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Participation impact of ICC Women’s T20 World Cup to be felt for generations to come

February 11, 2020
Category: Female, News,
Participation impact of ICC Women’s T20 World Cup to be felt for generations to come

Only nine days remain until the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Australia 2020 which promises to be a catalyst for participation growth and an unprecedented opportunity to inspire the next generation of cricketers.

From the start of the tournament until its conclusion on Sunday March 8 with the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, cricket programs around the nation will be open – when they would be traditionally closing – giving girls and boys more chance to register to play cricket after witnessing the action at the largest women’s sporting event ever to be staged in Australia.

These programs that will remain open are targeted entry level programs for girls and boys aged 5 – 12 through the hugely popular Woolworths Cricket Blast program in their local area. Additionally, the T20 World Cup Clubs Ticketing Program is helping clubs that register to the program raise much needed funds by receiving $5 for every adult ticket they sell to the tournament, and $1 for every child ticket. Clubs around the country can continue to fundraise until the final.

In addition to the Clubs Ticketing Program, last year the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 developed a national school’s program in conjunction with Cricket Australia and aligned to the Australian curriculum. Freely available to every one of the more than 9,000 schools across the country, the program aims to take cricket further into the classroom through its three units, Wellbeing, Inspiring Women and Girls and Build Your Own T20 World Cup (to be released in August 2020).

The program has been specifically developed to leverage Australian Cricket’s current offerings, catering to identified teacher needs. Australian Cricket will be able to build on the program from 2021 onwards, to help ensure the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 has a positive lasting impact on the game in Australia.

Governments around Australia are also supporting efforts to inspire the next generation of female cricketers as part of their backing for the T20 World Cup. The New South Wales Government has established a dedicated $6 million T20 World Cup Legacy Fund to support the growth of community cricket. $4 million has been distributed to support 133 projects across the first two rounds of funding, with an additional round to come in 2020.

The Victorian Government is also working with Cricket Victoria to boost a range of initiatives that support female participation across the State. The Victorian Government’s T20 World Cup Legacy Program provides local cricketers with coaching scholarships, leadership programs and an expanded Regional Big Bash series.

Australian Cricket thanks all levels of government for its contributions to the game at a variety of levels, continuing to make it a sport for all Australians.

“A tournament of this scale hosted in Australia is beneficial for so many reasons, none more important than the inspiration gained by girls to pick up a bat and ball for the first time,” Executive General Manager of Community Cricket at Cricket Australia, Belinda Clark said.

“Over the past 18 months we’ve been working closely with clubs to understand what options exist to operate the Woolworths Cricket Blast program in February and March – when traditionally people would be winding down and kids would have to wait until the next season starts.

“We’re pleased to share that at least 134 clubs around the country will be keeping their doors open for Woolworths Cricket Blast programs to capitalise in this upsurge in interest.

“The 2019/20 season has already exceeded full season participation numbers from the past two years in both Woolworths Cricket Blast registrations and junior and senior club teams.

“Keeping our doors open beyond March 8 will only help us build on the strides we’ve made after the men’s and women’s Ashes where cricket was put on the radar for millions of Australians before the traditional summer of cricket commenced.”

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