Page 5 - WPHCC 2023-2024 Cricket Season Yearbook

President report
The 2023/24 season was a circuit breaker to the last 4 seasons – four of the most challenging seasons in living memory: drought, bush fires, extreme heat, followed by floods, Covid-19 pandemic and a poor PlayHQ system implementation by Cricket Australia.
Finally, the 2023/24 season allowed us to focus on cricket and embedding the learnings of the last 4 years into our operational model.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every volunteer during 2023/24, whether it was a coach, manager, umpire, scorer, captain, age coordinator, committee member, laying out the boundary cones (and then picking them up) or any other role. You all have contributed to junior and senior players being active and enjoying their cricket, together we are a stronger club and that is because of your efforts.
The season at a glance
On-field
The ‘Participation over Results’ policy in Junior cricket was adopted in 1999 and therefore is a long- term foundational value for our club’s approach to junior cricket, giving a ‘fair go’ to all. We seek to develop ALL players to participate to their level of capability and this initiative has and will continue to deliver successful outcomes for players and parents to enjoy their cricket. As a club, we measure our success by the number of players returning the following season, not by ‘tin cups’. This strategic approach continues to deliver strong player retention and growth for our club, noting the long-term approach to player development allows our players to compete against other club teams, namely:
• We won the Junior Club Championship for the 4th successive season (noting the calculations are equalised no matter the size of the club)
• In the U12’s all 6 Teams finished in the top 8 in a 17 Team competition with the Grand Final being played between our Teams
• Across all competitive Age Divisions (U12 to U17) our Teams finished Minor Premiers
Our Girls registered an equal record 6 Teams with 4 of these Teams making the top 4 with our Stage 2 (McGrath) side winning the Minor Premiership
Club registrations of 805 is the first time we have reached this milestone
In Senior’s, a record 15 Teams were registered with 8 Semi Finalists, 4 Grand Finalists and 2 Premiers.
Off-field
The Academy continues to go from strength to strength. Under the Leadership of Connor Hindmarch, we had 16 Girls and a capacity of 30 boys register for the 10-week program. The boy’s session sold out in 2 days!
The free Skills Clinics had 100 boys, and 70 girls participate, and feedback is exceptional Future-proofing:
• Our website is being redeveloped to use the latest technology and fully integrated into social media
• Clothing supply, distribution and stock management is being outsourced to a 3rd party, removing an onerous volunteer role
Schools Clinics continued with over 1,500 children being introduced to cricket