General News
26 May, 2023
Hunter achieves lifelong dream
ATHERTON’S Amy Hunter has signed a contract to play at the highest level of women’s domestic cricket in Australia. The 17-year-old signed to play for the ACT Meteors in the Women’s National Cricket League, months before graduating high school.
Amy has spent the last few years honing her skills by playing senior cricket in the Cricket Far North competition as well as multiple Queensland representative sides and even a few seasons in the Queensland Premier Cricket competition in Bris-bane.
The all-rounder’s exploits and explosive growth over the past 18 months drew the eyes of Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) team ACT Meteors and a two-year contract to start playing this June was sent to the Hunter house-hold.
Amy said it was absolutely surreal to receive an offer to play in the WNCL and get the chance to play alongside and against cricketers she has idolised since a young age.
Holly Ferling, who currently plays for the Meteors, is one of the players that Amy has looked up to since she first begun playing cricket and she is excited at the prospect of being on the same team as one of her idols.
“I have always been a fan of hers ever since I started playing cricket and it is crazy to think I will get the chance to train and play alongside her,” she said.
“Especially with her being from Queensland as well and making the shift to play down south.”
While the relocation came as a surprise, Amy said it won’t really change her plans too much and she will just be moving a little bit further south than initially planned.
“I don’t know if it has fully kicked in yet and it had been a couple of weeks,” she said.
“I had no idea that they were thinking about me, no idea that they had been following me for the last 18 months, it was really crazy and unexpected.
“I’ve always been working towards this and of course I haven’t really thought about playing for any other states it has always been Queensland.
“This opportunity came along and it just seemed like a great one to get out there and get into the WNCL because that doesn’t happen to a lot of girls – I am very fortunate to be one of the few.”
Amy’s achievements over the past 18 months of cricket were what drew the eyes of the Meteors especially her performance with the U19 Queens-land side and the Open Ladies Country sides.
“I definitely feel like I have improved so much in the last couple of seasons both with my cricket-ing abilities and the mental side of things,” she said.
“I always wanted to play in the WNCL and I knew that if I put in the work and stayed deter-mined I would be able to make it one day.”
Amy has expressed her thanks to multiple coaches and role models who have helped her during her cricketing journey including Atherton Cricket Club president Tony Potts.
“He has been with me since I started and enrolled in club cricket when I was 10, he took me under his wing and he has been a huge part of my life in general, especially my cricketing life,” Amy said.
Amy’s parents, Lee and Juanita Hunter, were integral in Amy’s development and growth in cricket.
“It’s a cliché but I honestly wouldn’t be any-where if it wasn’t for my parents,” Amy said.
Coming from a rural area, the WNCL always felt so far away but Amy never gave up on her
dreams and continued to engross herself in her training as she pushed forward to her goal.
Amy said the key to staying focused is to not compare yourself to players from the bigger met-ropolitan centres.
“The key is not letting the fact that you come from a rural area to put you down,” she said.
“That was a big issue I faced, I would go down for the big state carnivals and I would compare myself.
“In reality if you put the work in you can be just as good as the girls down there.”
Amy will miss out on the first few games of this season as she will still be busy studying, attending school and getting ready for her formal but she will quickly exchange her gown for playing kit and relocate to Canberra before the end of the year.
