Keen Aboriginal cricketers are invited to showcase their skills, with registrations open for trials for the next intake of the WA Cricket Foundation’s Aboriginal Talent Academy.
The trials are designed for male and female cricketers under the age of 24 to show their formidable skills with bat and ball in front of WA Cricket staff.
WA Cricket Project Officer – Aboriginal & Multicultural Cricket Cody Hoffmeister was one of the cricketers who participated in the trials last year and has vivid memories of his own experience.
“The Aboriginal programs here at WA Cricket are some of the best programs I have been a part of myself as a cricketer,” he said.
“Gaining a wealth of knowledge from coaches at the trials, who are wanting to help me adjust my bowling action to make be better before I was even selected, stands out.
“As well as meeting some new faces that I hadn’t met before who are now good mates of mine inside and outside of cricket.
“They’ve helped me so much around my culture and history of my connection to my Aboriginal heritage and culture.”
Developed in the 2022-23 season, the Aboriginal Talent Academy was created to provide youngsters a chance to showcase their abilities, connect with their culture and meet other Aboriginal cricketers.
“Although we only select a small handful of players for our Academy, being able to gain exposure into our high-performance programs and showing your face is the biggest benefit the trials offer,” Hoffmeister said.
“Not only will players be meeting friends and others over the course of the trials, but they may also stay in the programs for future years and have the chance to make other representative sides in the future.”
Hoffmeister said for aspiring cricketers, participating in the trials is an unbelievably important way to shine a light on their individual skillset.
“We can’t judge players just off pure stats,” he said.
“Seeing players in action is the best way to identify who may be part of the Academy, but it is also important to meet new faces of players who may be part of our future programs.
“What I’m looking forward to the most at this year’s trials is the sheer amount of young and keen cricketers at the trials showcasing skills and representing their family and culture.
“There are already lots of registrations for our programs, but we would love to have as many as we can in order to make these the biggest trials we have had.”
The trials will run on Tuesday July 16 and 23 from 5-7pm at Revolution Sports in Shenton Park.
Regional sessions will be held in the coming weeks.
For those interested in attending the trials, the registration form can be found here.