Queensland Cricket is very proud of the outstanding contribution these volunteers and initiatives make to the success of cricket in Queensland, and the work of these individuals, clubs and associations make at the grassroots level represents a major stake in the overall strength of the game.
The ninth award Queensland Cricket would like to celebrate is the Partnership of the Year award.
Congratulations to St George Cricket Association, Balonne School Sport, and South-West School Sport.
The St George Cricket Association has partnered with local district school sport (Balonne School Sport) and regional school sport (South-West School Sport) to conduct the Balonne District and South-West Region Girls and Boys 10-12 years cricket trials. As the school system had extreme difficulty sourcing expertise to conduct the trials, St George Cricket stepped in to provide this and the Balonne District provided administrative support. This partnership has now successfully continued for several years.
Links between St George Cricket, and other South-West Cricket Associations, and the local and regional school sport system, have been created through working cooperatively together to conduct the trials, select, coach and manage the Balonne and South-West teams.
Parents have expressed significant satisfaction in this to the point where they are excited to be involved and support the teams. The Balonne and South-West trials bring more than 70 players plus their parents and school staff to town. Cricket is on show and is the talk of the town whilst the trials are being conducted.
Through this visible partnership, more players and parents see school sport cricket as an extension of local junior cricket and are thus very keen to participate. This provides extra opportunities for local players to experience the game at a higher level, which in turn improves the skill level for not only local players, but also for players across the South-West.
Before this partnership was created, the profile of school sport cricket was very much on the decline. Now the profile of the game at school sport level as well as Association and South-West Country level is experiencing a high. This is evidenced through the large number of participants at the recent South-West Country Challenge Cup trials conducted in St George.