COVERED 2024 Winter

27 JOIN OUR MAILING LIST FOR ALL THE LATEST: TRENTBRIDGE.CO.UK/MAILINGLIST WOMEN & GIRLS “HAVING THAT ALL-FEMALE ENVIRONMENT, LIKE USING AN ALL-FEMALE COACHING TEAM FOR DEVELOPMENT DAYS, IS REALLY CRUCIAL.” Jemima Dalton in a safe environment without the need to be attached to a club with an estab- lished girls section. At the same time, it’s a chance for parents, volunteers and existing club staff to develop their own competency in girls’ coaching or officiating. And having run for its inaugural summer as a permanent fixture of Notts’ wider recreational offering, the success is clear. “We had 99 Development Day participants in our pilot year in 2023 – that’s now more than doubled to 208 so far in 2024,” Jemima reveals. “As for the Development Leagues, we’ve seen the programme grow from 43 total indoor and outdoor fixtures last year, to 129.” Half of the 68 outdoor matches actually featured scratch teams formed on Development Days. “We understood how important it is to give girls the opportunity to play in an all-girls side when, for example, their club doesn’t yet have an all-female offer. “It just goes to show that using a hybrid system of playing fixtures really can work,” she said, “and we’re starting to see the rewards of this as more girls are playing cricket in Nottinghamshire.” Not only are more girls playing, but more are joining women’s and girls’ teams across the county.There were 18 girls’ sections in Notts in 2023; this year has already seen nine more clubs form girls’ sections and 29 more girls’ teams have formed within new and existing sections. The end goal is a scaling back of the current provision due to its redundancy. “If we’ve done all we can to build these sustainable club sections, the additional support we give through Development Days will no longer be needed. “The success of this year will be seen next year rather than now.What I want to see is if we can retain the teams our clubs have created and see them grow. “Targets can be very numbers driven, but to me the most important thing is: are they here to stay?Will they move on to be women’s recreational cricketers? “Ultimately, we want to leave a lasting legacy, and I am proud of what we and our clubs have achieved so far.”