The successful roll out of Junior Cricket has continued across the Territory this season, extending down to Katherine, where, for the first time in 10 years, Junior Cricket made an exciting return this weekend.
Junior Cricket Makes an Exciting Return to Katherine
On Saturday 11 May, the first of four Woolworths Cricket Blast sessions got underway at the Katherine Community Indoor Sports Centre, for kids aged 4+.
For a remote town 3 hours south of Darwin with a population of just 6000 people, 20+ participants would have been considered a successful start, but on Saturday morning we welcomed double that, with 42 Juniors enthusiastically taking part in our first Woolworths Cricket Blast session. This fantastic launch would not have been possible without the support of Cricket Australia and the Woolworths Community Fund as well as all the amazing parent volunteers, who got involved with the drills and games, ensuring a great morning for all participants.
At the conclusion of the four-week Cricket Blast program, participants will have the opportunity to transition into a six-week midweek Indoor Cricket Competition; three weeks from Tuesday 4 June to Tuesday 18 June and then another three weeks from Tuesday 23 July to Tuesday 6 August, with the longer-term aim to transition to outdoor Junior Cricket in 2025. This Indoor Cricket Competition will focus on providing continued playing opportunities for school aged Juniors.
A significant amount of investment has been provided to help bring Junior Cricket back to Katherine over the past six months. NT Cricket have run two Cricket Gala Days for local primary schools, as well as numerous individual clinics at local primary schools, hosted a ‘teacher upskill’ session and featured at the Katherine ‘Come & Try Sport’ Expo for the first time this year. The level of engagement within the Katherine community has been fantastic, with incredible support shown for growing the game of cricket by local schools, teaching staff, School Sport (Big Rivers), Katherine Indoor Sports, parents and students.
This is only the beginning for Junior Cricket in Katherine, and will hopefully stand as a great benchmark moving forward. It’s not too late to join us for the remaining weeks of the Woolworths Cricket Blast program, and beyond into the upcoming Indoor Cricket Competition. Click here for more information and to register for the program. Thanks to the Woolworths Community Fund and Cricket Australia, all participants will receive a free Cricket Blast shirt and hat.