Junior Registration 2022/23

Greetings Moonee Valley junior players and families.

Season 2022/23 is fast approaching, and everyone is wishing that we can have a year where COVID doesn’t have an impact – but we wouldn’t bet on it.

Now that football is finishing up, it’s time to focus on summer and cricket.

Your club has been active in the off-season, and we’re looking forward to the next steps in our junior program.

Our birthdate analysis gives us confidence that we have players to field teams in all four age groups this season – Under 16s, Under 14s, Under 12s and Under 10s.

We have applications to coach the Under 12 and Under 14 teams from last year’s coaches, and will finalise the appointments in due course after we consider any other applicants.

The senior section of the club has decided to go with a panel approach to coaching this season, and we hope this will rub off on our junior structure.

One of the members of our senior coaching panel is a first class cricketer from Pakistan, Wasim Abbas, who arrives in Australia on September 13.

Wasim has coached the Under 16 and Under 19 rep teams from Dera Ismail Khan – a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province – which is probably the equivalent of junior State cricket here in Australia, or one level below.

Wasim has expressed great interest in our junior program and we are exploring options for his involvement, particularly with the Under 16s.

The NWMCA junior season starts on Friday, October 7 and hopefully we will get a start on time, without the impact of COVID intervening as it has the past two seasons.

Registration for junior players has now opened, and the link to online registration is attached here - https://play.cricket.com.au/club/moonee-valley-cricket-club/147223ea-86d8-eb11-a7ad-2818780da0cc

A proposal by our club committee to hold junior fees at the same level as last year was endorsed at the Annual General Meeting on August 1. The fee is $235 for the season, discounted to $200 if paid before November 4.

There is always strength in numbers, so we ask our junior players and families to talk to friends and see if you can recruit some extra players to expand our squads – because the best endorsement of our program is word-of-mouth.

We are planning for junior training to commence in mid-September, once we have Ormond Park back from our football colleagues.

I have been reappointed as Moonee Valley’s junior co-ordinator this season, although I will happily hand over duties should anyone else be interested in transitioning to the role.

The junior co-ordinator role has in the past been held by parents of juniors, and indeed I got my start at Moonee Valley with seven seasons in the job – though the youngest of my two sons graduated from the junior program in 2004.

I’m keen to get greater parent involvement in decision-making this season and would like nominations from families for a junior committee, along with the coaches. Anyone interested should phone or text me on 0411 705 381.

So please register now so we can move forward and plan with confidence.

Cheers,

Charlie Walker.
Moonee Valley Cricket Club President/Junior Co-ordinator