CONTACT US HERE

Yet another great year for our RSAC cricket group - as always the effort, commitment and playing standard was without question and a credit to all the players, their parents and carers. It is wonderful for the coaches to see the dedication all our players make to what is quite a difficult sport to master.

This year we were fortunate to have extra coaches join us - and they made a huge difference to the quality and quantity of training we could provide. Our very special thanks go to Jake Grove, Maurice Loughlin and Manjit Dhupar for their ongoing training of the players - we simply could not provide the quality and depth of training without you all. Our sincere thanks to you all.

We also continued our relationship with the Commonwealth Bank sponsorship, as well as the unending support of Bankstown District Cricket Club and Bankstown Sports Club - who provide the backbone of this program with their generous donation of all the equipment and training facilities for our players - which are some of the best in the state.

We have been fortunate enough to be able to kit out all our players over the past few seasons - with helmets, pads, gloves, protectors and playing shirts - so players only have to get their own bat (if they want). It looks awesome at Special Olympics days when all our players show up in their distinctive RSAC gear! Indeed, our relationship with Special Olympics continues to grow and we were fortunate to have the 2016-17 Summer of Cricket launched at Bankstown Oval in October 2016. Since then, our venue is now the start of the Special Olympics cricket season.

The success of our program - which revolves around Matt’s training program - is relatively easy to measure - how many players return, how many improve and how many achieve higher goals. Our retention rate is very high - once people join, they rarely do not return (unless they play other sports on ‘our days’!). This reflects the quality of the training our athletes receive. All players attempt drills with the same programs that Sydney Premier Grade cricketers undertake. While not all players can execute the same drills as grade cricketers, they are expected (initially) and trained to do so - often with a fun-filled atmosphere. This achieves two key things: 1. it ensures the athletes are attempting and achieving the highest-quality drills and cricket training; and 2. (and perhaps more importantly) it ensures the athletes are treated with the same respect as able-bodied cricketers. The level of personal self-esteem and confidence this provides athletes cannot be underestimated. Also, the improvement in all players’ abilities is sometimes small and sometimes quite noticeable ‘instantly’. The pleasure players get when they can do something today that was difficult last session or 10 minutes ago is priceless - and makes coaching easy.

Proof of the quality of this coaching program (if any is needed) was that in February this year our players won the Special Olympics NSW Player of the Year in A grade (Omkar Dhupar) and C Grade (Tim Andrews) and also Fielder of the Year (Matt Brown) (also known as one of ‘the octopuses’ because of his fielding ability!). That is, of the three Special Olympics Annual Player of the Year awards, RSAC players won two, and Matt was best fielder. Really, really well done!!

RSAC cricket also received national recognition in January 2017 when David was awarded Australian of the Day and also again in July 2017 when Matt was appointed NSW Assistant Coach for Intellectual Disability Cricketers, and then NSW Coach in 2018 for Intellectual Disability Cricketers as recognition of the commitment to the athletes and the quality of the program.

​