Matt Ryan has completed a full circle and returned to where his cricket career began as a 10-year-old at South West Rocks.
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Ryan signed his two children, Ava, 12, and Angus nine, up to play the sport he loves last year and Ryan took the reins as the junior coordinator.
However, Ryan has stepped up into the presidential role for the South West Rocks Cricket Club this year and the decision was an easy one.
“I grew up in South West Rocks and played juniors and seniors here until I left to join the army when I was 18,” Ryan told the Argus.
“Cricket has always been a sport I have loved and I have a real passion for it.
“My two children are now playing and I will be involved for a long time because of them so I thought I would give back by taking on a role on the committee, which ended up being as the president.”
Ryan believes the South West Rocks Cricket Club has a lot of potential and he will focus on the development of juniors and improving the infrastructure in the region.
Ryan and a team of local cricket members have already joined together to complete a temporary fix of the South West Rocks cricket nets.
However, Ryan acknowledges there’s still more work to be done to get the facilities up to an appropriate standard and the club has already applied for grants to acquire the funds required to commence renovations and developments.
South West Rocks will be represented in the three seniors grades while they will also have four junior teams; an Under-14s side, two Under-12s teams and an Under-10s side.
“We have a lot of potential as a club and there’s some great juniors coming through the ranks,” Ryan said.
“It’s about getting the kids involved in the most popular summer sport in Australia and getting them to enjoy playing.
“The new rules force more participation as the kids each get more turns of batting and bowling and that’s a great start.”
Ryan looks at Macleay rivals Rovers and Nulla as the benchmark of cricket clubs in the region and he hopes to help lead South West Rocks to similar success in the near future.
“They have large participation numbers, a lot of sponsorship and a lot of volunteers – I am hoping we can look at them and aspire to be at that level soon,” Ryan said.
The Macleay Valley Cricket Association’s season begins on October 13 for seniors and October 20 for juniors.
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