Torquay cricket teacher named nation's best

TORQUAY Cricket Club’s Zoe Lewis says the plaudit of being the nation’s best Cricket Blast coordinator should go to the whole club, not just her.

Lewis was first named the top coordinator in Victoria by Cricket Victoria before going on to win nationally at Cricket Australia’s 2025–26 Community Cricket Awards earlier this month.

Cricket Blast is the entry-level version of cricket for children aged up to 10 – akin to Auskick for the AFL – and features skill-based activities and modified games with an emphasis on fun.

“It’s a great acknowledgement, but I’m pretty embarrassed,” Lewis said.

“It’s something that I feel like is part of the cricket club, not just an individual award. The senior players, the women’s and the men’s have a big role in our program and the cricket committee do a lot of work as well behind the scenes using my planning to make it work.”

Lewis first became involved as a volunteer three years ago when her husband Mark took on the role of vice-president at the club and their daughter took up Cricket Blast.

Torquay Cricket Club’s Zoe Lewis with her awards for Cricket Blast Coordinator of the Year from Cricket Australia and Cricket Victoria. Photo: James Taylor.

A physical education teacher, Lewis has grown Torquay’s Cricket Blast program into one of the largest in the Geelong region, with participation leaping from 31 children to more than 130 children in the space of two seasons.

She attributed the growth to good planning and lots of help from the club’s committee and senior players.

“It’s small groups; we don’t want the kids standing around for too long so there’s lots of activities and they rotate around,” she said.

Children are split into different age groups and further split into groups of 10, each of which is led by a senior player.

“We also have nights at the club for the families to introduce the people of Torquay to the cricket club,” Lewis said.

“I’m passionate about the Torquay football, cricket and netball club, so getting the community down here to see what it’s all about and getting kids involved in sport is really important to me.”

The 2026–27 Cricket Blast season starts in November.