Cricket kids invited to have a blast

AN annual program aimed at showcasing cricket to budding young players is now underway at one of the region’s clubs.

Members of Teesdale Cricket Club commenced their Woolworths Blast program last Thursday, giving kids aged between five and nine the chance to try their batting or throwing hands at the sport.

The Roos’ junior coordinator Kalin Chambers said the Blasters program is an integral pathway for developing young players.

“The focus is not so much about playing cricket because it can be quite a complicated sport especially when you’re little and uncoordinated,” he said.

“It’s about learning team skills, ball skills, holding a bat, running. It really covers from kids who’ve never played any sport all the way to eventually under 11s.

“We’ll have the full blasters kits for them to use and different drills and exercises with tips recorded by Australian cricketers.”

With two sessions now complete, the program is set to run each Thursday from 5pm at the Don Wallace Reserve concurrently with the under 11s, until the end of the season in mid-December.

Following the holiday break, the program is set to recommence for another five sessions once the next season begins in early January.

The first session last week saw about 12 kids, and Mr Chambers said he’d love to see a consistent group of about 20 by the end of the program.

Aside from preparing kids for potentially juniors and beyond, Mr Chambers said the blasters program is a great way to build parental involvement with the Roos community.

“Because it’s hands on with the kids being seven, eight years old, a lot of the parents will stay back and get involved,” he said.

“It sets up the kids and the parents engaged and interacting from the start so when under 11s starts, mum and dad know a couple cricket skills and may even be willing to umpire or contribute other ways.”

To register your child for the blasters program, visit the Teesdale Cricket Club’s page on the Play HQ website.