National figures suggest participation in kids sport is actually increasing.

According to the Australian Sports Commission in 2017, 3.5 million children (74%) participated at least once in some form of organised sport or physical activity outside of school hours over the previous 12 months, compared with 3.2 million children (70%) in 2016.

This doesn’t appear to be the case across the board in Cowra, particular in junior cricket which used to be the chosen sport for hundreds of children each summer.

Numbers in the town’s junior cricket competition are poor to the say the least. 

This is not a reflection on the sport’s administrators in Cowra, they appear to be doing their best to get kids involved and control the costs associated with taking part.

Take for instance the town’s Woolworths Junior Blasters Program which is designed for boys and girls between the ages of five and seven.

And this season the kids play in the program for FREE.

So why aren’t parents getting their kids down to Holman Oval in River Park on a Saturday morning to take part? 

Perhaps parents think they can’t afford the necessary equipment to take part even when registrations are free?

Again Cowra Junior Cricket has everything covered.

For $0 your child receives a pack containing a named cricket shirt in the colour of the Big Bash team of their choosing.

Each child also receives a ball, a bucket hat and plastic bat.

Then there’s the added benefit of receiving an hour of games plus instruction each Saturday morning from Alana Ryan, herself a professional cricketer who grew up playing cricket in Cowra’s River Park, just like NSW Shield player Daniel Hughes and the likes of top local players Nick and Tim Berry and Michael Curtale.

Plus your children will learn how to be a member of a team. It’s great to test yourself in individual sport but there are so many more benefits to playing as a member of a team.

Drag yourself and the kids out of bed and get down to River Park by 9.30am on Saturday morning. If the kids don’t like cricket or just don’t want to play, fair enough, but at least give them a chance to try out the sport, especially this year when it’s free.