Important end of season message

MCCCC families,

It’s the pointy end of the season. The club has some things to mention to help us all finish on a high. Thanks to all our volunteers across the club for making this a memorable season for our boys.

Indigenous round. This weekend we are recognising Marist Indigenous round. Our timing reflects a date between the national apology to indigenous people on 13 February (2008) and National Close the Gap Day on 19 March. Each team is invited to mark Indigenous round should they wish. Our fighting firsts can use our indigenous stumps. Coaches may wish to hold a circle, barefoot or otherwise and use the opportunity to give an acknowledgement of country, and consider recognising the ongoing strength and resilience of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in sustaining the world’s oldest living cultures. We stand with Cricket ACT who celebrate the participation of First Nations peoples, families and communities, and recognise their individual and collective shared connection and history with cricket. We are committed to listening and learning about how we as people, an organisation and community advocate for equitable outcomes and positive futures with all First Nations peoples.

Please send photos if you get some.

Raffles. Thank you to our community for supporting two raffles in recent months. The McGrath Foundation wrote to say “Dear Marist College Canberra, Thank you for your generous support. Because of you, more people facing cancer will have the care of a McGrath Cancer Care Nurse when they need it most.” And thank you to Toyota, and everyone supporting the Toyota Good for Cricket raffle. All the money we spend buying tickets will come back to the club and help with the cost of transitioning our uniforms into white ball cricket. Thank you to our local supporters who have donated prizes specifically for club members for this raffle, including AquaPark, Southpaw Cricket Academy, International Sports Camps, and ROJO Customs Clothing Printing and Merch. We are grateful for your support and that of our other supporters throughout the year. Here’s hoping we have lots of winners in the raffles. Tickets on sale until 3 March.

Finals. Please be aware that most weekend teams from Stage 2 and up will play a finals match, because in addition to the top four teams, 5v6, 7v8 and 9v10 fixtures will be scheduled on semi-final weekends. These can be seen on the draw by using the ‘all teams’ drop down in the Play Cricket app. Good luck to all our teams in their final rounds. The boys would appreciate a good supporter turn out for T20 and one day finals on 1 March, 3 & 4 March, 8 & 9 March and 14 & 15 March.

Well done to Colts Div 3, Stage 3a Div 1 Sky and Div 2 Light who are our first teams to qualify for a T20 GF on 4 March. Best wishes for a great team performance boys. Good luck to all our teams striving for a position this weekend.

Presentation night. Keep Tuesday 24 March free for our presentation night. It will be a similar format to last season, with team awards and a BBQ followed by club awards in the hall.

Award nominations. We are circulating awards nominations forms to all coaches, managers and stage coordinators. Please send returns to our Secretary, Chris Duffy. Please be aware, the committee votes on the nominations we receive from teams and stages to determine award winners. This season we have restructured the awards categories, aligning them to stages, and this year for the first time, adding a coach of the year award. Club awards are:

• Senior Cricketer of the Year

• Colts player of the year

• Stage 3 player of the year

• Stage 2 player of the year

• Stage 1 player of the year

• Emerging Batter award

• Emerging Bowler award

• Spirit of Cricket Award

• Coach of the year award

• Presidents award

Year book stats. Coaches and managers will also be asked to complete year book stats and return through stage coordinators to Secretary Chris Duffy. Could all submissions please be returned by 16 March. Expect templates and guidance in the coming week.

School Open Evening. MCCCC will run a cricket information desk at the school open evening Friday 20 March. We are looking for a few stage 3 or Colts boys to help run some cricket inspired activities and introduce a new generation of players to the club. If this sounds like your player, please let Andy R or Scott F know.

Season review and AGM. As always the club will welcome suggestions on how to advance for next season at a season review after season’s end. Please put ideas through stage coordinators. Our committee will regenerate at an AGM in Mid-May. We will welcome new participants and encourage our existing team to stay involved. If you are interested in a role please let us know.