Newsletter No 6 13th November 2015

Welcome to the sixth of our newsletters. I hope they help keep all stakeholders in the Otago Country network up to date with some of the happenings within our organisation. The cricket season is here with the Boys U17 Tournament completed, the Buttar Trophy finished, Year 7-8 Trial held and club cricket finished their second rounds in both the Vincent and South Otago competitions.
 
Funding takes a huge amount of time and effort and is vital to the running of any sporting organisation. Cricket is very fortunate to have a parent body, NZC, which provides some serious funding to the Major and District Associations. We also require out-sourced funding through applications to funding agencies. We recently receive a funding grant from the Bendigo Valley Sports and Charity Foundation to assist with the U17 team that travelled to Oamaru, and to them we are extremely grateful.
 
Our two Cricket Development Officers, Willie Miller and Emma Campbell are both busy in their roles with school and club visits, rep trainings and general admin etc. Just a reminder that Willie can be contacted on 0212790979 or email Willie @ otagocricket.co.nz and Emma can be reached on 0211242266 or email [email protected] (note different email from the last newsletter. Editors mistake sorry) If you have any questions please contact these two or myself. My contact details are below.
 
I’ve had a request from Rhys Chamberlain at the Otago Daily Times looking for any “Backyard Cricket Pitches” in the Otago Country region. He’s doing a feature piece on the best cricket backyards in Otago and is keen to hear of any around. If you have one and are keen to be included, contact me.
 
The U17’s travelled to Oamaru at Labour Weekend and competed in the Otago District Tournament and after a couple of first up losses to Southland and Dunedin Metro, beat North Otago on the last day to finish 3rd. The management team was happy enough with the performance from what was a reasonably young team and reckoned the boys all learnt some valuable lessons.  Probably the top performers were batting wise, Issac Steentjes while Daniel Lewis showed some good form with both bat and ball and all-rounder Marc Cormack should be proud of his efforts finishing with the standout performance of the weekend getting 6 wickets against North Otago to seal the win. Caleb Carson showed a fair bit of promise before heading to U15 tournament.
 
The Buttar Trophy was held in Alexandra on the 7th November and both Year 5/6 and Year 7/8 grades were won by the Vincent/Maniototo combined teams. Winning coaches of these teams were Shayne O’Connor (Y5/6) and Steve Cormack (Y7/8). This is an annual competition for the Buttar Trophy which was first presented about eight years ago by the Buttar family who have been huge contributors to all forms of cricket in South Otago, Cromwell, and the wider Otago Country Cricket region. Graeme Buttar is one of the major driving forces behind junior cricket in our association and sits on our OCCA Board. The T20 format is a suitable mix for this popular early season tournament, which is played on two grounds at Molyneux Park and two at Dunstan High School.
 
The Otago Country U15 Girls team named for the District Tournament in Gore this weekend is;
Eden Carson (Captain)
Ella Rose Lawerence
Georgie Jessop
Eden Jones
Lilly Patterson
Paige Loggenberg
Kloe Vermeir
Paige McIvor
Sandra Horrell
Rebecca King
McKenzie Galbraith
Coach: Craig Lawerence
Assist Coach: Glen Paterson
This group travelled to Gore for a warmup game last Sunday and convincingly beat the Southland side in what was supposed to be a 35 over per side game, but reduced to 20 overs per side. Our girls rolled Southland for 68 then chased down the runs only losing 2 wickets in the process. A great dress rehearsal and good luck for this weekend girls.
 
One of our many volunteers is leaving the district to head back up north to be a bit closer to his extended family. Maurice Fordham is sadly leaving Glenorchy and with that his association with the Queenstown CC and the Otago Country Umpires Assn. Maurice has been fully involved in cricket and cricket umpiring/scoring since arriving in Queenstown 6/7 years ago and he will be missed. We wish him the best for the future.
 
Sadly the proposed Crosby Morris fixture planned for this Sunday between holders Lakes, and the Maniototo team has been cancelled. Maniototo are unable to field a team. The next fixture is Lakes v South Otago on the 20th December at a Lakes venue.
 
The Hawke Cup Squad is due to be named any day now so keep a lookout for it on our Facebook page. They play a two-day warmup versus Southland next weekend 21-22 November at the Events Centre and then get into their keenly awaited Hawke Cup Elimination program against North Otago at Molyneux Park on the 28-29th November. Get out and support these guys if you can.
 
The whole Zone 4 Hawke Cup Elimination series this season is being ‘Live Scored’ and a link to the games will be available on our website. If you can’t make it to the games keep up to date with how the lads are going on your computer/laptop/tablet/phone just as you do with the BLACKCAPS/Volts etc. If you require any help to get onto this link contact me.   
 
Don’t forget our new website is up and running. The domain name is www.otagocountrycricket.co.nz. It is a working site so there will be additions ongoing some keep checking to catch the latest info. Also keep an eye on the Otago Country Cricket Association Facebook page for news updates. You will notice the latest FB posts go on the ‘home page’ of the website as well.
 
When these newsletters appear in your inbox please forward them to anyone involved in the OCCA in any way if you think they have been left out. If you have anything you want included or have any questions or ideas please don’t hesitate to contact me on 0275226300 or email [email protected]  
Also, please use those contact details for any inquiries about the Otago Country organisation.