By Molly Magennis
With the season getting underway this week, Spotswood is looking forward to finally competing in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association.
Having spent 92 years in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association, the move is a welcome change as the club works to build from the bottom up after having lost some experienced ex-districts players in recent years.
Club president John Wheeler said the move was massive with the club and its players really excited to get the season underway.
“The move to subbies was a big call but for us it’s about trying to build the club, especially through our juniors,” he said.
“We’ve been really fortunate, our coach Dan Schuppan has really led the way. This is his third year as coach and we’ve developed a really great culture at our club.”
Wheeler said that recent major upgrades such as new facilities and club rooms will help position the club as a place where new players want to come and where juniors can rise up the ranks.
“We’ve got brand new synthetic and turf wickets which would rival anywhere in the competition, and our club rooms….are gonna be absolutely fantastic.”
“We believe along with our ground [and] our facilities that we’re gonna be a real go-to club.”
No players have left the club despite the change of competitions, but there are few newcomers that will be joining for the new season, including batter Jarryd Vernon’s brother Riley Vernon. The younger Vernon, played at Airport West St Christophers, having previously been at his home club Gisborne.
New youngster Jackson Wadden could be one to watch, Wheeler said. Wadden had been playing with Riddell in the Gisborne and District Cricket Association.
“We had a practice game last week and potentially he’s gonna be a good player. He’s very quick,” he said.
“I think we’ve got some really good young players coming through our club that will help us get through the year.”
While finals are not the definitive goal for this season, Wheeler said the players are going to work hard regardless.
“We believe that our programs are going well [and] that we’ll be competitive anyway. We’ll start pushing through the ranks if we can [and] pushing some of our junior players through and see how we go.”
“We will really have a good red hot crack.”
The club’s first XI is set to kick off their season against Taylors Lakes this Saturday.
