By Nick Creely
The Dandenong District Cricket Association will introduce an inaugural girls’ competition in 2018/19, with the competition open to all DDCA clubs.
As one of the most powerful cricket associations in the south-east, female participation has been high on the agenda for the junior committee, with the new competition set to bring more talent, and an exciting local pathway for young females.
The matches –which will be played on Tuesday nights – will be split in two seasons, with two six week blocks. This will likely be extended in the near future as more teams enter the competition.
While the finer details are still yet to be finalized, it has been confirmed that there will be a pre-Christmas season which will kick-off on 13 November, and will be completed on 18 December. The second season will then commence on 22 January 2019, and will be completed on 26 Feburary 2019.
This new system will allow clubs to continue recruiting new players during the season and therefore more teams and players will become available for the second season.
The DDCA has made the recommendation that if clubs don’t have enough players to register a team, they should band with another club to create a combined team and work towards recruiting more players for the second season.
A number of clubs – such as HSD and Hallam – have already signalled their intentions to get a side up and running for this season.
The game format will follow the Junior Stage 1 rules – which is similar to the under 11 junior rules – and will be played at venues where several games will be played at the same time.
DDCA junior vice president Steven Richards said the new competition is testament to the rise of female cricket in the region.
“We have been talking about having a girls’ competition for a few years now, and we thought this year was as good as any to start,” he said.
“Female participation in sport is at an all-time high and cricket amongst girls is getting popular.
“Myself, the DDCA junior committee and Adrian Jones have worked tirelessly over the past two to three months. Also appointing girls cricket coordinators has helped speed up the process.”
Richards said that there has been positive feedback to the new competition, and has a great deal of confidence that it will be a raging success, and give opportunities for female cricketers.
“At this stage, we are confident of having five or six teams for the first part of the season,” he said.
“I’m extremely confident that it will be a success as we have the right people involved to ensure that this works now and in the years to come.”
The DDCA is looking for clubs within the association to register interest by 27 August, where they will supply lists of girls and their ages to start the developmental process of the competition. The date, however, may be extended to coincide with junior registration at several clubs.
As excitement builds for the inaugural season, a junior girls lightning premiership competition will be run for all clubs registered with a team on 6 October, but further details will be released to clubs as they come hand.
For further information, contact junior vice president Steven Richards at juniors@ddca.com.au or Rebekah/Tara Hill on juniorgirls@ddca.com.au
