Madeleine Mcconaughey

Daisyhill Junior Cricket Club needs a coach for the U13’s. Madeleine McConaughey, mother of Tyler, volunteers. What could possibly go wrong?

As it turns out, quite a bit. There are some very pushy parents and annoying kids – and that’s before encountering any of the opposition teams. Coaching a junior sports team is a delicate balancing act. Giving all the players a ‘go’ doesn’t always sit easily with the desire to win the odd game. Petty jealousies dominate off the field, whilst on the field the team performs woefully.

For the coach there is no way out.

Madeleine has other juggling acts to perform, as she struggles with bringing up three boys of her own amidst the aftermath of divorce and the search for new love. But she is not alone. The other characters grapple with what it means to be a good parent and a good person in the wider context of school and community. The characters’ lives become interconnected in entirely unexpected ways as the team’s performance slowly improves. The season reaches its climax in a grand final that may be over before it has even begun.