THE Pitt Town Pumas had massive grins on their faces last weekend as the team went out for its first game of cricket.
It was made special because for the eight team members in the under-10s team, it was the first time any of them had played a proper game of cricket.
Their coach, and father of one of the team members, Trent Croft, said the grins on their faces as they walked out to play spoke volumes for their love of the game.
‘‘The team were all happy, they all played very well,’’ he said.
‘‘There were lots of nerves on Saturday morning. They were all jumping out of their skin.
‘‘It was just good fun to see little kids at that age loving it.’’
Croft said his son Tate had played back yard cricket with neighbour and team-mate Cody Mavin for the near entirety of last summer.
‘‘A lot of the kids were looking forward to putting the whites on for the first time and to hold a cricket bat out on the pitch,’’ he said.
‘‘The kids are all arriving to training very early with big smiles on their faces and are keen to play. My little boy and Cody played out the back for all summer.’’
Croft said to see how much the players enjoyed their first game, played against Richmond, was what junior sport was all about.
‘‘For most of the kids in the comp I would say it is their first season,’’ he said.
‘‘When it was each kid’s turn to bowl, they were very excited and it was good to see sport still do that. It is just good to see the kids playing a sport not on a game console.
‘‘There are nine under-10 teams in the Hawkesbury District Cricket Association, which is huge."
