School Spirit

Yup. I don’t really understand how it came about, but we just lost our last indoor cricket match of the season which dropped us from third to fourth place. Usually that would mean we were playing off against the top team next week for the right to play in the grand final. Seems that when you’re playing in a mixed A and B grade competition, they do things a little differently.

They’ve split the ladder into two groups of finals. The first three play for the A Grade title, the next three play for the B Grade title. The first of each set of three automatically go through to the final match. So… yeah. Losing this last match means we’re now straight into the B Grade Grand Final next Friday, and the team who beat us take our spot on the ladder and have to play to get into the A Grade team.

So… basically… we’ve just earned a Grand Final place by losing our match. Fortunately we tried our bums off to win because it looked like we might have dropped out completely, but it’s quite an amusing turn of events. We lose our last match of the season, yet we’re still going to leave next week with a trophy!

How cool is that??

Sunday morning, the sun’s already belting down before nine in the morning, and anyone with half a brain is planning on spending the last day of their weekend holed up indoors either camped in front of their air conditioners or spending time with a bag of granny smiths inside the crisper compartment of their fridge. Not me. No, this particular Sunday, with the mercury tipped to rise up like a furious Messiah beyond 38 Celsius, I’m driving into town to the club’s presentation day. Why? Because when they said to me in November, ‘hey, you’re here killing time after work anyway, and you work with little buggers this age, you can coach the Under 12s!’

And me? I said, ‘yeah, okay’.

Jokes aside though, this day is probably the most important of the year for those kids, even though I doubt they realise it. They turn up to train once a week before the older teams and are usually all finished and back home again before the senior players rock up later in the afternoon after work. They turn up each Wednesday afternoon after school and run around like mad cats across the various local ovals across town chasing red leather balls or, if someone’s actually managed to take a catch, after each other. We don’t technically keep track of who wins or loses these matches, and if they ask ‘did we win’ and we reply ‘well, you played really well’, they tend to grab each other in communal group hugs or ’stacks on the mill’ cheering ‘we won, we won!’ Life can be so simple when you’re young, eh?

Despite all that, and the fun and enjoyment they get from just getting out there and having a red hot go, I still think that the presentation day at the end of the season is one of the most important for them. It’s the one day when the rest of the club actually realises they’re there. The Under 14 and 16 teams play each week and with luck reach finals and, appropriately, are talked up to the rest of the senior members of the club. When they play finals, there’s always several members of the senior teams turning up to support them throughout the day. Not so the Under 12s.

Presentation Day is the one day of the year when the rest of the club recognises that they are a part of the club, and importantly, they’re the future of the club. This is what I tried to bring across making my impromptu speech handing out their little trophies. Not only were they being presented to the club on Sunday, but I made sure I mentioned something particular about each young kid too. They’re not just little tackers running around in games that don’t really count through the week, these are kids that love the game, love playing together and are the future of the club.

I was rapt at the end when they presented me with a parting gift for the season. A cricket helmet… the last piece of gear I needed and was too stingy to buy! Now, after three seasons, I finally have a full collection of gear. I should have held out and tried to get them to give me a cricket bat next year, eh? But I guess the one item I’ll treasure most is the photo of the team. It’ll end up on a wall somewhere around here an, one day, when some of these kids reach the A grade team, I can look back and think ‘I can barely play this game, but bugger me, this kid playing A grade… I was his first coach!’

Anyway… although their presentation only lasted about twenty minutes, the rest of the club was now aware of who these little fellers were, and they now knew something more about them.

Once that was over, lunch arrived, the rest of the presentations were made, the kids all went home, and we watched the Under 16s play the Legends (over 40s) in the now annual challenge match. The young fellers did well, but the Legends retained their undefeated status and much amber fluid was consumed.

Once the game concluded and most went home, with the day still hot and dry, somehow the buckets came out and anyone who wasn’t quick enough or wasn’t paying attention got drenched in water. I didn’t end up dry until I got home at 11pm! Couldn’t really complain though, eh? I figured if a kid could now come up to me, give me that little cheeky glint in his eye and then throw a full bucket of water at me and not grizzle when I caught the bucket and tipped the last half on him, then I guess that’s respect of a sort, eh?

It’s the respect I’d prefer, anyway!

Guess I’m coaching next year now too…

Related posts: Coaching Under 12s… the final cricket match of the season.

Technorati Tags: cricket, kids sport, coaching.

In the shadow of the local paper mill, with the smell of acrid chemicals and paper pulp wafting across on the late summer afternoon breeze, and the tic-tic-tic of the high tension powerlines tapping a staccato of mild electrical radiation overhead, our Under 12 cricket team fronted up to play their final match of the season. Their opponents appeared, dressed all in white and looking rather intimidating as they walked by with their five foot of height as most our little blokes ricked their necks looking up to see their faces. A team of grade six and year seven kids striding past them, and our rag tag bunch made up mainly of kids just starting grade four. Could it have been more daunting?

How about we play by Under 14 rules instead, eh? That’d do it. Last week, you’re in with your partner for four overs. If you go out, you get to stay around until your four overs are completed. Today, you can stay in for longer, but once you’re out, tell your story walking, sunshine, because your day at the crease is over, champ!

Even if you’re out first ball.

This is no backyard cricket, my lads.

You mean… you can even go out LBW??

Well… nah, I’m not calling LBW today, that’s just nasty.

So, yes. Today our Under 12s played their final match, with Under 14 rules. If you go out, you’re out. But at the same time, if you make 15 runs, we decided to retire them to give the other kids a hit anyway. If they sat around and blocked everything and I was in danger of falling asleep umpiring at square leg, then they were retired as well. We only had twenty two overs to play with and fourteen kids to get out there.

The kids played with a really good spirit, all said and done. Only one managed to get retired, and that was mainly because he took too long, but he came back at the end to finish his innings after everyone else had gone out. One poor little feller found out cricket’s a mongrel of a game when he was bowled first ball. The rest, even if they went out after only a few balls, seemed to take it fairly well in their stride. They seemed to know that they could get their own back when they bowled after tea.

In fact, the first thing the youngest little feller said when he was run out at the end was ‘okay, where’s the pizza?’

I have no idea if we won or not. We never bother adding up the bowling scores, just our batting scores. It’s Under 12s. It doesn’t matter who wins. Just get out there and have a crack and a bit of fun. The kids ran off the field thinking they were winners anyway, because each time we took a wicket, the batsman was out of the game. Little victories are enormous when you’re ten!

Seeing a ten year old turn bowl a ball to have it snicked by the batsman and caught behind, then turn to appeal to you with the biggest grin you’d ever see on his face… that’s Under 12 cricket.

Seeing the rest of the team play ’stacks-on’ as they all pile on top of him a few moments later… that’s Under 12 cricket.

Seeing the little feller stagger to his feet once the kids crawled off him… that’s just funny.

Here’s to next season… but thankfully not until October!

Related posts: Scoring for basketball… leads me to drink!.

Technorati tags: cricket, kids sport, coaching.

Today was the final week of the regular local cricket season. For myself, an eternal C Grade player because I’m really not the greatest cricketer going around, and not wanting to play two week matches in B Grade anyway, the season finished a week early with a bye this week. But… that gave us the chance to wander across the district to a little township further north to watch B Grade try to win their match in the hopes of making the finals next week.

More importantly, it was to see off a clubman who retired today after playing 436 matches for the club. And to see him off in style.

They were in to bat last week and made 236, leaving 10 wickets for them to take today while out there fielding. We set ourselves up around the boundary under the trees and away from the main stands with a few coldies in the esky and gave it our all. As the sun fell lower and lower in the sky, we slowly got louder and louder and had a good old afternoon calling out friendly and not so friendly sledges to the opposition and, more importantly, our teammates. Just because they’re out there playing doesn’t mean they’re not fair game to a friendly sledge! A long story short, they bowled them out for 220 and won the game. If results fall our way, they’ll play in the finals next week. But to be honest, that’s secondary.

Our old feller finished the match not out from his batting innings the week before, and fittingly came on to bowl at the end of the day and took the final wicket to win the match. Those of us who were there were quick to gather at the gate before he arrived (because he’s pushing it now and doesn’t move fast when he doesn’t have to) and formed a guard of honour for him to pass through.

One of the best moments I think I’ll ever have at the club.

I only had the privilege of playing one match with him since I joined the club, but looking back, having the opportunity to say I’ve batted with him once and hitting the winning runs in that match myself (of the half dozen I made) is something I can look back on proudly to say ‘I played alongside him’.

A nice, fitting way to send off a legend of the club, but not quite perfect.

We fixed that up tonight back at the club rooms with lots of beer.

Cricket’s a drinker’s game!