When a club’s Woolworths Cricket Blast program grows over 60 percent in just one season, you know you’ve done something right. Turns out, about half a dozen clubs in the Illawarra are either doing the right things to get more and more children to play and love cricket, or they’re doing something different.
Shane Wilson, whose club, Kiama Cavaliers CC, is leading the surge in the popularity of Cricket Blast programs in the area, pins it down to thoughtful decisions, solid strategy and the willingness to do things differently.
Shane’s work has seen him not only be recognised as Cricket NSW Blast Coordinator but also be named Cricket Australia's Blast Coordinator of the Year in the National Community Cricket Awards announced this week.
Kiama Cavaliers, this season, has 42 children in its Cricket Blast program, up from 26 last season (2023/24). That’s not the whole story. Last season, the first year that Shane and another volunteer, Nathan Battishall, decided to turn the Cricket Blast program around, it grew to 26 from three participants in the previous year.
Shane, who joined Kiama Cavaliers as a Cricket Blast volunteer in 2023 and is now the treasurer of the club, says it’s a combination of dedication and willingness to go the extra mile for cricket, which he has clearly been doing these last two seasons. Shane took over the club’s Cricket Blast program at the start of the 2023 season and made a commitment to change and invest in its growth.
For a start, he attended Cricket NSW’s Cricket Blast Coordinator training program to gain a greater insight on how to engage and run a fun program. The club decided to conduct the Cricket Blast on a Friday evening, with the first 40 minutes of skill exercises, then a break, and then a few mini matches with the parents participating as well. Shane also decided to create a list of themes each week, ranging from pizza night to crazy socks, to zinced faces, turning the cricket program into a fun, family outing at the start of the weekend.
Shane says the club also has a volunteer film the sessions and put out Instagram reels every week to showcase the fun the boys and girls have during Cricket Blast.
“I feel it’s a combination of all of the little things we’ve done that has helped the program grow,” he says, downplaying his massive role in the growth.
Throughout the last season, he pinned a list of the themes for every week on the club’s Instagram page, just so everyone knew what was on offer. He has also leaned in on the local Woolworths to support the program with fruit and water, something the club is grateful for.
This is only the beginning for Shane, whose work in revitalising Cricket Blast in the Illawarra region is making an impact on every child that comes through his program.