Chris Leith has been coaching juniors in the region for close to 20 years.

He said he enjoyed going away with the young group each year.

“They’re all pretty keen and we’ve had a couple of hit outs along the way already,” he said.

“It’s easy to coach the under-17s because they look forward to playing at the higher standard of cricket.

“I really get a kick out of helping the kids out.”

Leith said playing at a higher standard against different players helped cricketers further develop their game sense.

“When you come up against players you haven’t seen before you have to learn to make quick assumptions about their weaknesses and strengths,” he said. “They then get the opportunity to come back to their clubs as more mature players – that’s all just part of the process.”

The team will come up against Colac in its first game on Tuesday before playing the combined Horsham and West Wimmera team on Wednesday. Its final pool game will be against a perennially strong Warrnambool Gold outfit.

Leith said his side will look forward to the game against Horsham-West Wimmera.

“Most of the boys know each other from some stage so it will be a friendly grudge match,” he said.