Yerrabi Cricket Club eyeing premier status as it grows within Gungahlin community
The Yerrabi Cricket Club says it wants to see more girls join up and embrace the sport. (Supplied)
It was a modest start for the Yerrabi Cricket Club in Gungahlin's north.
"We had a young committee at that time, not a lot of people who had any experience whatsoever in cricket, so we just started from scratch," club president Sumeet Panesar said.
However within five years, the junior club has grown from two teams to having close to 200 players and has plans to become Canberra's first new Premier Cricket club in decades.
Club secretary Brooke Bligh came to Yerrabi two years ago when her daughter joined the club.
The Yerrabi Cricket Club says it has been working hard to grow and raise funds. (Supplied)
"It's fantastic, it's a very, very close-knit community club, we really, really love being part of it,"Ms Bligh said.
"Both of our children now play for Yerrabi, we find it really well managed and we're enjoying being part of it and helping it grow.
"I think everyone really does appreciate having a local Gungahlin club. All of the parents are in that sort of Amaroo, Taylor, Ngunnawal area [and] there's such a big growing community out this way."
'A lot of Bunnings barbecues'
This season Yerrabi has 16 teams, including two girls's teams, two male Colts teams and for the first time a side in 6th grade of the men's Premier Cricket competition.
The cricket club at Yerrabi is hoping to build a strong reputation. (Supplied)
President Sumeet Panesar said the rapid rise is down to the dedication of the club's parents and volunteers.
"We've been doing a lot of Bunnings barbecues and putting the word out there, posting in a lot of Facebook groups," Mr Panesar said.
"We've been running a lot of flyers to schools, at the local shops as well, so as much as we can do from our side."
He said Yerrabi had also forged relationships with Gungahlin Aussie Rules and netball clubs too.
"It's just all volunteer work that all of these people are doing is just, you know a selfless job. We're just doing it for the kids," Mr Panesar said.
"The passion for the sports and the passion for the community is what's been pushing all of us and I think that's why we're shining at the moment."
Cricketers playing on the Yerrabi Cricket Club pitch in Gungahlin. (Supplied)
Ms Bligh said forging a good reputation in the area has helped.
"The kids really enjoy the environment of the club. They're feeling supported, they tell their friends — it's growing in that respect," she said.
"We've got obviously a large Indian community out here as well and the word I think has spread through a lot of those organisations, so I think we've got a really good reputation.
"We're really growing at quite an exponential rate."
Yerrabi eyes off Premier Cricket
Yerrabi has aspirations to grow even further, targeting more girls's teams, including a senior side and ultimately a place in Canberra's Premier Cricket Club competition.
"It's a big focus for us to be able to create pathways for our junior cricketers, keep them involved and see them grow all the way through to senior cricket in Canberra,"Mrs Bligh said.
It would be a significant change for ACT club cricket which has had the same eight clubs for decades.
There are some hurdles to overcome as North Canberra-Gungahlin is already competing in Premier Cricket, and the area would need more turf pitches for the teams to play on.
Yerrabi secretary Brooke Bligh wants the club to expand into senior cricket. (Supplied)
Mr Panesar said the club wanted to expand but was aware of the hurdles.
"We've been talking to Cricket ACT in regards to having a senior club and there's been a little bit of chat about putting a business case up, but you know it's still the early stages for that," he said.
"We don't know how it's going to pan out, but we're trying our best from the committee point of view."
He suggested there could be room for both clubs in Gungahlin.
"North Canberra Gungahlin is itself an established club and they've been in Gungahlin here for quite a while now," he said.
"Even having North Gungahlin, we at Yerrabi still have a lot of teams now, so you can see the amount of numbers that we've got at the moment and the future looks bright for us.
"I still get a lot of inquiries and my team still gets a lot of emails having their kids want to play and some of the seniors who want to come and join as well."