21 November 2023
Helping to restore a local cricket club to its former glory: The 300-word application that secured an NRMA Insurance grant to bring new life to Goolwa Cricket Club.
Local cricket clubs are the lifeblood of many country communities. The lifeblood of Goolwa Cricket Club was weakening until Club secretary, Paul Thurlow, received a $15,000 grant from NRMA Insurance.
Goolwa Cricket Club on Ngarrindjeri Country only finished in the eighth grade as minor premieres last year. The entire community was disappointed. It had been exactly 100 years since the club’s last A Grade win in 1923-4 and it had been struggling to retain its role as a community hub and source of pride. Shortly after, Club Secretary, Paul Thurlow, read an application for an NRMA grant. “I don't normally go in those things where you have to write an application for 300 words or whatever it was, but I said I'll give it a go,” Paul recalls. His grant application was accepted and NRMA Insurance’s help, a gift of $15,000, made the rejuvenation and revitalisation of Goolwa Cricket Club possible.
In a small country town that grant is just like becoming millionaires,” Paul adds. “It’s about five years of profit for us.”
Goolwa is on the shore of Lake Alexandrina, close to the Murray Mouth and the Southern Ocean, with a population of about 2,000. The name "Goolwa" means "elbow" in Ngarrindjeri, the local Aboriginal language, referencing the bend of the lake where the town is located. Paul is the longest serving member of the Club and it, in turn, is one of the oldest clubs in South Australia. It was started in 1859, when the Club played its first game against nearby Port Elliott. Goolwa has played the finals nearly every year in the last ten years. “We keep getting close, but we just can't seem to win that grand final,” Paul says. The club needed help.
Goolwa Cricket Club has a handful of intensely loyal families. Families with three generations of players, like the Giddings. Former Goolwa Club President, Jim Giddings, has received recognition from Cricket SA for 50 years of service to the game. His son, Luke, is considered to be the greatest junior the club has ever seen. His wife, Melissa, and their three children are currently in the junior team, including Luke’s daughter. But it was struggling both to get new young players to fill its teams and revitalise its spirit and to get its under 12s to move up into the under 14s and beyond.
I think we’d lost a little bit of hope and faith, so when we got the grant we knew what we would put it towards to give everyone a bit of a boost and that's certainly what's happened.
The NRMA Insurance grant of $15,000 was received in mid-July, during the club’s off-season, timed perfectly for it to go to work. It arrived on the same day that Paul renewed his NRMA car insurance policy. At first, he thought it was a scam, triggered by his renewal. When he looked closer, he realised it was a notification that the grant had been accepted. “That was really exciting. An ‘oh wow’ moment for sure,” he notes.
Paul and his committee devised a spending plan that focussed on three areas, the past, present and future. When the old club was knocked down in a rebuild, all its old wooden honour boards were stored away, and along with it the history, and glories, of the club. So, these were renovated in modern glass acrylic. For the present, the Club bought new gear to help generate renewed excitement, enthusiasm and confidence in its teams. This included new practice nets featuring sun-resistant artificial turf and ball-stopping netting as well as extra pitch length for bowler and wicket keepers for safety, a major step up from the chain nets they were replacing. And for the future, the Club is reviving its junior development programme that has been allowed to fall into the back burner.
The Club publicised the grant at a time when the community was becoming interested in cricket again and NRMA Insurance’s role As Proud Helpers of Australian Cricket was already being talked about. It received four articles in local newspapers that drew attention to the renewal of the club and triggered a revival in club spirit that spread across the district.
“We are quite a small country club (members wise) and, I guess, the heart of what grassroots cricket is all about. So, this start to our season has really energised our Club and supporters to keep persisting and continuing our long history,” he concludes.
