Starting a Women & Girls Section

So, you are thinking about starting a women and girls section in your club – that is great news! Your club is already on its way to becoming more welcoming and friendly, having more people socializing at your club and increasing your participants and volunteers. Your club is showing the community, potential new members and sponsors how inclusive you are.

Cricket Scotland is supporting your club by offering more opportunities than ever for women and girls who are keen to follow the performance pathway, but equally for those that want to play socially in smaller teams, shorter games and possibly in softball formats. For our full range of women and girls' programmes, click below.

This is key to starting a women and girls' section. Any new participants to your club will not feel welcome if there is just one person interacting with them, it's important they feel they are a valued member of the club. Don’t hide the girls, run sessions when other members are there and give them equal access to facilities, times and pitches and you will immediately get parents on board: a whole new group of volunteers for your club!

This is often easier than recruiting women. At All Stars, Dynamos and Kwik Cricket level we see large numbers of girls participating already. A group of 8 or 10 girls together playing Kwik Cricket are much more likely to continue playing than one or two girls making up numbers in a boys’ team, especially if you can get them playing in the girls-only festivals that many clubs and schools organise. Encourage signing up with friends or in groups and maybe think about your club’s marketing and promotional materials – show it’s a sport not just for boys in your posters and social media outlets.

Don’t underestimate the impact that role models have. Talk about the Wildcats (Scotland's women's team), the Women’s Big Bash League and the Women’s World Cup. Maybe you have a Wildcat in your club, or a former player that could come along and make an appearance or help with the sessions. However, girls don’t mind if the coach is male or female, as long as the experience is a great. Get the right people involved.

If you would like a role model to appear at your club, you can get in touch with your local Development Officer.

Offer formats like pairs cricket and soft ball cricket in a relaxed environment. Don’t be afraid to set aside a bit of time for fun and a bit of a chat in each session.

The ECB has an excellent guidance document for starting a girls section. Click below to read on.

For information on starting a Women and Girls section, you can contact your local Development Officer. Extra support is also available from our Women and Girls Development Manager, Rosy Ryan.