General News
2 August, 2023
Shae to lead Cats
SHAE De Francesco will helm Mortlake Cricket Club’s inaugural women’s team in the Warrnambool and District Cricket Association this season.
SHAE De Francesco will helm Mortlake Cricket Club’s inaugural women’s team in the Warrnambool and District Cricket Association this season.
De Francesco, a Mortlake native who is now a dairy farmer at Swan Marsh, said she was “absolutely ecstatic” to be announced to coach the inaugural women’s side, with a firm belief in the direction of the Mortlake Cricket Club.
“Mortlake is such a wonderful club, and playing there most of my life I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed playing there,” she said.
“I think it’s just wonderful Mortlake is launching this team; we all knew it was going to come so the fact I got offered the spot shows my name gets thrown around as a good cricketer and a good leader.
“I’m absolutely thrilled.”
De Francesco said from a coaching perspective she would place an early emphasis on perfecting the fundamentals, creating a culture of doing the little things right to build towards success.
“I know a few of the girls have played cricket so we can work on their skills where they desire improvement in their career, and then build from there,” she said.
“Growing from where they are to where they would like to be is how we’ll approach it.
“Then we can try and snag a premiership.”
If De Francesco has her way the building process will be fast tracked.
The Cats are accustomed to success, and the newest side will aim to compete among the best in the division from the first coin toss.
“We’re definitely going to hit the ground running,” De Francesco said.
“A lot of the girls have experience through different clubs and have played in girls’ cricket through school and programs, so a lot of the girls have existing skills.
“We want to start off striving, and I think we’ll start off stronger than what people are anticipating.”
De Francesco said she had confidence in the roster which was currently being assembled, and would love to see more women putting their hand up to try and earn a spot in the side.
“Clare (Tilley, Mortlake Cricket Club women’s sport co-ordinator) has done a fantastic job, got in nice and early and we’ve started to build a team,” she said.
“We would like to have a couple more to be comfortable, especially if a couple of girls are away.
“But the recruitment has been fantastic and I think a lot of girls have shown interest now something is available closer to home; especially for mothers or girls going through school, it makes it a lot easier.”
De Francesco comes with a wealth of cricketing experience.
She started out playing Milo cricket from a young age before learning the ropes with Mortlake from juniors all the way through playing alongside the men in the seniors.
“I then went on to Mailors Flat and played with the men’s division one side before transferring to Woorndoo,” she said.
“Then I played two-and-a-bit seasons with Ponborneit and went on to Simpson.”
Having spent much of her career playing alongside men, including earning a best on ground nod in Simpson’s division two grand final win last year, De Francesco acknowledged the growth of the women’s game and the support of the community towards it was an emotional topic for her.
“Two of my best mates and myself went through the ropes of juniors through seniors as the only girls around putting our hands up,” she said.
“From such a young age I played a lot of ‘boys sport’ and I got quite bullied for it.
“It’s amazing to see so many girls come through and not be worried about what is going to be said about them, what is going to happen.
“It’s such a wonderful feeling to have so many women comings through, and the positive comments are really taking over the negative comments.”