Cricket season is under way and clubs are on the lookout for new players, particularly women and girls.
Among them is the Altona, which held a come and try evening on Monday, October 14 for girls interested in taking up the sport.
Like many other sports, women’s cricket has been on the rise the past decade, but junior competitions and pathways have struggled to keep up with the growing demand.
Altona vice-president Adam Lewis said the come and try evening, which featured an appearance from the Melbourne Renegades bus, was an attempt to try and change that.
“The aim for this come and try day was to basically provide an outlet for young girls who play cricket in Hobsons Bay,” Lewis said.
“Currently there’s only three teams for girls cricket in all of Hobsons Bay so we want to increase that.”
Lewis said while there were long term plans to add senior female cricket, the club was focused on attracting juniors for the time being, while also providing opportunities to the young girls they already have.
“Last year we had out Woolworths Blast program and we had seven girls in that program and we got to the point where we needed to give them somewhere to go after that program,” he said.
“We’re aiming for under-11s and under-13s, we’ve also recruited Chloe Rafferty as our girls coach. Chloe’s played professionally with the Melbourne Stars and Hobart Hurricanes in the WBBL.”
For those who were unable to attend the come and try evening, the club trains on Monday nights at 4.45pm and matches will start on October 23.
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