Grampians Cricket Association’s next 12 months are secure, but its multi-year outlook remains uncertain after a crisis meeting in Ararat on Monday night.

GCA president Matt Dean said the competition would continue in the 2024-25 season after all existing clubs put forth sides.

But he said the association’s long-term survival was contingent on finding more players, especially in the junior ranks.

About 50 people attended Monday’s meeting, with all clubs represented.

“The response to the crisis meeting was really good. It shows the fact that people care about cricket,” Mr Dean said.

“We walked away quite impressed.

“Obviously we don’t want to see cricket disappear. We’re going to do everything in our power to make sure cricket stays.

“Disbanding is our very last resort, and we’ll do absolutely everything we can to keep it alive. We’ve just got to find some answers and some extra help.”

Mr Dean said the GCA’s retention of junior players entering senior ranks had been poor, leading to a lack of senior players between the ages of 16 and 30.

“Whether kids are feeling that step out of under-16s to senior cricket as being too big a jump, I’m not 100 per cent sure,” he said.

“You’ve got guys who are in the 30 to 40 age group who are really keen, and then guys who are 40 to 50 or sometimes 60 who are still there trying to keep clubs going but would rather move into the background and let the younger kids take over.

“A few clubs are having some issues trying to keep board positions filled. The GCA is having those issues as well.

“There are multiple people wearing multiple hats to try to keep things running.”

Mr Dean said it was important for the GCA to boost junior participation in Ararat.

“We’d love to see a couple more under-16 sides from Ararat. We’ve got a town of more than 10,000 people and there’s not one under-16 side from the whole town,” he said.

“Trying to get that junior participation up is going to have to be a big focus.

“Whether it’s about lifting the age brackets to under-14s and under-17s to give them an opportunity to play an extra year and get their confidence up, I’m not sure.

“We had the Woolworths Cricket Blast a couple of years ago at Alexandra Oval and we had 60-plus participants. That says there’s definitely interest from kids, but there’s a lot of competition out there from things like futsal and basketball.

“It could be a matter of finding a better day that works. Currently the under-16s play on a Friday, so is that affecting the participation rate with people playing futsal and not cricket?

“We’ve tried a couple of different days, but maybe we need to try one that we haven’t and see if we can improve the numbers.”

Mr Dean encouraged people to consider becoming involved in the association as an administrator or junior coach, even if they did not currently play cricket.

“Just because you’re not playing for a side, doesn’t mean you can’t be involved. We’re hoping people want to put their hands up and help out,” he said.

“We’ve got one or two sides left in Ararat but they’re quite young, so we could probably do with someone putting their hand up to say ‘I’m willing to coach kids and help out’.

“People can send enquiries through to us. We’re planning to hold our AGM on Monday, August 18.

“All members of the public are welcome to attend – it’s not just for the cricket clubs, anyone who wants to come along and have a say is welcome.”