Milo launch goes straight to our heart

Some of cricket’s top brass came to the heartland of the Moonee Valley Cricket Club on October 19, with the State-wide launch of the Milo Have-A-Go program.

Moonee Ponds Central School was chosen for the media launch, and Victorian Bushrangers players and Victorian Spirit stars were on hand to promote it and to run a clinic with 30 lucky MPCS students.

Moonee Ponds Central School spawned our juniors 11 years ago, when a group of parents approached the Moonee Valley Cricket Club.

The discussions led to the formation of an Under 10 and an Under 12 team, and we’ve gone from strength to strength since.

Pictured at the launch were MPCS students and (back, from left) Moonee Valley Cricket Club junior co-ordinator Charlie Walker; Bushrangers mascot Ned Bushranger; MPCS principal Mary Bluer; Australian women's Test cricketer Melanie Jones; and Bushrangers players Peter Siddell and Allan Wise. Front: Victorian Spirit players Kelly Applebee and Bree Binch, and Cricket Victoria's Milo co-ordinator Gary Brown.

Cricket Victoria became aware of the close links between our Club and the school and the strong support for cricket, so it was only natural that Moonee Ponds Central was given the honor of the launch. And the school was also the alma mater of our Club curator, Ian “Spider” Beel.

This season’s Milo Have-A-Go was launched by Cricket Victoria CEO Ken Jacobs, along with Cricket Victoria’s HAG co-ordinator Gary Brown. Bushrangers players Allan Wise and Peter Siddle, and Spirit players Melanie Jones, Kelly Applebee and Bree Binch attended, and ran the clinics.

Moonee Ponds Central School principal Mary Bluer was full of praise for Moonee Valley Cricket Club in her speech, pointing out the excellent relationship between Club and school and some of the projects we have assisted with in upgrading the grounds.

At right is Cricket Victoria's north-west region manager Stuart Clark (a great friend of Moonee Valley Cricket Club) with student Jiyan Mimtas, who intends to play with Moonee Valley next season)  

On the Club’s part, we appreciate the support of Mary, her teachers and the school in enabling us to play Under 12 games on the oval and in being some of our most enthusiastic recruiters of junior cricketers.

The comments of Mary and of our Cricket Victoria Region 10 Regional Cricket Manager Stuart Clark were wonderful in telling the wider cricket community of our achievements in promoting and encouraging the sport in our area.

We also had the opportunity to talk to senior Cricket Victoria and Cricket Australia officials about what we are achieving as a Club, with all our juniors – boys and girls – our eight senior teams, our Dads and our cricketers with intellectual disabilities.

Cricket Victoria is also pleased that Moonee Valley Cricket Club has come on board with a Milo Have-A-Go program this season, which will enable us to reach out to a younger group of children and introduce them to cricket.

Moonee Valley Cricket Club’s Milo Have-A-Go program starts with a registration day on Tuesday, November 14 at 6.15pm. Anyone wanting more details can email Club president, Sandro Capocchi, who is our Milo Have-A-Go co-ordinator this season on scapocc@hotmail.com or he can be phoned on 0405 956 185.

You can also phone Charlie Walker on 9370 1802 or 0409 237 543.