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The West Gippsland Cricket Association held its Junior Presentation event on Sunday, 18 April at the Kooweerup Community Centre.
Premiership teams and individual winners of awards were warmly applauded for their efforts as their trophies were presented. The event was hailed as a success and was attended by more than 200 guests.
Shona Lynch (Junior Cricket Coordinator) was thanked for her hard work during the season and for the great organisation of the afternoon.
The WGCA ‘s Female Cricket Ambassador, Nicole Faltum, attended and addressed the audience commenting upon her career which has taken her to the top of Victorian Cricket including the Melbourne Stars Women’s Big Bash Final.
Some of the big winners pictured were Brodie Matthews, who scooped the pool in the Division One Under-16s, and Cooper Davey, who won batting and bowling awards in the under 12s and also took out the bowling aggregate in the under-16s.
The WGCA decided to institute two new medals to recognise two volunteers who have given so much to junior cricket over the years.
The first was to recognise the tireless work of Steve Simpson – Junior Coordinator at the Tooradin Cricket Club who also put great effort into representative cricket, particularly in VMCU carnivals. Steve passed away in 2020.
The Steve Simpson medal for 2020/21 was presented to Brodie Matthews from Cranbourne Meadows Under-16s. The medal presentation was special with Steve’s wife Nikki Simpson on hand to present the award.
A second medal has been instituted to recognise the work that Barry Freeman has done for Tooradin and the WGCA over the years. The medal was presented by the man himself to the Player of the Year from the WGCA Under-12’s – Campbell Moncrieff from Cardinia.
Barry first played at the then Tooradin-Cardinia Cricket Club in the early 1970’s.
After a short stint he completed a teaching post at Wonthaggi before returning to Tooradin in 1981. He was club president when Tooradin became a stand-alone club, at the same time that Cardinia commenced its own history at E Gunton Oval.
Barry stamped himself as a top-line wicket keeper batsman; however his greatest legacy to the WGCA has been as a successful coach.
He enjoyed teaching youngsters from under-10’s through to under-16’s over a period of 28 years. He has loved educating young cricketers like Tooradin’s Dylan Sutton and Andrew Proctor in the finer points of the game, including reinforcing the Spirit of Cricket.
Barry emphasised that he always taught his protégés to enjoy the game, at the same time ensuring that they showed respect to all participants.
West Gippsland cricket is honoured to have enjoyed Barry’s influence.
