For 23-year-old Josh Niederer, a family journey that began with his autistic brother's desire to play cricket with him has become a lifelong journey as inclusive cricket programs become mainstream at clubs in South Australia. It became a lifelong passion.
One Saturday afternoon last season, Josh Niederer paused to reflect on what he and his family had accomplished.
As Adelaide's summer light fades, he takes in the heart-warming scene unfolding at the home of Reynella Cricket Club, where more than a decade of work crystallizes in an instant.
“As the season goes, we had a five-week break for our full-ability team, which was a long time,” said Niederer, a member of this year's team. HCL Tech Young Leader of the Year at Cricket Australia's 2024 National Community Cricket Awards.
“So we decided to do center wicket training after the A-grade game at Reynella. I said to the A-grade students, ‘Look, if you can get five or six of us to come and help out for 20 minutes. I said, ‘Try it.’” If there was a coaching or fielding job, that would be great.
“And we had a terrible day. All four of our grades lost, so we were preparing to have a pretty bad night at the club. But maybe an hour after the session started. Half a minute later I looked around and there were 45 mainstream male cricketers out on the oval laughing together. It was probably the best night at this club all year.
“Then everyone came back and bought a meal together. I thought there might be a table for the inclusive team, but instead they were scattered around the club chatting to everyone. It was a really special time.'' “
Josh's older brother Callum was diagnosed with autism at the age of three. Almost a decade later, in 2013, this sparked a change for his parents, Jenny and James. Together with Josh, who was 12 years old at the time, they established an all-ability cricket program at Reynella CC in south Adelaide.
“Callum was about 14 or 15, I think, and he wanted to play cricket,” Josh recalls. “When I was at Reynella, he came to my training and basically said, 'This is too fast and too difficult for me.'
“And he said to his mom and dad, 'Why isn't there a cricket program for people like me?' Mom and Dad said, 'I'm sure there is, we'll take a look.' But basically, I had them look at it, but there was nothing, so I decided, “Okay, let's try making it.''
And they got to work. The program initially consisted of six plastic bats, a few balls, and a few homespun drills. James was the head coach, Jenny was the manager, and according to Josh, “me and a few mates and a few others around the club just came together to get it done. Everything was very “It was very loose.”
However, over time, it evolved into something completely different.
“Skills-based programs are still here, but this year we really worked on creating that pathway,” says Josh, who currently serves as Inclusive Programs Director at Reynella. “We now have an open-age squad[in 2022-23]and we have stepped it up this season to play every other week.
“I participated in (coordinating) the younger children's program that we started. This year, the first program starts at 5 o'clock and continues until the age of 12. After that, the 13- to 16-year-old program It's a middle program, so there's a path from the age of five all the way to the oldest player on the open age team, who is 65 years old. ”
Reynella registered approximately 25 full-ability players for the 2023-24 season, and the open age team played eight rounds in a five-team competition.
Niederer kept club spirit and unity at the forefront of his thinking, ensuring that no detail was overlooked, from the season-opening cap presentation (by the A-grade team captain) to the weekly squad announcements on Facebook. Like other clubs, they provided uniforms and also contributed to sponsorship activities that helped reduce costs for those for whom uniforms were a major barrier to sport.
“This year I joined a club committee for the first time and said, ‘I want to oversee all of these (full-ability) programs,’” he says. “My goal was to create an (inclusive) atmosphere and I put up a statement saying the club has eight senior teams (five men's teams, two women's teams and an inclusive team).
“We probably had six or seven players from the comprehensive team come to our senior presentation and some to the club bowl in the evening, and most of the male players , you'll be able to name quite a few players on the comprehensive team. That's great.
“The more inclusive players we can get into the club and do little things like cap presentations and putting their names on other players, the more it seems to me that it's the right thing to do as part of the club. Even the little players can change someone's day.
“So there are always things we want to do, but I think we're definitely moving in the right direction.”
