Last week White Ferns players Sara McGlashan and Rachel Priest hit the road in the North Island to boost the profile of women’s cricket within New Zealand.
Sara and Rachel visited schools and clubs in Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Hawke’s Bay and Wellington with the goal of getting more girls interested in playing the game.
In Auckland the White Fern players got involved with a girls’ cricket tournament in a coaching and umpiring capacity and Sara says it was really positive to see 21 teams participate in the tournament.
In the other centres Sara and Rachel had question and answer sessions with young women wanting to become White Ferns, passed on some tips and tricks to help young players develop, umpired a couple of games and even spoke to girls who hadn’t been exposed to cricket.
“The main message we wanted to deliver is that we were just like them when we were younger playing backyard and lunchtime cricket and now we travel the world doing what we love,” Sara says. “Many of these girls have never seen the White Ferns on television, so this is a great chance to be involved with cricket.
“Everywhere we went all the girls were really enthusiastic about getting involved.”
The duo worked closely with the women’s development officers in the major associations and Sara hopes their presences will have an impact. “We need a flow on from this road show and ensure there is structures and fixtures in place to allow girls to continue to play the game.”
