Leeds based cricket clubs Alwoodley and Old Leos CC have hosted the first weekend of a softball cricket festival last week, as part of the ECB’s Women’s Big Cricket Month.
The teams who took part included ALladies , who were made up of combined players from Old Leo’s CC and Alwoodley CC, Batley CC, Beckwithshaw CC, Bradford Park Avenue Ladies CC, Bees in Blue, Mytholmroyd CC and The Flamingo Cockroaches.
The six teams played matches in a tournament format as part of the festival, with BPAL ending up as champions.
Yorkshire Cricket Board’s Katie Stewart, who is the Women and Girls Club and League Development Manager for West Yorkshire, set up the festival and hopes it can be an accessible way of getting women into cricket.
She said: “I wanted to set up the soft ball cricket festival as a way of introducing more women to the sport, and to rekindle the interest from teams who were set up a couple of years ago but were affected by COVID.
“The festivals are fun and friendly and make cricket accessible for females, no matter what their background and experience”
“The aim of the festival is to provide a fun and accessible way of introducing more women to participate in cricket as well as giving teams who have already formed, a chance to compete in a friendly and non-intimidating environment.”
“Cricket can have a reputation for being a very long game with complicated rules, but events like this show that the sport comes in different formats and can be short, simple and fun.
“Evidence shows that by introducing women to cricket played with a softer ball, where no pads and helmets are needed, the game can be made very accessible.
“Once women get a taste for cricket in this kind of environment, most become hooked, and many find themselves progressing to leagues and hard ball down the line.
“We had a great turn out for the festival at the weekend, and all teams came away wanting to take part in similar events in the future. We have other festivals planned across West Yorkshire so look forward to seeing the same teams signing up again and hopefully attracting even more new teams.”
Future softball festivals are due to be held on 25 July at Thurstonland CC, 8 August at Low Moor CC and 12 September at Sowerby Bridge CC.
If you’re interested in registering or hosting then you can contact Katie on k.stewart@yorkshirecb.com.
