‘I was in total shock’: Shepparton United Cricket Club president Steven Tate recalls flood battle

With its Princess Park home safeguarded by a levee bank, the club had been largely unaffected by flood events in the past.

But with the bank standing at 11.5 metres, Tate understood that this time would be different.

Flood water gushed over the protective barrier and engulfed the much-loved sporting precinct for more than two weeks.

The scene was nothing short of devastating and presented the club — which is an amalgamation of the region’s oldest (Shepparton) and most successful (Shepparton Youth Club) cricket clubs — with arguably the biggest uphill battle in its history.

“This was absolutely the biggest challenge we’ve had to face in my time at the club,” Tate said.

“We got through two years of COVID-19 which was very frustrating, but having finally seen the end of it we were in the process of gearing up for a big 2022-23 season.

“So for this to happen on the eve of the season it has absolutely crushed us, the damages to our facility this has caused, it’s definitely been tougher than COVID-19.”

The lead-up to the flood was a blur for all those involved at the club.

Upon receiving advice that water levels would engulf Princess Park, Tate said a host of club members jumped into action to save what they could from the impending danger.

“The week leading into the flooding a couple of people from the club contacted me and showed me the levels of where the water could get to and where the levee bank (height) is,” he said.

“So we quickly sprung to action and a group of 20 of us rallied together to firstly move the roller to a safe location and then move all of our belongings and we managed to get it all out which I could not be more thankful for.”

Despite getting all of its valuables away from the Princess Park precinct safely, the events that succeeded the flood water bursting over the levee were nothing short of devastating.

Tate explained the emotions that hit him after seeing the state of the facilities and provided a brief update on the potential damage.

“To be honest I was in total shock. Seeing how much damage was going to be done and just the anticipation of knowing that we weren’t going to be going back to Princess Park in a week — it was going to be a long process,” he said.

“As a result of the flooding, our clubrooms were completely inundated as well as the oval itself and our nets, and that water hung around for a couple weeks.

“At the moment the (Greater Shepparton City) council has contractors in the clubrooms stripping all the carpet and plaster from the walls, we aren’t sure whether they’ll have to be torn down or what the next step is.”

With a plethora of questions coming from players and supporters, the past fortnight has been a frustrating waiting game for the committee.

Currently in the process of assessing the damage to its clubrooms, nets and the playing surface, the club must now work out a plan to get its facility back to an appropriate level for its members.

And according to Tate, the key to that revival could be in the Princess Park redevelopment masterplan drafted back in 2018.

“We are now just waiting for council advisory and details around what is going to happen to our rooms,” he said.

“We really hope they (the council) adhere to the masterplan that was presented to them around upgrading Princess Park, and hopefully we can get some state and federal funding to try and get the facility up to standard for all of our members.”

But while the club battles through arguably the toughest challenge in its history, the game still goes on, with all of its teams returning to the field for the opening round of the Cricket Shepparton season last weekend.

Tate said the club relied heavily on the support of the community to get back to playing, as it managed to find a temporary home at Central Park Recreation Reserve.

“The community support has been great, straight away Darryl Butcher from Central Park contacted us and offered us the nets at St Brendan’s Primary School to train,” he said.

“We’ve also now moved out to Central Park Recreation Reserve in Shepparton East and set up a temporary base which has helped us immensely in getting back on to the field.”

As for what the road ahead looks like, Tate said it was very much a day-by-day proposition as the club hopes to get back to its Princess Park home as soon as possible.

“Things are very much up in the air at the moment,” he said.

“We would love to be back (at Princess Park) in January in at least a training capacity, but it really comes down to how quick the grass will grow back and what damage has been done to our synthetic training facility.

“The hardest thing has been not having clubrooms to run functions or a bar or anything like that, but we’ll just keep on fighting on like we always do and try and play the best cricket we can.”

Shepparton United is running a cash raffle to assist with its flood recovery process with the draw to take place on February 25, 2023.

Tickets can be purchased via this link: https://www.sheppartonyouthclubunitedcc.com.au/product-page?fbclid=IwAR3OBoOqmJM2JgxnVLtMyUHmLJXsyXXl1Bqk4s5ETv7iEuTFLn9NQVQLRww