ECB Coaches Association links Hitting the Seam Issue 37 | Page 16

STATE OF THE N TION
Helen Pack, ECB National Growth Manager – Women and Girls, lays
out the state of play.
Women’s sport is on the rise, from This Girl Can to sold-out Ashes games at Essex and Sussex in
2015. That year saw an 11 per cent rise in year-on-year participation in sport by women and girls,
while there has been a seven-fold increase in the number of clubs offering female cricket from
2003 to 2016. Women want to engage with cricket, as players and spectators, and are looking for
the right offer for them.
What would bring lapsed female players back
to their cricket club?
17%
13%
Women are looking for a great
experience where they can
improve their skills, spend time
with family and friends, and
generally feel good about
themselves. They are looking
for fun, fast, safe and social
formats of the game that they
can combine with other things
in their life. Fundamentally, they
are looking for choice. When we
asked women what would bring
them back to play, these were
the answers they gave.
We need to look at the playing
offers currently available in clubs
and make sure that there is
something for everyone, from
soft ball festivals to hard ball
40-over leagues, to make sure
that we are keeping players in the
game and are also helping girls
transition from school and junior
offers into appropriate open-age
experiences.
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Hitting the Seam Issue 37
A team near
where I live
A game
format that
fits my
lifestyle
11% 11%
A team that
moulds my
ability A team with
the right
social
atmosphere
93 %
of female players see
coaching as essential to
their participation