The GDJCA held its AGM last Wednesday, August 11, where it elected its committee for the year and decided on the structure and focus of the 2021/22 season.

John Edwards and Gary Mortimer were once again elected president and vice president respectively, and the weekend of October 9 and 10 is the nominated start date for the season.

Although NSW is currently in lockdown due to the latest COVID-19 outbreak, GDJCA publicity officer, Amy Edwards, was confident that it could repeat the success of the 2020/21 season, in which the association brought in strong numbers and held successful initiatives such as the Girls' Pop Up Blast program, the Australia Day Bash, and playing games under lights.

"I'm hopeful that we'll match last year what we got in terms of turnout," Edwards said.

"Cricket's quite lucky compared to a lot of other sports. COVID doesn't affect us as much as indoor sports and contact sports. I think that people that want to be COVID-safe and get your kids into sport, cricket's perfect for that."

This year's Master Blasters program will be run by Mortimer, who has spent many years coaching young local talent in Goulburn.

Mortimer's multitudes of experience, Edwards said, will be critical for the kids and the development of their cricket skills.

"It's really big, because a lot of the Blast is run by volunteers, which means sometimes the kids are not always getting the best coaching and direction they can," she said.

"But when it's a paid role, and someone like Gary with so many years of experience can run it, it makes it that little bit more beneficial for the kids."

The Master Blasters program will be run for six weeks in Term Four, and four weeks in Term 1 of 2022, with a break for Christmas.

Last year's Girls Pop Up Blast was subsidised by Cricket NSW, which meant there were no fees for the players. Due to the strong turnout and extremely positive response, the GDJCA is looking to run the program again in 2021/22.

With the current state lockdown in place, there is a chance that some of the winter sports will push their seasons back to accommodate finals.

Should this happen, Edwards said, the GDJCA is more than willing to work with those organisations to ensure no players need miss out on either cricket or their chosen winter sport.

"We don't ever want to see kids miss out on one sport for the sake of another sport," she said.

"Cricket's always happy to work with any of the other sports who want to reach out. We want to get the kids as active as we can with as little disruption to either season as possible."

Edwards also expressed gratitude to the Goulburn Soldiers Club on behalf of the GDJCA for its continued support.

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