Women Having a Blast in Melbourne’s North

With the help of four local cricket clubs in the Darebin area, the ‘Have a Blast, Play Cricket’ program was held at a different location each week and offered skills coaching and games to participants.

The program, the first of its kind in the area, began on February 12, with each session lasting one hour.

Former Australian captain Karen Rolton attended the final session held at Preston City Oval and spoke to players.

Darebin Council Participation and Inclusion Officer, David Connolly, said the program was created with a focus in attracting females to organised sport.

“There is a large amount of senior cricket clubs in the area, with the majority being male,” Connolly said.

“We have one female senior club in Darebin.

“We focused on women’s participation, Darebin wants to do more in this area and work towards increasing female participation in sport.”

Connolly was impressed with the enthusiasm of the four clubs involved with the program, as Holy Trinity Cricket Club, North Alphington Cricket Club, Darebin Women’s Sports Club and Preston Cricket Club each shared the hosting of sessions.

“We were happy that the four clubs chose to be part of the program,” Connolly said.

“These clubs have done some great work across a variety of different areas in the past.

“It was fantastic to see them come on board and also in assist in running and hosting the sessions at their club too.

“The program was a good way to gage the level of interest in the area and then work with clubs in the future with any opportunities which may arise.

“It’s the first time the council has looked at this area, which provides women a social environment to enjoy skilled based activities while also making it fun at the same time.

“We didn’t target a specific age group, with ages of attendees ranging from 15 onwards.

“We had mothers with children playing in MILO in2CRICKET and MILO T20 Blast programs who wanted to learn some cricket because their children were doing the same.

CV Game and Market Development Officer Chris Cunningham, who coordinated sessions with Cricket Victoria Women’s Club Development Coordinator Emma Gallagher, said that sessions covered a variety of aspects.

“Each session focused on a different skill aspect of cricket,” Cunningham said.

“Bowling, batting and fielding were all explored during the program, while in our final week we had a game based session of traditional pairs cricket.

“We averaged 15 participants for the first three weeks while 25 attended the final session.

“The program was certainly successful and encouraged women to join whom perhaps wouldn’t have played cricket without a program like this.”

Connolly agreed that the program was successful and added that the attendance of Rolton along with CV Board Member Claudia Fatone was well received by attendees.

“It was great to have people of their calibre come down to our final session at Preston City Oval,” Connolly said.

“Karen ran a batting activity while Claudia spoke on her involvement in cricket and the different roles women play in cricket.

“Claudia also ran a Q&A with Karen after the session.

“We really appreciated them coming along and joining in.”

Connolly said he would like to thank the State Government and Cricket Victoria for their Community Cup Grant Fund, which provided funding for the project and also thanked the four clubs that hosted the sessions.