Junior Cricket
RIVERTON ROSSMOYNE JUNIOR CRICKET CLUB
If you’re under the age of 17 and are keen to play some cricket locally, we encourage you to contact the Riverton Rossmoyne Junior Cricket Club. Please visit their website for further information.
What’s In A Name?
A great deal. As discussed in our History, the Riverton Rostrata Cricket Club formed from the merger of the Riverton Cricket Club and the Rostrata Cricket Club. We are a senior club with no direct junior cricket club alignment.
The Riverton Rossmoyne Junior Cricket Club caters for junior players in Riverton, Rossmoyne, Shelley, Ferndale and surrounding areas. It is a strong, well run club totally autonomous from the Riverton Rostrata Cricket Club.
However, the similarity in club names has been known to cause the occasional problem with the fact that both clubs operate out of Riverton Park in Riverton also adding to the confusion. But why the separation of clubs?
A Brief History
The Riverton Junior Cricket Club formed in 1970/71 – one year prior to the formation of the senior cricket club. In the first year the club fielded two teams, Riverton and Shelley, in the South Perth Cricket Club under 14 competition. In the following year a third team, Rossmoyne, was introduced with the club also hosting games every Saturday at Rossmoyne Primary School. These games were for the younger boys not old enough for under 14’s or for the boys who were not chosen in the 14’s teams.
All the inaugural junior coaches would become senior players for the senior club in the 1971/72 season with all of them continuing their junior coaching roles. However, alarm bells were ringing from the beginning with the club President, Ian Donaldson, having this to say in the 1971/72 Year Book:
“I know that our junior division coaches will agree that we gave them an impossible job. To expect a man to attend senior training twice a week, junior training once a week, attend junior matches from 8.30am to 12.30pm on Saturday and immediately play his senior match, is too much. This excludes club meetings, delegate meetings, etc.”
It should be noted that many of the junior coaches at the time did not have their own children playing in their teams, nor were they young men just starting their cricketing careers. Within six years, all but one were no longer playing for the club.
As the junior division introduced Under 16’s and other age group teams, the number of junior coaches coming out of the senior club continued to shrink. At the same time, the senior club was struggling financially and was not able to subsidise the junior division. At some time in the late 70’s/early 80’s the decision was made for the senior and junior sections of the Riverton Cricket Club to split entirely.
The clubs went their own way with the wedge between the two clubs only growing in 1995/96 when the then recently formed Riverton Rostrata Cricket Club moved their training to Prendwick Reserve.
In 2001/02 the City of Canning approached the Riverton Rossmoyne Junior Cricket Club, the Riverton Junior Football Club and the Riverton Rostrata Cricket Club with the aim of having all three clubs operating out of the new Riverton Pavilion. The move back to Riverton initially caused some teething problems for the junior and senior cricket clubs around training, however over the years this has been resolved to the extent that both clubs have little problem coexisting today.
Today
In recent years the two cricket clubs have developed a strong relationship with many juniors moving directly into the senior playing group at Riverton Rostrata once their junior days have finished. Though both clubs get on well they are also both fiercely independent with no suggestion of forming a senior and junior club under the one name.
Nevertheless, the Riverton Rostrata Cricket Club are grateful for the support they receive from the Riverton Rossmoyne Junior Cricket Club which hopefully will continue to grow over time.
If you are a junior player keen to play cricket in the area, please visit the Riverton Rossmoyne Junior Cricket Club website for further details: