CV & CCA Coach of the Year – Junior

Cricket Victoria and Cricket Coaches Australia are looking for the best local coaches of the 2015-16 season.

Junior Coach of the Year Finalists

Name: Brett McGrath
Club: Eynesbury Eagles CC
Accreditation level: Introduction to Cricket
Years of coaching: 1
Reason for nomination: Brett spent equal time with the new, and more experienced players. He identified each child’s strength whilst encouraging them to build new ones. He balanced game day accross the strong and weak performers, making sure every child had a bat and bowl, rotating on and off the field and in different positions fairly. He didn’t coach or play to win or for stats, rather tried to build skill and enthusium for the game he loves. His focus was on team work and supporting the kids development. He is approachable and flexible, working with kids and parents to get a great outcome for all.

Name: Chris George
Club: Glen Waverley Hawks CC
Accreditation level: Community Coach
Years of coaching: 8
Reason for nomination: Chris has been instrumental in building our Junior program basically from the ground up starting at Milo Cricket. He has coached sides in Under 10 through to Under 14 and also has been involved with the training of our Under 16 team. Chris would be a worthy recipient of this award particularly with the longevity he has shown as coach in our program.

Name: Jason Mungean
Club: Nirranda CC
Accreditation level: Introduction to Cricket
Years of coaching: 6
Reason for nomination: Jason has been coaching at our club for the last six years and has been a magnificent role model to all his players. A prime example of this was in a under 13 grand final five years ago when his daughter was injured and could have retired hurt. Instead of doing this and allowing our best batsman to resume his innings after retiring, he allowed his daughter time to compose herself to bat on. We lost the game by a narrow margin but cricket was the winner on the day. This was mentioned in the local paper at the time.

Name: John McNamara
Club: Rovers United Bruck CC
Accreditation level: Community Coach
Years of coaching: 3
Reason for nomination: John’s a very positive person and has great interpersonal skills. He is great at motivating his squads and really appreciates the support and assistance he receives from parents. In his role as a local primary school teacher and junior cricket coach, our club now has record numbers in In2Cricket, T20 and Under 12s thanks mainly to John’s encouragement and positive guidance. John’s patience and discipline with kids has really provided positive outcomes, such as team cohesion, performance, satisfaction, and success with the Under 12’s winning the last three premierships!

Name: William Tucknott
Club: Coburg CC
Accreditation level: Representative Coach
Years of coaching: 25
Reason for nomination: William “Billy” Tucknott is a recognised legend of the Coburg Cricket Club, having started his career at Coburg in 1967 and is still playing and coaching. Billy’s feat of coaching and winning this year’s JG Craig Shield (VSDCA) U15 Competition (formerly Hatch Shield) was remarkable if only to recognise that this was Bill’s third Shield over a number of years and Coburg’s eighth Championship. Drawing on boys from all around the north west, training, culling and preparing a squad from over 80 to 14 over four months rigorous effort, we are in awe of the man.

Name: Leon Rayson
Club: Point Cook CC
Accreditation level: Community Coach
Years of coaching: 3
Reason for nomination: Leon started coaching in our Milo program and advanced to coaching our U11 non points team previously. Last year he took on our U11 points team and after completing a Community Coaching course, returned to coach our highest grade U11 team this year, which saw them undefeated all season and taking out the premiership in that grade. Leon’s enthusiasm and encouragement was a big part of the teams success and this also saw the players improving each week. In his spare time he took on the role of the Milo T20 Blast coordinator for our club. Every club needs people such as Leon.

Name: Damian Bonner
Club: Gisborne & District CA Under-17 representative team
Accreditation level: Representative Coach
Years of coaching: 5
Reason for nomination: Damian has come from a junior football coaching background and did not have a great knowledge of cricket coaching when taking on the role of Wallan CC Under 12 Coach. Damian first became involved at Association level when his son trialled for and became a member of the GDCA Under 12 team. The following season in 2011-12, he took on the role of GDCA Under 13 coach for Junior Country Week and has coached this team through to U17 Kirton Shield this season. He actively participated in personal development – attaining his Representative Cricket Coaching accreditation, attending many CV coaching seminars, and taking every opportunity to observe and learn from other coaches. Through his passion for sport, and his enthusiasm to develop young players, not just as sportsmen but also as young men, he quickly became popular with parents and officials. An example of this is his instigation of awarding of the match ball to the best player from the opposition team after each Junior Country Week match – something that is still done by all GDCA junior coaches today. Damian also has a different player from his team make a speech at the lunch break during the week thanking opposition players and officials, and the parents for preparing lunches. The value of his contribution is illustrated by the emails of support that we received when the players and parents were made aware of our intent to nominate Damian. This validates his thorough preparation, clear communication, and his personal commitment to each player. I particular draw your attention to the first email, from one of the players, which demonstrates his cultivation of the Spirit of Cricket, and his determination to develop great young men. Even after Representative Cricket has finished, I am delighted to observe that he proudly follows and supports all the players in their current endeavours in senior cricket within, or outside of, the GDCA. Damian has also been a significant contributor in raising and addressing issues at Association and regional level for the betterment of these competitions.

Much of the success of the GDCA junior cricket program today can be attributed to the fundamentals Damian has put in place over the past five years, and then adapted for all of the GDCA teams to use.

He has now completed his time as a junior representative coach with our association and we believe his efforts in guiding our young cricketers to ensure they play within the Spirit of Cricket and the Laws of the game as well as developing them as leaders in their teams deserves to be acknowledged at regional level.