MEMBERS of the VRI Delacombe Cricket Club will celebrate their alumni in an inaugural past players celebration set for early next year.<\/p>\n
The event will take place at Doug Dean Reserve on Saturday, 7 January, with attendees to include more than 15 confirmed club veterans.<\/p>\n
President, Thomas Nichols, said the day will be a chance to look back on the club and foster a culture for its older members.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not like the bigger clubs where the life members sort of hang around. We don\u2019t really see our past players that much like Wendouree, East Ballarat and the like,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want us to really have that culture with getting the older blokes back around here. I did a bit of a deep dive into our history so this\u2019ll be a bit of a low-key catchup for everyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople can have a few beers, tell a few stories and watch our twos playing Napoleons-Sebastopol in a one-day match which\u2019ll be our first game back after Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n
The event will coincide with a reunion between the club\u2019s premiership-winning teams of 1972\/73 and 2002\/03, as well as an unveiling of their refurbished honour board.<\/p>\n
Mr Nichols spent much of the year collating the club\u2019s history from archival material from the Ballaarat Mechanics\u2019 Institute and conversations with past members.<\/p>\n
He aims to collect the club\u2019s history in a book, and said it\u2019s important the club members have an understanding of their history.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing we really have to look back on our history. I don\u2019t even know how the club was formed so something like this is just invaluable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important for me as someone who\u2019s been around the club my whole life to get something like this happening.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MEMBERS of the VRI Delacombe Cricket Club will celebrate their alumni in an inaugural past players celebration set for early next year. The event will take place at Doug Dean Reserve on Saturday, 7 January, with attendees to include more than 15 confirmed club veterans. President, Thomas Nichols, said the day will be a chance […]<\/p>\n