South Central Junior Cricket Association
SCJCA History
CHAPTER 1: The Formative Period
The South Central Junior Cricket Association was formed in 1998 for the prime purpose of providing the children of the South Central Metropolitan Area the opportunity to play and enjoy the game of cricket. For many years the Association used a number of clubs’ facilities to hold meetings but the last seven years has seen us settle at Mitchell Park Sports Club where we have a good relationship with the home club.
The first meeting was held at Edwardstown Football Club on Monday 15th December 1997 with 11 people attending representing SACA, Glenelg, Adelaide, Richmond/Clarence Park, South Road, Warradale, Kenilworth and Southern Cricket Clubs.
John Trethewey (Chair, SACA) opened the meeting, and so the still-unnamed, fledgling Association was born. The SACA representatives presented an overview of both cricket and junior cricket in the area of concern. It was resolved that a competition for junior cricketers would commence next season (1998/99). Other issues were discussed with regard to the future of junior cricketers that failed to gain a place with their local Grade or Turf clubs. The delegates were urged to go back to their clubs and further investigate the formation of a junior competition.
The next meeting was held at the Glenelg District Cricket Club in February 1998 where 15 delegates met representing 9 clubs, SACA and Western Suburbs Junior Cricket Assoc. To identify the group the label “Southern Central Cricket Group” was applied. The representative from Western Suburbs was invited to outline the procedure they had gone through to establish their Association. This raised many questions with the 4 main points being cost, recruitment, rules and future plans.
The cost to the clubs was discussed in detail, covering the initial and ongoing costs, suggestions were put forward including sponsorship, fundraising and grants.
Recruitment looked at possible age groups, existing teams and competitions. The SACA promotions officers would need to take a leading role here by visiting schools during school terms and shopping centres during school holidays. Rules covered age grading and the way to cover the older group of children attending primary school, length and timing of games as well as player movements between clubs and associations. Future plans concentrated on what might happen in the future as the playing group aged.
The third meeting was held at Birkalla Soccer Club in March 1998. A working party was appointed from the people present at this meeting to oversee the formal establishment of the Association.
The group consisted of Len Bartle (chair), Karina Hutchesson (Secretary), and 6 others including Don Slater (to become the first chairman) and Steve Mitchell (eventually to be Dons successor). Some of the matters this group are to look at are Constitution and rules, programming, the new Association’s name, actual clubs interested in being affiliated and the number of teams being nominated, equipment and sponsorship. It was revealed that David Rosman’s employer (Sports & Medical Products) have indicated an interest in sponsoring the group by paying for the incorporation fees. Other sponsorship and grant applications to be investigated.
The next 7 meetings were held at Birkalla Soccer Club where the following points were resolved, The constitution was clarified and adopted, the playing rules were also adopted with a 40 over duration, under 13 grade, matches played on Sunday Morning, player, coach and parent codes of behaviour were accepted, Name preferences were discussed and came down to three names (South Central Junior Cricket Association, South Western Junior Cricket Association and Southern Suburbs Junior Cricket Association). It was also proposed that the season would consist of 7 minor round games with two one day final rounds, commencing on 25th. October 1998 and concluding 7th. March 1999. It was agreed that a 142 gram leather ball should be used. It was subsequently agreed that more than 11 players could participate as long as no more than 11 fielding players on the ground at any one time and a team must conclude its innings when 10 wickets fall.
All clubs south of the city will be canvassed to see if any other clubs are interested in nominating a team. At the June meeting the constitution was adopted in its final form and registering it can now go ahead with the current name being the one selected. At the August meeting it was resolved the playing age should be “under 13 (12 years or under) at the 30th September OR at primary school”.
At the September meeting and anticipating imminent Incorporation Len Bartle called for nominations for the first Board Executive. Don Slater (Chairman), Len Bartle (Secretary) and David Rosman (Treasurer) were nominated and elected. It was decided to hold future meetings at Plympton Footballers Club. The teams nominated for the coming season was, Glenelg ANA, Mitchell Park, Brighton, Sheidow Park, Adelaide, Keswick, Southern (two) Sturt District, ICC Sharks and Plympton. We commenced with 12 teams in one division.
CHAPTER 2: The Beginning
The now incorporated and registered body called SOUTH CENTRAL JUNIOR CRICKET ASSOCIATION INC. is officially open for business. It was proposed to challenge Western Suburbs Association in an inter-association game. This was accepted and set for 10th January 1999 at Grange. Selection training at Plympton Oval. The team to play is: S. Brennan, S. Bannister, S. Raphael (Adelaide), D. Murcott, D. Grotegoed (Sheidow Park), M. Cook, N. Bowen (ICC Sharks), A. Hartlett, S. Ashman (Keswick), Bun Heng, N. Forster (Plympton) and S. Provis (Southern Cricket Club).
While the subject of finals was discussed many times it was resolved that as the under 13 grade is essentially a learning grade it would be more in keeping with this philosophy to not have premiership tables or a finals round.
The February 1999 meeting was held at Plympton and it was announced that the Association match has been rescheduled to 21st February 1999, still at Grange.
It was decided to limit each club to two teams per division but no limit on the number of clubs. Discussion on the possibility of commencing an under 15 division next season, no decision yet.
The clubs also decided to continue with no finals round next season. Western Suburbs won the Association match by 17 runs. Western 5/115 def South Central 10/98.
The first Annual General Meeting was held at Brighton Cricket Club on 8th June 1999, nominations for teams for next season were called for, this to include an under 15 division, The executive appointed for the next year was Don Slater (chair), Len Bartle (sec) & Bob Harris (treasurer).
The conclusion of the first season saw many of the by-laws altered to accommodate variations encountered during the matches. Batters retirement reduced from 50 to 40 and retired batters can now resume in any order when all players have batted.
In one day games, players must retire on 30 runs. The introduction of under 15 grade required some changes to the rules, batters must retire on 50 runs for two day games and 30 runs for one day games. Age grading was changed to 1st October, to coincide more with the cricket season.
We entered year 2 with 8 under 15 teams (Adelaide, Glenelg ANA, Keswick, Marion, Mitchell Park, Sheidow Park, Southern Cricket Club and Sturt District), and two divisions of under 13, 10 teams in the Gold division and 8 teams in the Green, (Adelaide, Brighton, Glenelg District, Mitchell Park, Plympton, Sheidow Park, South Road, Southern Cricket Club, Sturt District and Warradale) in the Gold division and (Adelaide, Glenelg District, ICC Sharks, Keswick, Plympton, Southern Cricket Club, Sturt District and Unley) in the Green Division.
CHAPTER 3: On The Way
To prepare the under 15 players for the next step (open grade competition) it was decided to have match points, keep a premiership table and have a finals round consisting of all teams playing in the order of 1 V 2, 3 V 4, 5 V 6 etc. The programme consisted of 9 rounds including the finals round. The under 13 competition remained the same as year 1 with no premiership table or finals round. Sturt District defeated Keswick in the under 15 main final (1 V 2).
Year 3 was about to start when the Board was approached by SACA with a request to accommodate 3 under 15 teams from the Western Suburbs Junior Association, those being West Torrens, Western Youth Centre and Rosewater. The request was acceded to and resulted in two divisions of under 15 with 6 teams in the Green division and 7 teams in the gold division.
The programme consisted of 9 rounds including the finals round which was made up of 1 V 1, 2 V 2 etc., with Sheidow Park defeating West Torrens at Henley & Grange Oval in the final.
There were two divisions of under 13 with 6 teams in each of the divisions. By now it has been resolved that any separation of divisions would be by the adopted Association colours i.e. Gold and Green
The 2001/02 season (year 4), saw our age grading set to 1st. September to bring us into line with International standards. We also said goodbye to John Trethewy and Ian Wallace. These two gentlemen have been involved with the formative period of the Association and represented the SACA as our CPO’s (Cricket Promotions Officers), Many thanks to the two men, and a welcome to Ben Smith who has been appointed as the ongoing CPO.
Rosewater Cricket Club indicated their intention not to continue in the SCJCA u15 competition. The other two clubs from Western Suburbs were asked to return to their own area competition, the main concern being long travelling times for our southern most teams.
This saw the resumption of a nine team under 15 competition with the last round (round nine) being the finals round for all teams. The under 13 competition continued as last season with 7 teams in the Gold division and 6 teams in the green. Sheidow Park defeated Plympton in the grand final.
The next season (2002/03) several changes were introduced, The Cricket Union of South Australia introduced an under 15 inter- Association competition played during the week in the second week of January to be known as JCUSA Cup. South Central nominated for this competition, however we only won one game, and didn’t qualify for the final. The three Associations to compete in this first year were Para Districts, Adelaide Turf and South Central, this meant that the minor round consisted of 2 games and the final on the Friday was between the two teams which qualified.
The clubs were asked to nominate players and the first two squad practices were held at Plympton, with the final practice session a centre wicket at Mitchell Park, we also, with a great deal of help from Mitchell Park nominated their ground for our home game, a situation which still holds today.
The programme structure was changed to incorporate 9 minor round games and a 2 day final only, played between the two top sides, the thinking being that as before with all the teams participating in finals the playing programme and the availability of grounds was unknown until the end of round 8. There were many problems with moving games, especially the under 13 to accommodate under 15 home games on clubs main oval. Whereas by programming 9 full rounds with only one final game to follow the team finishing top has the right to host the final, if they cannot then it goes to the second team on the ladder and if they are not able then the Association must arrange a suitable ground, as there is only one game involved this was considered reasonable.
It was also decided that there should be a limit on the number of players in the final so a by-law was introduced to limit each team to 12 players with only 11 to bat, with team sheets exchanged before the coin toss.
This season also saw the introduction of an Association batting and bowling trophy, delivery of these trophies was an immediate problem as the Association doesn’t have a suitable venue to recognise the winners. It was resolved by a member of the Executive visiting the trophy presentation evening of the winners club and making the presentation in front of the winners team mates.
Sheidow Park defeated Coromandel in a hard fought game at Sheidow Park. The Association by now is providing winners, runners up medallions, a mimic trophy to go with the perpetual trophy and a Premiership Certificate as well as providing neutral umpires for the final.
The under 13 competition is still running along in the background with 8 teams in the Gold and 6 teams in the Green divisions.
The following season (03/04) was somewhat more settled, following along the same lines as the previous year. The JCUSA Cup was the same with two minor round games and a final, we didn’t win any of our games, as we have only won one out of four games this caused the Board to have a re-think about our competition and which way we should be heading. It was decided to outfit the players with caps instead of hats, hats didn’t look the part so gold caps embroidered with our logo were chosen.
In the domestic competition Plympton defeated Unley in the under 15 final.
The Association Trophies were won by Brad Keeley (batting ICC) and Shaun Morris (bowling, Morphettville Park)
CHAPTER 4: More Recently
Season 04/05 (year 7) saw some major changes. We were lucky enough to negotiate a sponsorship with KOOKABURRA SPORT which included a kit to raffle and playing shirts for the U15 team. This enabled us to outfit the team in uniform and sufficient funds to cater for the carnival. It was also decided to programme 10 minor rounds including an all team final round for under 15’s.
The JCUSA Cup was expanded to 4 teams due to ATCA entering 2 teams (one from the North and one from the South) enabling a 3 game minor round (Monday to Wednesday) with a final on Friday and a rest day on Thursday (Thursday is also available as an extra playing day if one of the minor round games is cancelled).
From the outset of the competition it was obvious that a standard score book was inadequate as we require all players to bowl and a team can consist of more than 11 players. To overcome this inadequacy we adopted a redesigned scorebook from Board Member Martin Forsyth and printed enough books to supply each team. The new books cater for up to 15 players in a team, both batting and bowling.
South Road Cricket Club won the under 15 final defeating Sheidow Park at Sheidow Park.
It was decided that the constitution should be reworded to make the position of Chairman to become President.
Board members Len Bartle and Paul Mitsigeorgis retired this season. Paul completed 4 years on the Board and Len, seven years including the initial setting up of the Association and was invaluable in guiding the new association through its formative period.
Season 2005/06 was an eventful time. The under 15 CUSA team went through undefeated, An under 13 team was also entered into the CUSA cup competition and we also introduced an under 13 winter development squad with the intention of assisting the lesser favoured clubs to raise the standard of our competition.
The constitution was amended to include the position of Vice President (Steve Mitchell was appointed to this position). Michael Young elected to join the Board. In an effort to simplify the bowling formula (overs per bowler) it was decided to change the by-law for under 15 to read:- Bowlers can only bowl 8 overs for the match with a maximum of 6 overs in any one day. (this brings into consideration the event of a second innings).
The Association Trophies were won by Sam Davis (batting ICC), Braden Collins (Adelaide) and Brad Jones (Coromandel) shared the bowling. Adelaide won the under 15 final defeating ICC Sharks at Hackham Community.
The end of this season also saw the retirement of President Don Slater, Don was one of the original steering committee and as first Chairman/President had a big hand in guiding the new Association in the right direction.
Our ninth year was about to commence when we had an application from Eastern Suburbs Cricket Club to join our competition with two under thirteen teams. It was agreed to include the new teams and so the programme was redrawn to accommodate the inclusion.
Steve Mitchell was elected President with Darren Cheek Vice President and we welcomed Martin Forsyth on to the Board. Bob Fradd elected treasurer and Bob Harris secretary.
Following our success in the under 15 CUSA Cup we nominated both under 13 and 15 for this season. Sheidow Park defeated ICC Sharks in the under 15 final played at Hackham Community and James Elbourn (Morphettville Park) won the Association batting trophy, Max Cheek (Coromandel) won the bowling trophy. The domestic competition consisted of 10 under 15 and 18 under 13 teams. The under 15 final was played by teams finishing 1st. and 2nd on the table with both teams only fielding 11 players with team sheets exchanged before the toss.
A major change to our by-laws was introduced by a hard and fast Hot Weather Policy, which states that if the weather forecast at 8:00am on the ABC Radio is 38 or more then no play shall take place. This enables players and parents to determine the progress of a game without actually going to the ground.
In our tenth season, (2007/08) our under 15 competition had 9 teams with a bye and 19 teams in under 13. Three clubs indicated a desire to field an under 11 competition so a four team draw was devised with Unley running two teams. This enabled an under 11 competition and so commenced a new grade. We expect more under 11 teams from now on. We also had a request from Flagstaff Hill Cricket Club to enter a team in under 15 grade. This was agreed and Flagstaff Hill was welcomed into the competition.
We entered an under 15 and under 13 team in the JCUSA Cup as usual with Michael Taylor (ICC Sharks) coaching the under 13’s and David Lithgow (Adelaide) the under 15’s. The results from these teams was outstanding as both teams went through the whole competition without losing a game, hence we are JCUSA Cup reigning champions in both grades.
James Elbourn (Morphettville Park) won the Association batting trophy and shared the bowling trophy with Blake Thomas (Sturt).