Rams seeking junior female cricketers

THE expansion of women’s cricket in the Barwon region has been a major sporting development over the past few years and the Geelong West Rams continue to be a leader.

The Geelong West Cricket Club began its women’s program in 2019-20 with two senior sides and doubled that number in 2020-21 with a regional-best four senior sides. Now in 2021-22 the Rams will field a fifth side.

The next challenge for the club is to start implementing some junior sides into their ranks.
The Rams are seeking interest from junior female cricketers to help produce teams at the junior level.

The club has indicated it has a handful of players interested in potential Under 15 and Under 18 sides, but there is still room for recruitment.

Rams president Tony Spence said he had enjoyed watching the women’s program develop over the past couple of seasons.

“It’s been fantastic having girls around, not only playing cricket but also at functions and other events,” Spence said.

“It’s like watching junior boys play, they are just excited to be there, they have heaps of fun, they get the music going and they just love it.”

Another pivotal cog in the women’s program has been coach Sam Kelly, who has been involved with women’s cricket for five years now.

For Kelly, the key to any great club is having a solid junior program, which is what the coach said should be the main focus going forward for the club.

“We place a pretty high importance on the women’s program and the juniors in general because we see it as the foundations of the club,” Kelly said.

“The women’s game of cricket is really quickly expanding, and we have a bit of an obligation as a local sporting club to provide a pathway for women to play professional cricket.

“We have been immensely proud of how far our women’s program has grown to today.”

Kelly acknowledged that it was relatively hard to recruit female junior cricketers given the number of teams within their area, but remained steadfast that the best way to recruit players is to continue maintaining a safe and fun environment.

Get in touch with the club via the Rams’ Facebook page if you are interested.