the C-Grade Matting Division.
That level of accomplishment was enough to see the club promoted to the B-Turf competition for the upcoming season.
The good news doesn’t stop there with Tarneit also welcoming new head coach Andrew Manokoran as well as a third senior team and its first junior side.
Tarneit president Sam Singh said the club was excited to launch into its second season of competition.
“In order to jump from matting to turf we needed a bit more of a structured approach with our training to translate some good results moving forward so we have got Andrew on board,” Singh said.
“We have already started our pre-season training. We are two weeks into that which has been great.
“We have had a lot of interest from people and we have signed up about 20 new members and most of the members that we had last year are also staying so we are expecting to grow the club to probably 100 members this year.”
While cricket attracted the majority of Tarneit’s members, Singh said one of the most enjoyable aspects of the club had been the many friendships formed amongst players, a number of whom were playing cricket in Australia for the first time.
“Wyndham being such a diverse community, it is giving them a platform to come and make friends so it is working for cricket but also for the actual community as well,” he said.
“I would really put that aspect over and above cricket any day.
“A lot of our players have said the same thing that this platform has allowed them to get out and make some friends in the community because everyone is new around here.”
Tarneit has no plans to slow down with more players encouraged to sign up to the club in the lead-up to the new season.
Singh said it would be great to hear from anyone looking to play cricket in the area or any local businesses that would be interested in helping the club with sponsorship as it continues to grow.
Any interested parties can contact Sam Singh on 0438 400 272 or log onto the club’s website for more information.
