COVERED SPRING 2021

COVERED 38 TRENTBRIDGE.CO.UK wins has been the softball festivals,” says Graham Redfern, Nottinghamshire’s Women & Girls Officer. “They’re all about having a fun day in the sun, with music on and with a glass or two of prosecco. And all the equipment – from proper bats to branded t-shirts – is made specifically for women. “I often think back to the first softball festival I organised on a beautiful day at Notts and Arnold Cricket Club. “I’d ended up organising a women’s cricket festival for Father’s Day, and I thought I’d played a blinder there! But it worked perfectly, we had around 50 women turn up with their families on the day, and the whole day was mindblowing.” Those initial events proved to be quite the catalyst, with a programme of 12 festivals in subsequent years accompanied by softball and hardball leagues, and by ever-growing numbers of women’s sections at clubs countywide. “When I first started this job four years ago I was having to work really hard to persuade clubs to have a women’s or girls’ section, but now it’s totally flipped around,” says Graham. “The fact that people are now approach- ing me wanting to do stuff, rather than me pulling my hair out thinking ‘what are we going to do?’ is really refreshing.” Just as softball festivals succeeded by developing an understanding of their target audience, so too have projects undertaken by the ECB’s Cities Programme. The initiative, which operates in Nottingham and six other cities across the UK, has already engaged over 500 South Asian women – many of whom are driven by the desire to be a force for good in their community rather than the promise of international honours. “The women we are looking to reach have other roles in their lives – they’re mums, they have jobs – so it’s not always that easy for them to give up their time,” says Hina Mistry, part of the ECB’s Cities Programme team. “We changed our training programmes so that they ran over weekends and evenings, we set up in the heart of South Asian communities where we knew these women would feel safe, and we made sure hijabs and baggier clothes were available. “All the ladies that we encounter are very inspiring – they want to be a role model for their daughter, their niece and the other children in their community. “But what’s interesting is, when we speak to them after six months or so of volun- teering, just how much they get out of it themselves.” 2021 brings with it many uncertainties, but also a myriad of opportunities for the women and girls’ game. As children return to the classroom, so too will cricket to the playing fields, with many schools having replaced rounders with Kwik cricket as their ball-sport of choice for girls. Plans are afoot to continue with the successful female-only coaching courses, opening up an off-field career path. And the advent of The Hundred will place more eyeballs on the women’s game than ever before. “No matter where they come into the system, women and girls can now choose their own pathway,” says Redfern. “There are so many credible options available.” “THE GROWTH IN THE WOMEN’S GAME HAS BEEN IMMENSE, AND ONE OF THE BIGGEST WINS HAS BEEN THE SOFTBALL FESTIVALS. ” Graham Redfern