Sport Lived cricketers impress in Melbourne

Congratulations to Richard Moore for winning the Third Grade District One-Day Cricket Premiership! In a thrilling Grand Final, Richard’s club beat Geelong by just four runs!

Rick Moore (top row, 3rd from the left)

Congratulations also to Harry Moores for winning the 2nd XI Premiership beating Bentleigh by 75 runs.

Congratulations to Thomas Crosse who played for his club in a 2nd XI Grand Final. Unfortunately his team were beaten at the last hurdle but Tom performed extremely well taking 1/26 off 10 overs in the first innings and 2/21 off 8.1 overs in the second innings.

A very special mention must also go to Charlie Cooke who scored not only one, but two centuries in consecutive weeks! His latest effort was a

Charlie (right) with Tom Parfett

sparkling 116 not out. This is an outstanding achievement to score two centuries at District Cricket! Charlie, a wicket-keeper batman from Sherborne, has consistently scored runs throughout the season.  Prior to his 2 centuries Charlie notched up a classy 98 in early January. Congratulations on this excellent achievement! Well Done Charlie!!

James Herbert – Rowing in Australia

James Herbert is on one of Sport Lived’s exciting six month playing programmes, where he is rowing in Melbourne.  He is part of one of the best clubs in Australia where he is rowing alongside national hopefuls and awed by the club’s ‘incredible strength in depth’.

James hails from a solid background on the water. He first picked up an oar in Year 9, finally making it a ‘full time’ commitment a year later. This led to four years of serious rowing for Bedford Modern School, one of England’s top ‘day’ schools for the sport. In these four years James was part of the BMS senior crew and raced at the National Schools and Henley Regattas and also attended GB trials with his brother. So he approached this new and unique challenge well equipped and full of experience.

Rowing on The Yarra

Rowing Australia has been a rewarding contrast to James’ previous experiences and he has noticed a more intensive strength and weights programme. Early morning sessions remain and the ethos of the sport is fairly universal – ‘you train long and hard.’ But replace English rain, wind and dingy mornings, with a touch of mist, a golden sunrise and calm, blue still water. The River Yarra runs through the heart of Melbourne where there is hardly a whisper of the wind. Gone are the thermal leggings. Conditions are so perfect, says James, that they ‘definitely take your concentration off the rowing.’ But great weather is no obstacle to the success of James’ club. Their bottomless strength was evident at the Head of the Yarra – an 8k processional race – where the men’s crews won three of the four levels of competition and the women’s crew were victorious in theirs.

The prospect of joining such a prestigious club and embarking on such a challenge may seem intimidating even in a domestic setting, let alone playing away in one of the world’s most successful sporting countries. But an undaunted James says ‘I was made to feel at home right from the start.’ Sport Lived has provided James with the perfect base for his Australian adventure: a comfortable, apartment in the heart of Melbourne, with some stunning views of the city. Living with a number of fellow Sport Lived players he has had an established social group from the moment of his arrival. His crew mates at the club were also immensely welcoming and their hospitality has of course created endless opportunities for James to socialise. At Christmas the club hosted a cocktail party and has hosted numerous events throughout his time there.

Club Boathouse in Melbourne

Living in the city meant James was able to cycle to his club’s boathouse in 10 minutes.  He was also close to Melbourne’s nightlife which he has said is as ‘large and varied as anywhere I’ve seen.’ Melbourne is a thriving metropolis, considered to be the sporting and cultural capital of Australia. Stunning Victorian architecture, beautiful parks and gardens and the meandering River Yarra make it a physically diverse city, reflected in the wealth of entertainment on offer. It is home to five major sporting arenas including the Melbourne Cricket Ground, home of cricket in Australia. It is also the live music capital of Australia and boasts a multitude of nightlife, from trendy bars, to clubs, to downbeat pubs; ‘a truly assorted bar scene.’ James has particularly enjoyed some of the idyllic beaches in the surrounding area, even taking the time to catch some rays on Christmas day.

Encouragingly, bar work has been easy to find when in need of money, meaning this has never been a worry. But some saving before he left the UK has allowed our man to concentrate on his rowing and enjoy the experience. When asked to sum up his time in Australia, James said quite simply: ‘Unbelievable! I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here.’

Richard Moore – Playing Cricket in Melbourne

Richard Moore, member of the Cheshire County League, Lancashire Under 19’s and Cheshire 2nds, is a young and dedicated cricketer, who chose to travel with Sport Lived on his gap year, and experience cricket the Australian way. Richard left the UK with a desire to focus on his cricket, and improve all levels of his game, “I wanted to take it to the next level.” He left with the intentions of concentrating on and improving his fielding and fitness, and an underlying curiosity to learn the differences between playing cricket in the UK and playing cricket in Australia.

Upon Richard’s arrival in Australia, he was fortunate enough to be chosen to play for a club handpicked by Sport Lived, and one of Victoria’s most elite cricket clubs. Richard, who is a member of the 6 month ‘Playing Sport’ programme, describes playing cricket in Melbourne as, “absolutely brilliant, it is just such a good experience.”  In terms of technique and training methods, Richard describes his club as being of a very high standard, “each session is so intense, it is amazing because you see yourself improving after every training session.” Richard and his team-mates train on outstanding facilities, having access to five nets and a full-sized astro pitch. Training twice a week allows him to acknowledge his improvements and growth as a sportsman. He feels he has succeeded in achieving his goal since coming to Melbourne, “when training at the intensity that we do, it is really good for your game and you definitely see the benefits.”

When Richard is not playing cricket or watching cricket, he is experiencing the Melbourne culture and nightlife with both locals and fellow Sport Lived travellers. Being placed with such a tight-knit sporting club has given Richard the chance to embrace his new community, and learn from his team-mates about more than just cricket, “they are a great group of lads! We have social events throughout the season which are a lot of fun.” Richard speaks just as highly of the social benefits of playing sport in Melbourne, as he does the physical. The highlight of his trip so far involves a fancy dress pub-crawl with his team-mates, whereby the club is divided into groups and given challenges throughout pubs around Melbourne.

Outside of the cricket club, Richard and the other Sport Lived participants are provided with incredible support from their local Melbourne mentors. Richard’s mentor took him and the other Sport Lived participants away from the fast-paced city life in Melbourne, and gave them a taste of the Victorian countryside. During this bush fishing trip, the group were introduced to the laid-back Australian country life, native flora and fauna, and given a chance to bond and relax after an intense period of training and matches. Richard described the weekend trip as an amazing experience; “it was an experience I will never forget.”

Richard’s advice for people thinking about attending the Sport Lived programme on their gap year was simple, “Do it. And make the most of everything you do. Because you will always look back and always remember this time.”

Emma Batten – Hockey in Melbourne

Sport Lived is committed to providing quality programmes for young people who are mad about sport – if you’re after fun in the sun whilst developing your existing skills further then this is the organisation for you!

One of our most popular destinations is the bustling, vibrant city of Melbourne, famous for its sporting prowess and laid-back, Aussie pace of life. As our current participants staying in Melbourne will tell you, it really is a spectacular city.

Emma Batten has been playing hockey in Melbourne and says the experience has far surpassed everything she had expected, “I really am having the best time and was telling my mum just the other day how I want to come and live here now. I think I’m going to find it just as hard leaving here, and all the friends I’ve made, as I found leaving home in the first place!”

Although Emma struggled with a bit of homesickness on her arrival in Oz, it didn’t take her long to settle in with the support of the specially selected clubs, “The Women’s President at my club has been the most welcoming person, he has been like a surrogate father to all of the people on the Sport Lived hockey programme. When we arrived, he took us down to Barwon Heads for the pre-season hockey bonding session. He has us round for dinner most Sundays and cooks us up a big roast so we still feel we’re part of a family, unbelievable person!’ Emma admits that this extra support provided on a Sport Lived programme was a welcome piece of reassurance for her parents back home, ‘They knew I had mentors out here who would be able to help me if I needed anything so it made them a lot happier about me going to the other side of the world on my own!’

 

Sport Lived organises most aspects of your year out so you won’t have to worry about living arrangements, finding a club and organising other tricky aspects of your stay, allowing you to concentrate on playing sport and having fun from the minute you arrive! Emma found this another aspect of Sport Lived’s appeal, “It was exactly what I was looking for as I could play Hockey, had accommodation set up and had people to do it all with. It was ideal.” Emma is living with other Sport Lived participants right in the centre of Melbourne, ‘The city is awesome, there is always stuff going on and it’s small so you can walk just about everywhere. There are so many suburbs close by as well that you can reach by train and plenty of good places to go out. Only now am I starting to discover many of them!” A Sport Lived programme also provides you with an excellent chance to mix with others and join in with the great social scenes at our specially selected clubs, “I’ve made a lot of friends in the team who I regularly go out with. There’s been a few social events planned by the club where loads of the teams turn up, the biggest night has been pub golf where about 40 people turned out! Even if something isn’t planned people will still go out, men’s and women’s teams, so there’s always something to do on a Saturday!”

As well as the fantastic social scene, the hockey club that Emma has been playing for has helped her develop her existing skills further, giving her an experience of the game that other players back home have never had, “They play a very different style of hockey out here so we have had to adapt, but it has meant I’ve learnt new skills and especially new tactics and a new way of thinking. It has definitely been a positive development! I think I will go back to England with a different way of looking at the game which I hope I will be able to pass on to members of my teams at home.”

“For me, this year out has been perfect. I couldn’t have asked for better planning, accommodation and club. It’s all worked out so well, I just wish I didn’t have to go home! I’ve done so many things I never would have done at home and enjoyed being so independent and having so much freedom, but it’s the people I’ve met and the friends I’ve made that have made this trip so awesome. I will be gutted to leave every one of them but I’m already planning my next trip out here!”