The Rotary Club of Brindabella, with the support of other Shoalhaven Rotarians, held its first Dream Cricket clinic at the Francis Ryan Oval, Sanctuary Point, on Tuesday, October 25.
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Dream Cricket was initiated some six years ago by Dr Roly Bigg of the Movement Disorder Foundation in concert with the Rotary Clubs of the Southern Highlands and the Bradman Foundation.
The aim was to provide primary school students with special needs an opportunity to play cricket activities on Bradman Oval.
The Dream Cricket program has grown to encompass schools and children throughout Australia and internationally.
Clinics are conducted in schools as part of a cricket experience which culminates in a Dream Cricket Day on a significant local oval.
Dream Cricket is a volunteer-run Rotary Project.
Clinics and gala days require a great deal of commitment from the communities in which they are held.
Local high school students, carers and friends, and Rotarians are asked to give of their time to assist the participants with special needs.
Volunteers are trained to facilitate and modify cricket activities to suit each participant.
Therefore each participant reaches success in achieving their personal best.
They gain confidence through active participation in physical activities.
And it It isn’t just the young participants that gain from Dream Cricket.
Last Tuesday’s clinic embraced children between years 1–6 from Sanctuary Point Public School, Vincentia and Budawang.
With one Rotarian looking after each group of six, they rotated around the Dream Cricket stations which encouraged skills including batting through markers, throwing at stumps, catching from a bouncing net, throwing at other targets – all of which provided a great sense of achievement and enjoyment.
Other Rotarians manned each station, chased balls, caught stumbles, cheered everyone on and generally had a great time.
Rotary plans to organise many more such clinics next term, maybe even participating in one of the Gala Days which attract hundreds of special needs students over many schools to a central location such as Bowral or Canberra.
For further information or to offer support, please contact Judy on 0412 219 895.
Former Australian batsman Rick McCosker is among many in the cricket fraternity supporting DreamCricket.
“For me, it was inspiring to witness the young boys and girls applying themselves to their games to the absolute best of their varying degrees of ability,” he said.
