In the 2010/11 cricket season a local Horsham resident, Tim Hopper, embarked on a project to set up a Twenty20 cricket tournament in Horsham and surrounding areas much like an Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket franchise. Read their story.

In the 2010/11 cricket season a local Horsham resident, Tim Hopper, embarked on a project to bring Twenty20 cricket to Horsham. Tim had a vision to set up a tournament in Horsham and surrounding areas much like an Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket franchise.

Initially the idea was to create an opportunity for some ex-cricketers to re-engage in playing cricket again. Tim gained some support from Cricket Victoria to supply balls and help promote the game.

The franchise called on local community businesses to sponsor a team. For example, the Horsham Hotel would express interest to buy one of the 18 teams available for $300. Anyone who wanted to play for a team had to enter their name in an auction pool of players. The 18 franchise teams that wanted to enter the competition held an auction night to bid for their players with match sticks.

As players were bought, teams were established and fixtures were released and Tim and his friends attracted media attention from the local media. The community began to take interest and joined up as coaches, players, spectators and volunteers.

When the competition launched, Tim and his friends had attracted locals back to the game, many of whom had not been involved in cricket for years. They also attracted new young participants to cricket.

The group actively engaged all parts of the community. They raised funds for local charities, invited the Indigenous community to launch events with Welcome to Country, and held junior and girls cricket matches as curtain raisers to the senior matches.

What was initially set out as a plan to play the exciting new format of Twenty20 cricket developed into a genius strategy of recruiting new and old volunteers to the local cricket association. The competition attracted private and public business, charities, ex cricketers, Indigenous communities, council and government support, all ages, men and women and even support from Victorian Bushranger Clint McKay.

While Tim and his friends did not initially set out to recruit volunteers, they identified early on that the success of their project meant ensuring that they were inclusive of their entire community. To achieve this they adopted simple practices that made each and every person they encountered feel welcome and part of their community project.

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