QUINNS Rocks Junior Cricket Club took out three honours at Cricket Australia’s 2019 A Sport For All Awards event in Melbourne.
The northern suburbs club was recognised as the Community Cricket Club of the Year and having the Junior Cricket Program of the Year while club stalwart Toby Morrell was crowned Junior Cricket Champion of the Year.
President Daniel Shortill said he was extremely proud of his club just for being nominated.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOW“The reality of it is that the worst we could have done is finish as the second best junior cricket club in Australia, which is a huge achievement,” he said.
“If you don’t have volunteers, you don’t have a club.
“No one gets paid for it, all kinds of people step up and take on all sorts of jobs and without them we simply wouldn’t have a club.”
Fellow West Australians Team Connect also won the Community Cricket Initiative of the Year, while Inclusion Solutions won Partner Organisation of the Year.
Team Connect aims to link girls at secondary schools in low socio-economic areas to a local junior cricket club to give girls a sense of belonging and a connection to their local community.
Run by Margie Oldfield, the program has made a significant impact in its first season with two new girls teams at Ascot Eagles Junior Cricket Club and Thornlie Junior Cricket Club for the 2018-19 Season.
The WA Cricket Association (WACA) and Inclusion Solutions joined forces in 2018 to promote cricket as a sport for all West Australians.
The partnership has seen Inclusion Solutions provide training to staff, club administrators and volunteers, and access to mentoring for cricket clubs aimed at strengthening operations, knowledge and skills in the area of inclusion and diversity.
Last season saw them mentor 12 clubs and associations and their volunteers to help them achieve a more inclusive community.
WACA community cricket general manager Jo Davies said she was “so proud” of their “dedicated and passionate volunteers”… “because our sport would simply not survive without them”.
“Being able to showcase the amazing work by Quinns Rocks JCC, Team Connect and Inclusion Solutions through A Sport For All Awards is a fantastic opportunity,” she said.
“We can share their stories and successes to hopefully inspire other clubs and volunteers with new ideas, as well as provide motivation to our clubs to keep doing great things that unite and inspire our communities through cricket.”