Six young cricket players from Matthew Flinders Anglican College are ready for their upcoming Queensland Championships in Rockhampton from 17 December thanks to a private training session with cricketing great, Steve Waugh.
Flinders Year 6 student Zac Griggs won a private two-hour mentoring session with renowned former Australian cricket captain Waugh - as third prize in a Toyota Australia junior cricket raffle competition – however, Zac chose to invite his teammates along to join in the fun.
Waugh spent two hours on Flinders’ Anthony Vincent Oval coaching the group, which included students from Flinders Cricket Club as well as players from the Sunshine Coast U12 representative team.
Flinders Cricket Club students from Years 5 to 7 who attended the session with Waugh included Ben Gannon, Thomas O’May, Harry Pilgrim and – also representing the Sunshine Coast U12 representative team – Nate Thompson, Jackson Koina, Tighe Morris, Will Dodunski, Ashton Schultz and Zac Griggs.
Flinders Cricket Club President Daryn Griggs said Steve Waugh commented that the standard and calibre of players in the U12 age group was extremely high.
“Waugh was very impressed with these young players’ commitment and energy, particularly as the temperature was in the mid 30s during the session,” Daryn noted.
“Steve Waugh had retired before all of these players were born yet they all knew of him and were in awe of his presence,” he said.
“All our young players were respectful and engaged throughout the training session, and were great ambassadors for our College, cricket club and the Sunshine Coast region.
“Waugh’s consistent message was ‘have fun, don’t put too much pressure on yourself and just keep enjoying, learning and improving’.
“With so much pressure on kids sports these days, this advice from one of the best is something both players and parents alike should take on board.”
Zac Griggs said he learnt many tips from the session with Waugh and had a lot of fun.
“It was great to get some advice on how to best mentally prepare for a game and also to learn batting tips I had never even thought of,” Zac said.
“I’m also happy that my teammates could be there to experience this amazing coaching experience with me,” he said.
Flinders Cricket Club has enjoyed a successful 2018 with many players selected in representative teams this season across all junior age groups from U12s to U16’s.
The Sunshine Coast U12 representative team (which has six Flinders players in the squad) will play in the Queensland Junior Cricket Championships in Rockhampton from 17 to 21 December.
