Brown to stay on for third season at Joeys

A STALWART of local women’s cricket in Geelong has announced she is staying on as head coach of St Joseph’s female first XI.

Joeys female head coach Louise Brown has confirmed she will stay on for a third campaign with the club’s female progression on the rise and citing her love of the role.

“I just love coaching and I’m really enjoying watching the progression of the players, particularly the Joeys coming through the junior girls’ pathways,” Brown said.

“When I took the reins in my first season, 2020-21, it was quite a struggle as the Barwon Women’s Cricket Competition (BWCC) had just changed its structure to more of a graded format and we played against stronger competition.

“Move forward to last season, it was really exciting to see the improvement of the girls, including those who came through the female pathway.

“We came within one win of finals and overall, we really established ourselves as a real team.”

Brown is one of only three female coaches across the BWCC, a number that she feels is way too low and a sign for more women to jump on board the rapidly growing female version of the game.

“I’ve played with so many fantastic female cricketers, particularly in my 20 years with Geelong Women’s Cricket Club,” Brown said.

“I’d love to see those players pass on their learnings to the next generations of female cricketers.

“Nothing against male coaches, but I feel there are differences between how coaches coach, and I’ve felt in the past being coached by males that they are very technical without going into the details, as opposed to focusing on the fun aspects of the game.”

St Joseph’s won a quarter of its 12 games in season 2020-21, finishing eighth. The lowly finish preceded a six-win, eight-loss record in season 2021-22 that slotted the Joeys in fifth place, one spot out of the top four.

The season-by-season improvement is a promising sign for Brown, and she’s excited for what 2022-23 provides.

“This season will be about developing the next wave of Joey’s players that come through and also seeing if any more girls are interested in taking the next step in their careers at the senior level,” she said.

“A lot of our girls now have two full seasons under their belt and moving forward it’s now a matter of being more aggressive with the bat.

“We did well last season in terms of being able to bat out our overs, but now we need to focus on putting runs on the board and more effectively chase down our targets.”

St Joseph’s boasts five female sides at the club.