The 2007-08 Season has now officially started – our 61st as a Club.

Registrations
Registration is now long gone and the season almost here. Status by Division follows:

Kangas
So far we have registered just on 85 children – another excellent turnout. We have a ground capacity of 120 and these spots will fill up quickly so if you are thinking of playing then please let us know – contacts are on the Website under ‘Contact Details’.

Girls
This year we will have at least 2 teams with more registrations still welcome.

Competition starts on Saturday 13th October running through to the 15th December. Games then recommence on the 2nd February until 1st March with Semi Finals / Finals played over 8th and 15th March 2008. This gives us 14 weeks of competition plus finals.

Junior boys
Most Age Divisions are full with 385 players registered so far – an increase of 35 children on last year. We will finish up with either 32/33 teams which will be a record. If you are interested in playing please go direct to the Age Convenors under ‘Age Groups and Contacts’ under Junior Boys under Team Information on the menu and contact the Age Coordinator directly.

Seniors
Spots are still available. Contact details are under ‘Senior Men’ under ‘Contacts’ under ‘Team Information’ on the website menu. We look like entering 10 teams again but this will be finalized over the next week.

Rule changes
The Association votes on a number of rule changes for this season next Monday. The changes are likely to go through but for early visibility they are:
• Colts – all captains and Vice Captains must be U19
• All 1-day matches outside school holidays will start at 12.00 noon
• All Grades may be required to play matches on Sunday subject to ground availability with a possible increase in the number of teams. This would be on a rotational basis
• A 13th man rule will apply to C1 and lower building on the 12th man rule last season
• C3 may be played as a 1-Day competition on a 35 overs a side basis
• 20 ovears in the last hour will be abolished with ‘all matches played over 75 overs for a day’

Next steps
For our new folk there will be a note sent out to everyone over the next 2 weeks detailing all arrangements for the coming season – the ‘all you need to know’ about this season.

Selections
Draft teams have been selected and will be reviewed over the next week. We will be able to formally announce teams within 2 weeks.

Key dates
• Seniors are still practicing (103 New line Road nets starting at 1.00pm) with only 2 hits to go before the season starts.
• First game (Juniors and Seniors) – Saturday 8th September
• Kanga and Girls start – Saturday 15th October.

Website watch
Peter Lees has been doing some fantastic work on the website. Apart from building an on-line payment capability he has also revamped the whole site by giving it a new look. Keep a look out for this – it looks fantastic.

Smoking ban
Hornsby Shire Council has introduced a Smoking Ban at all Council operated venues. More will follow on this but penalties will apply if there are any breaches so just be aware of this one.

Coaching Courses
Level 1
We are hosting a Level 1 Training Course at Edward Bennett Oval in November. The course is fully accredited with Cricket Australia and is run by Cricket NSW professional coaches. These courses are highly sort after. There are only a limited number of courses run across Sydney each year and this is the first in our area. Details are:

When: Sunday 11th and 25th November 2007
Where: Edward Bennett Oval (just behind the Sports Club)
Time: 9.00am to 4.00pm
Cost: Nil – provided you are coaching or intend to coach a side this coming season. Otherwise the cost is $120 per person.

Please get back to Ross Anderson asap on 9476-0595 if you are interested in registering. There are only 20 spots available and anyone from the District is welcome to come along.

Level 0
Entry level coaching course for people interested in knowing the Basics about coaching – ideal for mums and dads who want to know enough but not too much about the detail. Details are:

When: Sunday 7th October and Sunday 4th November
Where: Edward Bennett Oval (just behind the Sports Club)
Time: 9.00am to Noon
Cost: Nil.

Please also contact Ross Anderson on 9476-0595 if you are interested in participating.

Kingsgrove Sports sponsorship
We are fortunate to have a sponsorship arrangement with Kingsgrove Sports Store at North Parramatta. Anyone associated with our Club is entitled to the following offer:

+ 5% discount on all cricket gear and clothing purchases just by mentioning our Club
+ once you give your details, 3 people will get their gear purchases for free to the value of $300 each

Kingsgrove is the best place in the whole area to buy cricket gear so if you are thing of getting any gear then go to Kingsgrove. They are located at

570 CHURCH STREET; NORTH PARRAMATTA.NSW.2151
Phone: (02) 9890-2311
Email: westside@kingsgrovesports.com.au

Website: www.kingsgrovesports.com.au

Website developers and graphic artists
We are privileged to have Peter Lees do all the website work for our Club. However, it is run by volunteers and we always need to involve others to share the fun.

If you have abilities in Perl scripting, graphic design or other web-related skills, and would like to contribute to your Club, please contact Peter (AT) wphccc.org

Posted by Ross Anderson on August 19, 2007 06:15 AM