Wangoom Cricket Club president Peter Melican (left), junior coach Shamus O’Beirne and captain-coach Mark White are crowing about a new sporting alignment with South Warrnambool Football Netball Club. Wangoom has adopted South’s mascot, the Roosters.
WANGOOM cricket officials hope an informal partnership with a football-netball club which has the same colours will strengthen their playing ranks.
The Grassmere Cricket Association club has adopted South Warrnambool’s Roosters nickname as its own, in a move the club hopes will have mutual benefit.
Club spokesman Jack Melican said he hoped the initiative would help Wangoom strengthen its identity and potentially recruit South footballers who wanted to play cricket.
“The reason why we entered this partnership is we’ve been known as the Goomers for a long time,” he said.
“And we’ve always had this discussion how do we draw a Goomer on a shirt.
“The idea was South Warrnambool wasn’t aligned with the cricket club but we share a lot of players and ex-players.
“Being the same colours and them not having a cricket club (at Friendly Societies’ Park) we thought it would be good for the clubs.”
Melican said the informal arrangement could also benefit South Warrnambool.
“We have two junior (cricket) teams and they go to a lot of different clubs, but we could encourage them to go to the same football club,” he said.
“Wangoom is geographically situated very close to Warrnambool and we have a lot of players from Warrnambool.”
Wangoom finished the 2011-12 GCA A grade season in seventh spot with three wins and two draws from 14 matches.
The B and C grade sides also missed finals, but the club is confident of an improved showing this summer.
Captain Mark White said numbers at twice-weekly pre-season training had been encouraging.
He said recruits were in the pipeline but had yet to receive clearances to join the club.
“We’re much the same with every club at the moment, with football only just finishing up we’re still waiting on a couple,” he said.
“But things are looking real good at this time.
“A good result would be to keep improving. Hopefully we make finals.
“That’s ideally what we’d like. I guess (finishing seventh) was just due to a lack of numbers last year.”
