With junior cricket thriving in Moree, a junior girls competition has recently kicked off as female numbers continue to grow in the game.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
There were 26 girls who turned up to the opening night on Monday, with a few others who couldn't make it. The competition is expecting to have 28 players who will be split into four teams of seven.
Organised by Cricket NSW, Northern Inland cricket manager Vinnie Cameron was in town on Monday to help the competition get up and running.
"It was amazing. It was really as good as it could've gone," he said.
"We ended up having a few extras from the initial registrations that go on board fairly late, but the feedback from the parents and the kids and the committee was just amazing."
READ ALSO:
Cameron was really pleased with the amount of girls that showed up, particularly as they are all already a part of the Moree Junior Cricket system.
"We didn't approach schools, we didn't approach any other groups. We focused on tailoring a program of four teams for the network within and surrounding the existing Moree Junior Cricket Association," he said.
"The goal of the program was to create an amazing cricket experience for these girls and we wanted to ensure the program achieved that goal."
Cameron also wanted to ensure the program was sustainable, so that it could be implemented again for next year and beyond.
"On those kinds of measures it was fantastic," he said.
"And the most exciting part is when we do tap into the schools and create a fairly broad and expansive promotion of this particular competition, we could probably easily field six teams, maybe even more and then that excitement and the competition development in itself will lead to further participation in the years to come."
Cameron said the competition started a little later than originally planned, as he wanted all the shirts arrived to ensure all players received one.
"Just wearing a shirt symbolising that you're part of a team and you're part of a competition is in itself a really important part of the process," he said.
"When you put on a new shirt and it's a vibrant colour, you're really part of something significant.
"We wanted that to be part of that first time experience."
The four week program in Moree was started after a successful competition was introduced in Narrabri, which are the first two competitions in the Northern Inland region.
"The support from the junior associations, the support from the parents of the girls involved has been incredible and provides a really good foundation," Cameron said.
"I suppose the key with the two programs we've started in Narrabri and Moree is we have 24 to 30 girls in each of these towns who are playing individual cricket competitions and they can form two or three or four teams in the town and we can create a carnival.
"We have the perfect environment for establishing an exclusive girls only cricket carnival....and that could happen some time toward the mid to late part of the season.
"That's just in the first six months, so you think what could happen in the next few years. It's exceptionally exciting."
Cameron wanted to thank the Moree Junior Cricket committee for supporting the program as well as the parents who play a major role in getting the girls involved.
"They are the key successors of this program because they register girls to get involved," he said.
"They are the ultimate decision maker and without the parents supporting the program, supporting the girls' involvement, it wouldn't exist.
"They are the absolute drivers. That should really be highlighted."