By Natalie Heslop (RMIT Graduate Journalist)
More than a cricket club, Sunshine Heights reflects Melbourne’s west: diverse, resilient, and built on community.
Sunshine Heights Cricket Club proves that a local sporting club can be more than a place to play. Based at Ainsworth Reserve in West Sunshine, SHCC has become a meeting point for culture, community, and connection, with cricket as the common ground.
Founded in 1954, the club began, like many others of its era, as Anglo-Saxon, traditional, and tightly defined by the social standards of the time. As Melbourne’s west changed, however, Sunshine Heights faced a crossroads. By the mid-1990s, declining membership forced the club to rethink its future…or risk fading away.
That key moment came in the 1996–97 season under then-president Nick Hatzoglou, who had been involved with the club since he was ten. Rather than chasing survival through numbers alone, the club chose to reinvent itself. Its leadership deliberately moved away from the rigid sporting club model towards a more open, family-friendly approach that reflected its surroundings.
The change worked. As the western suburbs evolved, so did SHCC. European migration in the 1960s and 70s brought Greek, Italian, Maltese, and Polish players to the club. In later decades, new waves of members arrived from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Vietnam, South Sudan, and across Africa and Asia. Today, the club’s makeup reflects the surrounding streets: diverse, multicultural, and deeply local.
That pledge to inclusion is most evident in the club’s expanding partnership with the Royal Australian Navy. What began in 2019 as a conversation about diversity and engagement has since evolved into an annual T20 community showcase, now in its fifth edition, that extends well beyond the boundary line.
The November 2025 match against the Navy was a key moment. The event began with a flag ceremony and an ODE led by RSL President Gary Collins, followed by a performance by the TS Voyager Navy Cadets. Distinguished guests included the Brimbank Mayor, Navy Commander Joala Simon, and representatives from HMAS Cerberus. Off the field, a free community BBQ, DJ Tyler Blake, and player walk-out songs created a festival atmosphere..
Commander Joala Simon, Deputy Director, Navy Diversity & Inclusion, says the match reflects the Navy’s pledge to build relationships with communities that don’t generally interact with the Defence.
“Cricket provides a shared language of teamwork and respect,” she says. “We greatly value the Sunshine Heights Cricket Club’s partnership in hosting this event.”
For SHCC President Giulio Venditti, the importance rests in what the match represents.
“The Lewis/Nizam Shield is always played in a wonderful spirit,” he says. “The local community is grateful for the opportunity to connect with serving members of Australia’s Defence Force.”
Driven entirely by volunteers and grounded in respect, teamwork, and neighbourhood pride, Sunshine Heights Cricket Club continues to go beyond what a suburban club can be. In a part of Melbourne often overlooked, SHCC is building something bigger, one match, one conversation, and one community at a time.
