SOUTHERN CAPE NEWS - The Union Stars Cricket Club of Oudtshoorn – which was founded in 1892 - recorded one of their best seasons ever when they won the Premier League, Twenty20 League, Reserve League and Women’s League in the local SWD Cricket club competitions.
The club played for six seasons in a row in the Premier League Final. The club is producing numerous players for SWD and often are not at full strength yet the club however still maintained an unbeaten record the past season.
The club management is of the view that an important factor for the success is built around many players with extraordinary cricket skills and talents. The club have dedicated coaching staff who are respected by players.
The senior players in the club also assist with training sessions and they share a lot of their skills and experience with the younger players. The key is that young talented players are identified and encouraged at a young age to join the club.
The club also have a very good relationship with the Bridgton based Excellence Centre (HUB) who trains junior players. Many of these players join the club as junior players and are given opportunities to player junior cricket against junior teams of other clubs. The addition of women and two junior teams brought a new but positive and exciting dimension to the club. The integration of these new teams into the club was smooth and positive.
According to club chairman, Enrique Pietersen, it is important in the club that the players and the management are clear on their different roles and responsibilities. In order to strengthen this, they have regular management meetings, general members meetings, and annual general meetings and selectors meetings.
Last season the club lost their status as Premier League champions when they were outplayed by NMMU in the final. According to Pietersen the club went back to the drawing board. “We had an evaluation and planning session at the beginning of the season for the management and payers where we analysed our strengths and weaknesses of the previous season. We had a detailed discussion on the Premier League final and identified our mistakes in preparing for the final, team selection for the final and aspects of our game that was not up to standard. We then developed a strategy to follow throughout the year that would get us to the final”
The club will represent SWD at the Momentum National Club Championships in Pretoria in April 2015 and they will be very keen to improve on previous performances. The players are well motivated and mentally better equipped for the national club champs this season. The preparation for the tournament will be very serious and especially the mental aspects will get attention. Strategies for each match will be worked out and after each game an assessment will be done of the strengths and weaknesses in preparation for the next game.
According to Pietersen on of the biggest challenges for the club will be to develop the life skills of the players to equip them better for life and as role models in the community.
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