ANNUAL REPORT AND BALANCE SHEET SEASON 2019 – 2020 ADELAIDE TURF CRICKET ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED OFFICE BEARERS, LIFE MEMBERS AND CLUBS 2019/20 President R.J. HABY Vice-President J. EMMEL Chairman R. BARBER Honorary Treasurer P. SMITH Executive Officer D. HEYZER Board of Management W. AINSCOUGH, S. MATHIESON, G. GADE, M. KILDEA, L. PANZARINO, R. SINGH, D. VON EINEM Auditors NRM BUSINESS & ACCOUNTING SERVICES Life Members M.J. DOLEY, J.A. RAWES OAM, G. KOLENBERG, R.W. WIGLEY, S.T. LANE, R.K. COLE, R. BARBER, A. CROCKER and G. GADE Honorary Members S. PARKINSON, M. BROCK, J. GALLINA Remembrance of Life Members Let us not forget Association members who were made Life Members for their services to the A.T.C.A. DR.W.A. PRYOR, H.V. MILLARD, M.M. POWELL, G.T. PATERSON, J.W. HULL, A.T. MARLOW, G.L. HAYMAN, K.J. DUKE OAM, W.J.M. EWING MBE, N.W. KEEN OAM, R. WILES, D.T. BARTLETT, C.W. BRITTON, G.T. GOULTER, J.T.GUN, J.F CARNE, L.B TAYLOR, B.S FRY OAM Remembrance of Honorary Members Let us not forget Association members who were made Honorary Members for their services to the A.T.C.A. G.GOW-SMITH Affiliated Clubs Adelaide Lions Gaza Mercedes OC Pulteney OS Adelaide Lutheran Gepps Cross Modbury Reynella Adelaide Rockets Glenelg Multicultural Sports CC Rostrevor OC Adelaide University Glenunga Northern Districts Sacred Heart OC Adelaide Warriors Golden Grove Old Ignatians St Peters OC ATCU&SA Goodwood Old Scotch Sturt Athelstone Grange Prince Alfred OC Trinity College OS Blue Brigade Hectorville Panorama Unley Brahma Lodge Hope Valley Para Hills Walkerville Brighton Ingle Farm District Payneham Woodville Rechabite Concordia OC Kensington District Pembroke OS Woodville South Eastern Suburbs Keswick Plympton Footballers Flinders Park Kilburn Pooraka Flinders University Marion Port Adelaide Fulham Mawson Lakes Port District PATRON The Right Honourable The Lord Mayor of Adelaide, Sandy Verschoor PRESIDENT’S REPORT It has once again been a true honour and privilege to serve the ATCA as your President for another season. Until being out STUMPED by COVID-19, we had witnessed a wonderful season of highly competitive cricket with many highlights right through the various grades aided by some excellent weather, with only two Saturdays throughout the six months being a complete washout. Sadly, the Board of Management had to make the heartbreaking but rightful decision to call off our finals series, acting as a responsible Association on behalf of the wider community. Congratulations to all teams that finished minor premiers and therefore declared PREMIERS of each grade. Fortunately, our junior sections managed to complete their finals before the season’s abandonment. A highlight of these games for me were the large crowds that witnessed these young players in action at the Fulham, Grange and Brighton Ovals, where the play was of a high standard. At Under 14, 16 and 18 level the challenge is to retain their interest, commitment and enthusiasm for our great summer game, and I plead with parents and coaches of all clubs with junior teams to keep encouraging their teenagers to graduate into senior cricket. Being in a non-contact team environment sport brings many benefits. It has been another tough year for our umpires with dwindling numbers, but although small in numbers they were high in quality and I witnessed a great sense of “togetherness” amongst their fraternity. Congratulations to stalwart Doug French OAM, who was recognized for his outstanding service to the ATCUSA at their Annual General Meeting last August. Special commendations to Adam Elliott and Graham Wood on being named “Umpires of the Season”; Grant Porter (Most Improved); and Sasha Pazeski (Best 1st Year Umpire). The challenge of recruiting new blood into the fold continues to be ongoing and of high importance. An innovation for the Association in 2019-20 was our first tentative foray into social media via our newly designed Facebook page. Another great way to give more exposure to our clubs and players alike as we look to expand and explore more opportunities in this area. The potential growth is unlimited, while a number of teams have also introduced live scoring which also brings untold advantages to the followers of ATCA cricket. Hopefully all clubs in our higher grades, in the very near future will adopt this excellent tool to bring our games into the lounge rooms of our “stay at home supporters”. Our SAMCA Cup results in our male Under 12, 14 and 16’s were once again the pride of the Association, winning all three divisions for the second consecutive year, while our Under 16 girls’ team won two of their four games and gained valuable match experience - special thanks to all the appointed coaches. Sadly, the senior divisions of this competition were abandoned due to lack of commitment by one of the other Associations, and its future must now be in some doubt. I wish to thank the Board of Management sincerely along with our Executive Officer, David Heyzer for their support, service and commitment with the hard work of steering the direction of the ATCA into the future. They have focused on placing our member clubs at the heart of every decision, because any future growth will be built on trust, service and the spirit of being part of this large cricket community. The continued support of every club is imperative. Our clubs are the bedrock of our game as they give weekly opportunities to young and old to participate – the ones who nurture our stars of the future as they go on onto higher standards of cricket. As I move around the various grounds, I am captivated by the volunteers that help run the teams. I see lots of self- motivated people doing great things for their clubs and no doubt the challenge is getting younger people involved to help run club land. Perspectives are so much different today, work life is different, social life is different as the 18-35 year olds seem to be more time poor than 20 years ago. Who are going to run our clubs when the current generation is too old? Can we identify our next club Chairman, Secretary or Treasurer? Without younger members willing to fulfil these roles, clubs run the risk of becoming detached from its player members when committees are full of older personnel. Congratulations to all personal and club award winners of the ATCA, and special mentions to the Gepps Cross Cricket Club on winning the South Australian Cricket Association Community Cricket Club of the Year and to John Biggs from the Woodville South Cricket Club who completed fifty consecutive seasons of active playing service for his club - two wonderful achievements. As I write this report our immediate playing future is still very much unclear due to the pandemic, so I plead with everyone to be patient as we ride out these uncertain times. While we would all love for season 2020-21 to commence on October 10, the health and wellbeing of everyone is of the highest importance. Things may be different for a time, we may be competing with football codes for players and grounds, clubs may lose sponsorships due to the economic downturn and we may have to play a shortened season. If we show a “spirit of cooperation” together we can work through all these different issues as they arise. Here is hoping for another excellent summer of cricket ahead, and I look forward to catching up with lots of regular community cricket supporters, hopefully in the not too distant future. Richard Haby President ATCA CHAIRMAN’S REPORT The Adelaide Turf Cricket Association had a successful 2019-20 season, up to the conclusion of the minor rounds. Unfortunately, all senior finals had to be cancelled due to the COVID 19 pandemic which has swept through Australia. It was a hard decision for the Board to make, but we had to be guided by the health authorities. As a result, it was decided to award the premierships in all grades to the teams that finished top at the end of the minor round. My congratulations to those teams. Fortunately, the Junior and the Twenty/20 competitions were completed prior to the cancellations taking effect. Both competitions were again well supported and keenly contested. Congratulations to all grand final winners. Both the Senior and Junior Award Nights also became victims of the pandemic. The award winners for both competitions were posted on the ATCA website and social media. Congratulations to all winners and many thanks to the senior players, junior players and their parents, and all associated with the clubs. The Association continues to be in a strong financial position, and thank you to all our sponsors. We appreciate your generous support. Our sponsorship committee is in the process of securing further sponsorships for the coming season. I urge all clubs to continually support our sponsors. The Board is still concerned with the number of compliance issues occurring during the season. Sportsmanship is the key word in cricket and it appears that some players are still not observing the “Spirit of Cricket” Policy. Senior players should set an example to Junior players progressing through the grades. The Umpires and Scorers Association has had a change of leadership, with Doug French retiring as President. Doug has given a great many years of service to cricket and has received many awards, including the Order of Australia Medal. I wish Doug all the very best for the future and thank him very much for his support. Congratulations to his successor, Konrad Date and I look forward to a strong working relationship with the Umpires and Scorers Association.