By Grace Jones | posted on February 8, 2019
ALBANY Junior Cricket Association volunteer Amanda Thompson said she is still getting over the shock of being named the Female Country Volunteer of the Year by the Western Australian Cricket Association.
Every year the WACA recognises the hours of dedication that volunteers put into cricket associations and teams across the state.
AJCA president Jackie Boyce was also named a finalist in the awards.
“To be frank, I’m a bit embarrassed to have won the award,” Ms Thompson said.
“Jackie is an integral part of junior cricket in Albany and I really think that without her we wouldn’t have junior cricket.”
Ms Thompson said she joined the association nearly four years ago after her youngest son Matthew started playing cricket.
“My eldest son (Angus) was playing cricket and my younger son had started up and I decided it was time to give back,” she said.
“So I went along to a committee meeting and the unspoken rule of committees is that if you’re on one you are always given a job to do.”
Ms Thompson said when she started volunteering she didn’t know a single thing about cricket.
“I started off logging in the stats for players under the guidance of Mike Moriarty,” she said.
“I learned a lot and then learned how to score cricket and how to live score so people at home could watch the Country Week matches from Albany.”
Ms Thompson said the AJCA would not be able to operate without the volunteers it has on the sidelines scoring matches, organising registrations and booking fields.
“Jackie and I see this award as a win for Albany junior cricket,” she said.
“It really shows how hard and well our volunteers work together.
“We don’t volunteer for the accolades, we volunteer for the kids.”
