NICHOLS Point Cricket Club president Karl Ferguson said the club is in its healthiest position since joining the Sunraysia Cricket Association (SCA).
With a junior program almost bursting at the seams, a flourishing women’s division and a senior group that continues to improve, the Pointers are on the upward trajectory.
Further developments are also taking place on their home deck by adding two new turf wickets to keep up with the traffic. This means Sarah Oval and John Hall Oval No.1 will host early games of the new season while the pitches are being developed.
While a number of sporting clubs in the current climate have struggled to retain juniors, that hasn’t been the case for Nichols Point. With a partnership through the neighbouring Nichols Point Primary School, the club has developed a thriving junior program that may even see them enter two Under 16 teams into the SCA.
“I certainly think the club is in it’s best position it’s been in for a long time,” Ferguson said.
“I think with the numbers we’ve got and the number of teams we’re putting in we’d have to be the biggest club in Sunraysia from a participation perspective. That includes seniors, women’s, girls and boys.
“We’ve got approval and we’ve been working with Mildura Rural City Council and Australian Cricket Infrastructure Fund to get some funds for our two new pitches. “Because our club has grown so much in the last 12 to 18 months, the four pitches we’ve got now are getting a lot of use, being used on Friday nights, Saturday mornings, Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings, and we just want to have a few more options.
“We’re also extending our cricket nets to make that a bit safer, and then again hopefully in the next 12 months we’ll hopefully look at flattening out of the oval on the school side to make it a bit bigger.”
Ferguson said the club is also working with council and Member for Mildura Ali Cupper to put together a pavilion for use by sporting groups at the Nichols Point ground, as well as the community.
The president, who is in his second season in charge, said the culture of the club has been a big factor in its growth.
“We feel we’ve got the right culture and we want to entice as many kids as we can to play,” he said.
“When it starts from the bottom we’ve really had a great partnership with the Nichols Point Primary School over the past five years or so and I think it all stems from your Milo Cricket, which is starting to come to fruition now through Under 12, Under 14 and Under 16 grades.
“The building blocks were in place through a great alignment from Dan Holy and Trav Zanker and the previous committee. They’ve done a hell of a job getting a lot of kids here.
“We’re certainly having ongoing discussions as to whether or not we have two Under 16 teams, but we’re looking at all different options when it comes to our kids because it’s all about participation and we’ve just got to make sure we give our kids every opportunity to participate.
“We just make to make sure we get as many on the park as we can, and we’re considering various different options and talking to other clubs as well.”
