The Dawnheights Cricket Club has been situated in KwaDukuza and the iLembe District since its inception in 1985, now in existence for 35years. This area contains a population of an estimated 650 000 people in 160 000 estimated households. The primary form of employment in the district has been farming, manufacturing and trade.
KwaDukuza itself is well known for its sporting achievements and is characteristically known for its fierce sporting competitiveness on the field of play, yet showing a gentleman like demeanour of the field to its rivals.
Some sporting greats that have come out of the area include boxing legend Tap Tap Makhatini whom at one stage in the 70’s was the South African boxing champion.
Cricket greats began emerging in the 70’s with Jugoo and Malingum Govender, Prem Maharaj, Hussen and Younis Moorad, Poovie Pillay and the great Dawood Asmal who went on to represent South Africa.
In more recent years players that have made the Natal Dolphins include, Saidi Mhlongo and Tyron Pillay.
Other prominent players who excelled at professional level include Bilal Ismail and Charl Groeneveld and Eugene Swart all of who represented the South African Country District side. All these players have emerged from the current Dawnheights Cricket Club first side at Natal Premier League level.
Other players from the current side that have been called up to represent the Natal Country District side include Adhir Maharaj, Dr Sandhir Maharaj, Mageshan Iyer, Blessing Mhlongo, Lionel Jali, Raja Kazi, Ashley Lombard, Nikilesh Misra, Avinash Kallkaparesad, Moorad Kassime, Mohammed Hoosen, Delwyn Naidoo and captain Comfort Shange. Comfort Shange led a Dawnheights trio that fetured in an international T20 competition held in Kenya during 2019.
Lionel Jali, Dawnheights wicketkeeper, has been called to the Dolphins training academy and has been tipped to possibly feature in the Dolphins “A” or “B” team in the near future.
Well known as being a sports fanatic area, the district – more especially the town of KwaDukuza, is an area with a wealth of talent simply awaiting the opportunity to move to greater prospects.
Dawnheights Cricket Club was formed on 21 July, 1985 by Mr P.R Maharaj and Dr T. Bisnath together with their nephews Salesh, Shaneel, Suveer and Rajiv Maharaj.
Most of the youngsters who joined Dawnheights previously played for New Guelderland Sporting Club where their chances of playing regularly were restricted.
Mr Prem Maharaj was encouraged by the enthusiasm displayed by the boys when they played on their “Island Stadium”. A piece of ground at the corner of Waterboom Street and Flamboyant Drive in Dawnside, Stanger.
Thus saw the birth of Dawnheights Cricket Club with Dr T. Bisnath as the first President.
“Dawnheights,” comprises the name of two areas, namely, Dawnside and Stanger Heights because the players resided mainly in these two areas.
The club adopted “blue and white” to be the colours, with the emblem of the club designed by Sanjay Bisnath and Shaneel Maharaj in 1987. Sanjay, a B.A Fine Art student at the time, conceptualised the sun and rays while Shaneel inventively suggested that 13 rays be on the rays, with the sun signifying a new team at the start of a new era, and the 13 rays representing a cricket team consisting of 11 players, a 12th man and one scorer/ manager.
As the sun brightens the day, our lives were brightened by the formation of Dawnheights. We could now play cricket competitively and regularly.
The senior team consist of 18 players initially (Shaneel, Salesh, Suveer Maharaj, Rajiv Maharaj, Dr T. Bisnath, A. Ramhith, Vinay, Vikash Misser, Tilman Reddy, J.R. Sahadave, Jitesh Gopal, Reshan and Naren Maharaj, Jayson Naidoo. M.S. Karodia,
I. Asmal, Rajen Shunmagam and Bhim Woodraj).
The junior team consisted of 12 players, many of whom also played for the senior team. The team so far has retained a “home grown” policy and without regular coaches has done remarkably well as the records speak for themselves.
Dawnheights Cricket Club is the club in Stanger that honours its players at an Awards function and hosts an annual Golf Day in an effort to raise funds. This event is always looked forward to by patrons, sponsors and well-wishers of the club.
The fact that the club consisted mainly of students is largely due to its founding patrons Mrs S Maraj, Mr H. Jacobs, Mrs D. Maharaj, Mr A. Bodasingh, Mr Bonny Maraj and Mr Pravin Singh who were ever-willing to assist the club. We are also very thankful to all the present patrons and those wonderful people that patronise our club in cash and kind.
The Club’s longest serving officials are brothers Shaneel and Suveer Maharaj. The first official of Dawnheights to serve as an official on a cricket-controlling body was Viren Gangaram as Records Clerk of the North Coast Cricket Union. The dream of the official and players of Dawnheights Cricket Club is to one day have its own grounds and club house. This is a long term goal, but something that we can strive towards.
As we embark on the next decade and look forward to celebrating our 36th and then Golden Anniversary, let us stop for a moment and thank those pioneers who decades ago had the foresight and insight to form a club which has grown into a formidable and household name, well-respected and admired, not only in KwaDukuza, but throughout the length and breadth of KwaZulu Natal.
SWOT Analysis:
Strengths:
The Dawnheights Cricket Club (DCC) has prided itself with immaculate administration staffs that consistently deliver expert and flawless skills within the clubs management level.
DCC’s professional management set up has prolonged the life of the club and has seen the players and the community benefit immensely from the level of professionalism displayed by officials of the club.
Officials of the club have served the club and have progressed to serve the district cricket union (iLembe Cricket) as well as provincial level in various capacities.
Over the past five years the top executives from the district have come from Dawnheights. The President, Vice president, treasurer and secretary of the iLembe Cricket Union are also senior officials of the club.
Weaknesses:
The maintenance of the cricket grounds has always been a problem in KwaDukuza. Grass cutting as well as the pitch maintenance has been a dilemma locally since the constancy of maintenance is solely governed by the convenience of the municipality. A standard cricket ground should be cut and watered at least twice a week.
Lighting at ground is also an aspect that has stunted the cricketing potential of the area with training sessions and scheduled games only possible during daylight. T20 cricket has seen an awakening of the sport and is something that can be positively groomed in our area. We merely lack funds to enable our cricket hungry community with this privilege.
Security is also an issue since players and officials have had vehicles stolen, been mugged, beaten and assaulted on the cricket grounds. In addition to providing security, a guard will also be provided with employment in these trying times.
Coaches have also been difficult to acquire. KwaDukuza itself has approximately three or four level 4 coaches who require payment for their services. In the past DCC has employed these individuals, however, due to lack of funding, a consistent coach has been a challenge.
Transportation has long been a major expense for our club. With players excelling at provincial level and requiring attendance at the Durban academy’s at least four times a week, club officials and players have been dipping into their own pockets to further our talented players.
Opportunity:
Quality coaches can easily be acquired from within the area and with the proper funding, even outside. Such an opportunity would give disadvantaged players the opportunity to expand their cricketing experience going into higher levels of cricket.
Equipment such as bowling machines is also another opportunity for previously disadvantaged players to experience. The professional experience of this type of equipment will see players with potential rise above the provincial and local levels into the international area of the sport.
Threats:
Some of the factors hampering the growth and development of the KwaDukuza area include:
The sports grounds being used by other codes, damage caused to the grounds when functions are held for example Heritage Day, Youth Parliament, soccer rallies etc.
In addition, the lack of a grounds man to maintain the wicket leaves the ground in a less than perfect condition qualified.
Also, boundary markers are constantly stolen or damaged on the ground.
Vandalism is also a concerning factor to which security would seen the obvious deterrent.
Facilities such as change rooms and ablution facilities are ore often vandalised and/neglected and sooner rather than later become unfit for their intended use
Living in the vast area of iLembe, transport is always a challenge. With the nearest cricketing academy to the people of KwaDukuza in Durban, logistics of transportation always proves to be a cog in the wheel of transformation and development. In some instances training cannot proceed due to inclement weather leaving our wealth of cricketing talent go to waste simply because of lack of facilities.
The youth would also stand at a major advantage with the provision of an indoor facility. With the current state of facilities in KwaDukuza, when players are eventually exposed to cricket at a professional level, it is at a very late stage and players are forced to come to terms with this level of cricket for the first time nearing their twenties. A professional indoor facility can further groom KwaDukuza into a cricketing birthplace if facilities were improved.
An indoor league would also be a major point of consideration. The passion that exudes from the belly of KwaDukuza Cricket is one that would find an indoor cricketing facility almost a certain area of commute and sporting ambiance.
Women participation on a regular basis would also be encouraged leaving the door open for equal opportunity in a safe environment.
Schools in the rural areas as well as outlying schools in the district would have more than enough opportunity to allow their learners to expose themselves to the facilities available thereby ensuring exposure of talent.
As can be seen from the structure in the Acheivements page or structure below, Dawnheights has implemented and stringently adhered to since the clubs inception. It is also interesting to note that the club has participated and won at every level (bar the Premier League) in the above diagram. We have now worked our way to the top of this structure.
It must be noted that all our achievements over our grand 35 years of existence has been acquired with the minimal at our disposal. Years of sacrifice, hard work and many personal hours of dedication and an inert love for the game, has kept the Dawnheights Cricket Club alive and bustling.
With this in mind, one can logically deduce that with funding, the highest level of cricket can be achieved, opening a great window of opportunity for a cricket and sport loving community.
Contemporary examples of individuals that have come up the ranks and have played or are currently at provincial level are Saidi Mhlongo, Tyron Pillay and at country districts level, the likes of Lionel Jali, Bilal Ismail, Adhir Maharaj, Mageshan Iyer, Raja Kazi, Eugene Swart, Charl Groeneveld, Blessing Mhlongo, Comfort Shange. Bilal Ismail is currently the selector of the Natal Country Districts team and along with Charl Groeneveld and Eugene Swart have played for the South African Country Districts side. In Recent years, a 15year old youth, Yusuf Ismail, made the Natal U-17 team and has been plagued with transport issues since he has to travel to Durban at least three times a week at the indoor academy because of lack of facilities such as indoor bowling machines in KwaDukuza.
In addition, it must be noted that professional cricketing and sporting facilities in KwaZulu Natal are only found in the city of Durban. The situation of KwaDukuza and the iLembe District is ideal for development of underprivileged and hidden talent.
In terms of maintenance of a cricketing body, KwaDukuza is well know for officials who hold pivotal places in cricketing body’s throughout Natal. Prem Maharaj (The former chairperson of iLembe Cricket and honorary vice life long president of Dawnheights and serves at the KwaZulu Natal Cricket Union Executive Committee), Yusuf Ismail (Past President of iLembe cricket union as well as a member of Dawnheights and elected as an honorary patron of KwaZulu Natal Cricket) and pre-apartheid, Ismail served at various positions at the then Natal Cricket Board (NCB), as served on NCB pre-apartheid), Malingum Govender (Chairman of Umpires Board at KwaZulu Natal Cricket).
It is evident that he club has a wealth of experience in cricket management to help guide the future of cricket from a managerial perspective.
The club operates as a Non Profit Organisation that requires a set of Annual Financial Statements that must be audited by an accountant. The club has contracted the services of a financial accountant who is responsible to keep financial records and produce a set of financial statements for the club.
The financials for the past 35 years are available for inspection on request.
Dawnheights prides its self with statistics and record keeping. We boast records of every single player that has played for the club over its 35 year existence and individual statistics for every player to ever fall under the Dawnheights banner.
The statistics are available for your perusal upon request.
The club also boasts an annual general meeting that very few cricket clubs in the district and province participate in. Our level of professionalism is constant and in our meetings we honour players for on the field achievements, but also academically. These financial reports are available on request.
It is pivotal to understand that the basis of the past few pages has been surged by a love and passion for sport and cricket in particular. The community that the Dawnheights Cricket Club represents is largely below the poverty line and contributions made thus far by the club have seen many individual players below that same line flourish at a professional sporting level.
Dawnheights has no other interest except for promoting the game of cricket and the upliftment of the community through the game.
If given the opportunity to manage the ground, we can assure officials that all matters pertaining to the maintenance of the sports field will be transparent and beneficial to the community at large. Our main focus is to home our passion, love and cricketing management skill into the community and ensure that KwaDukuza is a powerhouse of cricketing talent in KwaZulu Natal and South Africa.
Once again, Dawnheights prides itself with its performances at professional level of the game of cricket.
In addition, it must be noted that the Dawnheights Cricket Club is a true reflection of the new South Africa in every sense of the word, being lead by a previously disadvantaged individual whom, 30 years ago, could not play proper back yard cricket. We are also proud to have players on our colourful team that fully represent our rainbow nation. IN fact, the club proves by its general performance that a united South Africa can go to great heights and then some.
We are experienced in the management of cricketing and simply urge our skills be utilised and used advantageously to strengthen the town’s protentional to exceed its boundaries and allow us to deliver high quality sporting service delivery to our great town and its people.