Sadly one of former Junior Coaches for our Cricket Club passed away on 9th September 2016.
Ted Brinkworth coached our under 15 team to a pennant in 1984/85 I believe.
Many of this team went on the play 1st Grade at Wanneroo DCC and one went on to play successfully for Australia in all forms of the game.
Ted was a school teacher and father at Ocean Reef High School, and was noted for a finely tuned ability to communicate, and had experience with dealing with young men of this age. He was successful in achieving a pennant with his team, which was fiercely fought for and was gladly accepted by the WDCC which was seeking as many pennants as possible, Senior or Junior as we established ourselves in the WACA 1st Grade environment.
It was achieved in a golden era of WACA Junior Cricket superiority by WDCC which was the driving force behind the eventual promotion of the Club to 1st Grade status for the 1983/84 season.
These boy’s games were well worth watching, which I did, and personally rated their fielding skills at least level and sometimes better than the senior players of the time.
We as a Club thanked Ted for his untiring efforts in his successful season, in producing such an exciting team, and upon reflection our Club owes these unselfish men for contributing time in supervising, advising and encouraging our youth players to enjoy the game, improve and evolve to reach greater heights as senior players. It was a healthy and exciting time for Junior Cricket at our Club as we regularly had more Coach applicants than positions available.
Today, these young Cricketers are mature men with their own professional and family responsibilities contributing to Society, and it’s heart-warming to see this transition over time, and is all the payback one needs for all the hours put in on an administrative basis at the Cricket Club.
RIP Ted.
Ken Oates