Julia Cavanough Dives Into ACA Programs

21-year-old Julia Cavanough is diving into the head coach role at North Hobart Cricket Club, with the help of the ACA’s Premier Cricket Program.

After three seasons with Tasmania and spending some time with the Hobart Hurricanes, Julia was keen to continue to play and remain around cricket while transitioning off contract. With the help of the ACA’s Transition Player Development Manager, Mark Gregory, she got involved with the Premier Cricket Program.

ACA Members are provided financial support to be involved in a playing, coaching or mentoring role at Premier Cricket Clubs across Australia. The program has been designed to provide ACA members with opportunities to retain and share their skill, experience and knowledge across male and female Premier Cricket pathways. Since 2015, the ACA has had more than 370 Members engaged in the Premier Cricket Program, with over $7.1 million being passed through to ACA Members involved.

While on contract, Julia did some pathway coaching with Cricket Tasmania and admitted she was keen in to get involved with coaching at some point, but didn’t expect it to come so soon.

“I thought it would be a really good opportunity to progress my coaching.

“To also be able to do my Level 2 coaching through the ACA and have a head coaching role, it’s not something I thought I’d be doing at 21.”

Julia had a simple message for any ACA Members that were considering getting involved in the Premier Cricket Program:

“If you are having any doubts about whether you wanted to get into a coaching role, the Premier Cricket Program is a really good opportunity to develop your skills, and it provides a really good incentive to get into it.”

She highlighted the financial aspect of the program as a fantastic benefit.

Another ACA program that Julia has tapped into is the Work Placement Program.

The Work Placement Program seeks to enhance members’ career development and future employment prospects through the provision of up to 53.2 hours of paid work experience in an industry preferred by the member.

Julia’s experience in the Work Placement Program was beneficial, saying:

“To be able to do a placement through the ACA in the area that I'm studying, have it paid for, and for it to count towards my degree was something that was really cool.”

“Also, to be able to do that while playing cricket meant that I didn't have to wait until I had time to do a placement.
It’s not something that everyone has access to.”

Any members interested in the Premier Cricket Program should contact premiercricket@auscricket.com.au , while any members who are interested in finding out more about the Work Placement Program are encouraged to contact their PDM.