It’s the beginning of a new era for Kyneton in the Gisborne and District Cricket Association.
After not being able to field a senior men’s team last season for the first time in a number of decades, the Tigers have done a lot of hard work over the off season.
The club’s junior program continues to grow, while the club is set to have a men’s side return to the field.
Plans for the club’s first women’s side are also well and truly underway.
Kyneton president Daniel May said things were starting to turn around for the club and get the community back involved.
“We’ve had some difficult years,” he said. “We’ve restructured and set up for bigger and better things.
“Last year we had just three people on the committee. Now we have seven.”
May said last season they didn’t have the numbers or interest for a senior men’s side, so decided to pull the pin on that.
The committee worked hard over the summer months to get enough interest to hopefully have one team this season.
“There’s enough interest to get it off the ground,” he said. “Hopefully in another two or three seasons we can have two or three teams.
“If we can bolster the grass roots over time we can have two to three sides which is about the right amount of teams for a town of our size.”
The club is potentially looking at having two under-15 boys teams with the biggest number of players they’ve had in that age group for the last 10 years.
May said they were also looking to have under-17s, under-13s boys and two under-11s. They also have good numbers in the Woolworths Blast.
The club has an under-13 girls team and is hoping to add a women’s side to the mix.
May said there had been interest for that to happen.
“We’ve taken a similar view as we have to the men’s side,” he said. “We have found that they travel a lot out of the district once they turn that 15 through to 17.
“We think we can achieve a women’s side and they can choose to stay local or aspire to play as well.
“We started talking to local people in February and March. The next step is to get people to sign up.”
Work is underway to upgrade the club’s top oval wicket and the training nets.
May said having better facilities would help entice people to the club and get them to return.
He said the focus of the club was to ensure they were a welcoming club that was inclusive.
