The Lakes Knights named club of year - three times

The Lakes Knights are celebrating a stunning hat-trick having been named Brisbane North, Queensland and now Australia’s Community Club of the Year!

Knights beat 3500 cricket clubs across the country to the national crown after four remarkable years which have seen player numbers rise from 240 to more than 700.

The club was nominated for and won the Brisbane North Community Club of the Year to qualify for the Queensland awards, which it also won.

And mid-last month, Cricket Australia named The Lakes Knights as its Community Cricket Club of the Year for 2025-26.

“It was pretty exciting,” Knights’ President Daniel Moyle said, “we were actually told while filming for the Queensland award and had to keep the secret!”

Jon Stimpson, Cricket Australia Head of Community Experience and Strategy, said Knights “are very deserving winners of the Toyota Community Cricket Club of the Year award.”

“The Lakes Knights Cricket Club embodies some of the best qualities of grassroots cricket: creating a strong, vibrant community for all members of the family to participate in the sport they love, as well as giving back to the broader community through their involvement with initiatives like Clean Up Australia Day.

“To see the club thriving and growing is testament to the hard work of its volunteers, players and officials.”

Max Parsons, from Brisbane North Junior Cricket Association, said “The club doesn’t just aspire to be welcoming and inclusive – it lives these values through its everyday actions in the club and wider community.

“This is just reward for the hard-working committee members and volunteers of the club.”

Daniel Kearney, Head of Participation and Club Development, said Queensland Cricket is “extremely proud of the work The Lakes Knights and so many clubs around the state do”.

“Dan and his committed team of volunteers have fostered some incredible growth in a growing community and we’re thrilled their incredible work has been recognised nationally.”

Knights recently merged with Burpengary Brumbies and now fields teams in every summer age group from Under 10 through to seniors.

Such is the demand it has capped winter teams at seven, due to a lack of pitches - and has even turned away more than 50 players.

Officials are now discussing options with Moreton Bay City Council for a permanent ground to ease pressure for pitches and provide more programs.

Knights play at Woodside, Burpengary and Newport, plus fields at Bounty Boulevard and Mango Hill State Schools, Deception Bay State High School, North Lakes State College and Grace Lutheran College, Rothwell.

“Our growth has been phenomenal,” the president said, “but, as with every sport, keeping people interested in that sport is so important.

“Having our own ground would allow us to run programs all year round, especially running a winter program for our little ones, or academies.

“We keep our prices quite low. We understand pressures on people and with not a lot of infrastructure, more is spent on equipment, coaching and developing players.”