Aspiring female athletes in the Peel region will have a new path to follow this summer, with the Peel Junior Cricket Association establishing its first all-female league.
The competition, which was built with the blessing of the WA Cricket Association, will allow girls aged between 10 and 14-years-old to compete in a full-fixture league over the course of the season.
The Golden Bay-based Secret Harbour Dockers Cricket Club is among clubs recruiting girls to form sides for the under 13s league.
Secret Harbour female cricket co-ordinator Peta Hogarth says the growing popularity of women’s cricket prompted the WACA to encourage young girls to take up the sport.
“It’s a way to discover and nurture talent so that we have juniors coming up through the ranks, maybe one day to elite level like the Perth Scorchers female team,” Peta said.
“Last summer, the WACA had four under 13 girls’ teams playing off in the metropolitan area.
“We set out to gauge interest here by running a twenty-20 blast series through late summer and we had 50 girls turning up to play.”
Heartened by the response, the Peel Junior Cricket Association agreed to run a competition in the district this summer involving existing clubs who were able to recruit girls to form a team at under 13 level.
“For this year only, the WACA has given dispensation for girls up to 14 to play in under 13s, to help establish the concept of girls’ cricket,” Hogarth said.
Golden Bay Estate is sponsoring the Secret Harbour Dockers’ under 13 girls’ side, with support to set up the team, meet player-registration fees and buy equipment for players.
The Dockers Cricket Club is based at Rhonda Scarrott Oval within Golden Bay estate.
Applications are now also open to local volunteer groups, service agencies, clubs and schools that would benefit from a helping hand for the next round of sponsorships under the Golden Bay Community Partnership Program.
As well as the Secret Harbour Dockers Cricket Club, the estate has provided support for a range of local groups and programs including the Secret Harbour Dockers Football Club, the fledgling Golden Bay Primary School football team and the Golden Bay Progress Association’s Community Christmas Fair.
If you’d like to know more, Golden Bay Estate’s Community Partnership Program application forms and guidelines can be found at goldenbay.com.au.
You can also email your request for information to community@peet.com.au
The closing date for applications is 30 September 2016.
