More fun planned for 2019.
This summer has seen the return of the hugely popular Women’s Soft Ball Cricket Festival initiative, introduced by the ECB in 2017 to get more women picking up a bat and giving cricket a go. The festivals put the emphasis on enjoyment, creating an environment in which women can enjoy cricket socially. The games are fun, fast and short and all part of the spectacle which a Women’s Soft Ball Cricket Festival with bright bats, stumps, balls and t-shirts all provided. All across the country, over 25,000 women got involved, and Yorkshire was no exception. With over 2000 attendees across the county’s 52 festivals, Women’s Soft Ball was well and truly back and bigger than ever!
In addition to the huge attendances seen across the county, the vast number of women who attended festivals loved it, scoring them 9.5/10 in terms of enjoyment and going on record as being 9.5/10 likely to recommend the festival experience to a friend. This love of soft ball cricket stayed with the women, who were also 9.4/10 likely to continue playing, and continue playing they did, with women regularly coming back for more. Across the summer’s festivals it was common to see teams of women attending not just one festival throughout the summer but as many as they could possibly get to! None of this would have been possible however, without the commitment, dedication and enthusiasm of our brilliant club hosts and teams of volunteers within these. Without them, the success we have seen would not have been possible, and for this we owe them a huge amount of thanks.
Not content with just attending numerous festivals, many of the women in attendance at the festivals this summer used the experience as the first step on their women’s soft ball journey. 8 teams in South and West Yorkshire joined the county’s first ever outdoor Women’s Soft Ball Leagues playing competitive fixtures throughout the summer. Further to this, 4 teams in North Yorkshire took matters into their own hands, arranging friendly fixtures between themselves to provide women more opportunity to get involved in soft ball cricket! All over the county, women’s soft ball fixtures, training sessions and more began to spring up, and it’s these developments we wish to build on into 2019…
With even more festival fun planned for 2019, we anticipate women’s soft ball to continue to boom, but this won’t be the end of the story. In 2019 we already have plans earmarked for several outdoor women’s soft ball cricket leagues up and down the county. We also hope to support the journeys of those women and clubs who want to continue playing soft ball regularly, to ensure that there exists the opportunity for women to pick up a bat and give soft ball a go and whatever commitment and competitive level feels right for them.
Interested in getting involved yourself, or want to keep up to date with Women’s Soft Ball Cricket in Yorkshire? Head to the Facebook page and give us a like! With planning already underway, it won’t be long before the excitement will begin, so watch this space…