Tours 4 Sport Investigates How the ECB's New Women's Cricket Super League Will Affect the Uptake in Cricket Among Girls and How a School Cricket Tour Can Support This
(PRWEB UK) 26 June 2015 -- The announcement of this new league is particularly timely, given that we currently find ourselves in what is both National School Sport Week. Cricket is currently one of the fastest growing sports for girls in Britain and is gaining popularity in schools. Once a rarity, all county cricket boards in the country will field girls’ teams this season. Certainly, the success of women cricketers in recent years in the UK seems to have prompted a significant increase in the uptake of cricket among women and girls.
This renewed interest in the sport amongst women and girls is perhaps in large part due to the success of women cricketers in the UK in recent years. The English national team currently holds the Ashes and turned professional last year. Earlier this month, the ECB announced its plans to launch the Women’s Cricket Super League next season, in what is being touted as a significant step in the development of women’s cricket in this country.
It is hoped that this new league will help to encourage more girls and women to take up the sport at all levels by creating new female cricketing role models and more opportunities for them to play the sport. The competition will initially feature six teams and will receive investment of £3 million, some of which is earmarked for community engagement plans. At the top level, it is hoped that a greater pool of cricketers will eventually mean greater competition for places within the national squad, making the England team more competitive.
Tours 4 Sport’s Jessica Woodhall believes that a school cricket tour can really support the work that is being done by the ECB and a number of other organisations that are trying to encourage girls and women to get into cricket: “As a girl who loved playing cricket growing up, I genuinely believe that it is a fantastic sport for women to get into. A school cricket tour will provide girls with a greater range of cricketing experiences, as they play against local teams in countries in the UK, Europe and further afield. The opportunity to travel with your sport is also an exciting prospect and could be fantastic encouragement to take up cricket and experience the myriad opportunities that this great sport can offer.”
She continues: “My time in the Nottinghamshire Women’s U15 squad, where I was coached by the inimitable Jenny Gunn taught me a huge range of life skills, including teamwork, and inspired a lifelong love of cricket. I went on to set up the first women’s team at my university, and I will never forget the experience of teaching women a sport that they had never played before. I now use my first-hand experience to assist group leaders in tailor-making school cricket tours designed to inspire young sportsmen and women and leave them with the same lifelong passion for sport that my experiences have left me with.”
Tours 4 Sport: As the school sports tour division of Halsbury Travel, Tours 4 Sport offers tailor-made school sports tours to the UK, Europe and worldwide. For further information: http://www.tours4sport.com/school/
Katie Sharkey, Halsbury Travel Ltd., http://tours4sport.com/, +44 115 9404 303, [email protected]
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