As the autumn was just beginning Sarisbury Athletic welcomed our colts and parents to the Hollow to celebrate the successes of the cricket season for all of our junior teams.
A conservative look suggests that 100+ individual colts represented Sarisbury Athletic on the cricket field in competitive fixtures in the 2023 season.
We want to begin by repeating the thanks provided on the day to all of our colts managers, the coaches, ground staff and parents for helping to facilitate all of the cricket played during the summer - those not involved in football/rugby are heading into the winter for a well earned break before we start our winter training in January!
The club successfully delivered cricket on a regular basis to 120 colts on a Friday night to our members, plus two successful ECB courses in All Stars and Dynamos that added another 80 young people to that number.
On the team front the U9 Sharks and U11 Stingrays won their respective leagues in a season where all of our sides competed well with rivals near and far. It was great to hear the stories of the fixtures played and travelling done (Grayshott anyone?) in the name of the SACC with a lot of enjoyment to go with the competitive spirit.
The joy on the faces of our first ever girls side after victory at Locks Heath and a girls festival at South Winchester should also not go unnoticed - and with so many budding gymnasts in the squad the coaches are still to get their heads around the warm up!
Before I start listing the award winners, it was great to see so many young people enjoying the game of cricket and our final thanks are to all of those young people for representing us both during training and fixtures with enthusiasm and the right spirit. You are a credit to your parents and coaches!
While the awards celebrate the elite level of our junior cricket at the respective levels and age groups - there are so many stories of individual progress in the game being made during the summer - you should all be proud of yourselves.
Batters, Bowlers, and Managers' Picks of the Year:
Under 9 SHARKS:
Batter of the Year: ROCCO PORTER (Team: SHARKS)
Bowler of the Year: FREDDY BEES (Team: SHARKS)
Manager's Player of the Year: RALPH HEMMINGS (Team: SHARKS)
Under 9 STINGRAYS:
Batter of the Year: QUINTON CROUTEAR-FOY (Team: STINGRAYS)
Bowler of the Year: ANYA DOCHNIAK (Team: STINGRAYS)
Manager's Player of the Year: ISABELLA DOCHNIAK (Team: STINGRAYS)
Under 11 SHARKS:
Batter of the Year: SEB WARD
Bowler of the Year: DEXTER FREIZE
Manager's Player of the Year: ROCCO PORTER
Under 11 STINGRAYS:
Batter of the Year: HENRY PADDICK
Bowler of the Year: TIMOTHY ROOKES
Manager's Player of the Year: SOPHIA CROWTHER
Under 13 SHARKS:
Batter of the Year: HENRY AINSWORTH
Bowler of the Year: JAMES COX
Manager's Player of the Year: KIAN DYER
Under 13 STINGRAYS:
Batter of the Year: JACK HILLIER
Bowler of the Year: BEN WRIGHT
Manager's Player of the Year: GEORGE BATER
Under 15 SHARKS:
Batter of the Year: ZANE WARD
Bowler of the Year: HENRY AINSWORTH
Manager's Player of the Year: KEELAN ALLEN
Overall Young Players of the Year:
Under 9: ROCCO PORTER
Under 11: SEB WARD
Under 13: JAMES COX
Under 15: ZANE WARD
Hampshire District / Regional Performance Centres / County Age Group
Following on from this fine summer of work we have also recieved the results of the Hampshire district trials for the winter - with 19 of our young players getting through.
Congratulations to them and good luck for your winter programme - it is great to see so many representing our club in those environments.
Well done also to those who trialled and did not make it through this time - we are confident another year of cricket with us will set you up for another go next year. It takes a lot to get that far and put yourself into the trials, it is still a worthy experience - you should all be very proud as we are of you!