This is the third article, titled 'Cricket Family Respite'.
These 'cricket ministry' articles will take the reader inside the world of cricket including cricket festivals, cricket touring, the early years of cricket chaplaincy and the nature of cricket relationships.
In those years as the Australian Cricket Team chaplain he saw five generations of cricketers come through the Australian cricket team system, in an era after the World Series Cricket and before this new cricket revolution of Twenty/20.
In his era as Chaplain to the Australian XI the Australian Cricket Team captains were Kim Hughes, Allan Border, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh. In this role he was interviewed by numerous media outlets including television, radio and newsprint.
The third article in this Ashes lead-up series, M V Tronson discusses how the Cricket Family Respite ministry was established.
The background to Cricket Family Respite is the ministry to the Australian Institute of Sport that M V Tronson developed in 1992 with the Basil Sellers Moruya respite facility.
Moruya is a south coast community two hours drive from the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra. Ten years previously M V Tronson was at an International Sports Missions Congress in Hong Kong where he met Gernot Kunzelmann an Austrian Ski Champion and internationally acclaimed coach who has established a Respite facility for his athlete associates in the Alps.
M V Tronson was convinced that this model would work in Australia, recognising that it would feature the beach and not the mountain. Mr Basil Sellers recognised the value of a Respite facility (Basil Sellers Moruya) which was officially opened in 1992 by Nick Far-Jones (Rugby) and Jeanine Treharne (Yachting).
http://tv.bushorchestra.com/Professionals/videopages/basil_sellers.html
Mark and Delma Tronson relocated from Sydney to Moruya to establish the Respite Ministry and for the following 14 years hosted AIS athletes, coaches and family groups on Respite . A couple from Canberra, Kim and Michelle Gillis, took over at the end of 2005.
The Tronson's relocated to Tweed Heads at the end of 2005 to establish 'Basil Sellers Tweed' in 2006 and in 2007 the facility was opened to the cricket fraternity.
There was one key reason for this. Mark Tronson had noted through his Life After Cricket ministry that many cricketers were spending a lot of time away from home. Respite 'had become' an issue within cricket circles.
He approached Allan Border to assist him with a title for this ministry, and they came up with 'Cricket Family Respite'. In addition, it fitted in neatly with the AIS Cricket Unit in Brisbane (Cricket Centre of Excellence) where Respite was featured.
Moreover, concern was heightened when in the 2009 calendar cricket year, it was revealed that the Australian cricketers spent 10 months away from home. To this end Greg Chappell the then Head Coach of the AIS Cricket Unit undertook an Australian Missionary News IPTV interview on the Value of Respite.
tv.bushorchestra.com/videopages/Greg_Chappell.html
The Cricket Family Respite ministry is now a feature of the Cricket fraternity and correspondences from Mark Tronson to the cricketers feature this specific aspect.
Christian Today Australia recently published a major feature on athlete respite.
au.christiantoday.com/article/athlete-respite/9438.htm