See it ; be it : Role models key to gender diversity
Another challenge that acts as a barrier to women getting into coaching is the dearth of female role models in the sport .
This is something that resonates with Lucy , who says she had no role model to look up to when she was growing up playing county cricket .
“ For males , you are always going to see men playing cricket on TV and , if you go to most clubs , probably 95 % of the coaches are going to be male . I still don ’ t feel there are enough female role models out there and it is vital that younger girls especially see more women playing and coaching cricket , because seeing someone like them acts as a motivation and an inspiration .
“ Things are moving in the right direction though . We now have that progression opportunity for females to become professional cricketers : moving on from club , to county , to regional cricket and on to becoming an international player .
“ When I was growing up playing county cricket , we didn ’ t have the same opportunities . You would either stop playing or go to university .”
The incremental gains are starting to mount up and make a difference , but Lucy would still like to see more female trailblazers come to the fore and exert an influence . And , like so many of her peers coaching women ’ s cricket , if presented with a magic wand , she says she would use her first swish to pump further funding into women ’ s participation and coaching initiatives .
“ I think it ’ s important to get support from others around you . I ’ m somebody who pushes and pushes . So , a few weeks ago , I hosted a female cricket coaching webinar with another female coach that was about ways of attracting more female cricket coaches and getting them involved .
“ I think you ’ ve always got to have someone in your area who is going to drive it and I don ’ t think that around the country there are enough females doing that .
“ And I think it also comes down to funding . This year the ECB has pushed out some tremendous initiatives to get girls involved but previously there hasn ’ t been enough funding available to support growth in the women ’ s game .
“ It ’ s encouraging that we are seeing a surge now in female participation across schools , clubs and counties , and now there has to be a similar push for female coaches , because if we are getting more girls involved , they need more females to look up to , to keep them coming back week after week .
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