Young cricketers head to nation’s capital

By Marc McGowan
EUMEMMERRING Secondary College’s best cricket players are preparing to infiltrate Canberra with showdowns against the ACT Comets’ under-16 side booked in for next month.
The interstate tour was organised by the college’s Sport and Recreation coordinator, Ben McGee, whose friend, Simon Helmot, is the head coach of the Comets.
Helmot had successful stints as a player and a coach of Victorian Premier Cricket teams Hawthorn-Waverley and Fitzroy-Doncaster and as an assistant coach for the Victorian under-19 squad before receiving the ACT job.
The group will travel up on Sunday, 17 March and play a Twenty20 match the next day.
On Tuesday, the students will receive coaching from Helmot before playing a 50-over match on Wednesday.
It will not only be a cricket-related trip with a cultural day planned during the stay.
“We’ll go to the Australian Institute of Sport, the Australian War Memorial and Parliament House,” Mr McGee said.
“We have kids from Europe and Asia, and of course Anglo-Saxons as well, and some have never seen the nation’s capital.
“We are using cricket as the vehicle for a cultural exercise.”
Eumemmerring also has its academy dinner on 18 July that will serve as a motivational and fundraising night.
“It will be about exposing kids to elite level support, promoting discipline in life, promoting clean living, as well as trying to give them exposure to the strategies in getting the best out of yourself in sport and life,” McGee said.
The college is hoping to auction off sports memorabilia on the night that will play a major role in achieving its goal of raising $5000.
Victorian Metro under-18 coach David Dixon has been confirmed as a speaker and other speakers are being organised.