WA Cricket Foundation recently headed down to Kwinana for an afternoon of cricket, icy poles and a slice of pizza.
The quintessential summer afternoon at Rhodes Park, Calistia, an hour south of Perth, was alight with the sounds of 18 young girls trying their hands at some cricket skills.
WA Cricket Female players Mathilda Carmichael and Taneale Peschel were on hand to help the young girls with their bat swings, bowling techniques and the running of the skills.
With the support of TLEA, a Community Partner of WA Cricket Foundation, the come and try event focus was to try and get young girls getting outside and connecting with each other and their community.
WA Cricket Women & Girls Participation Specialist Tayla Tenaglia said it is thanks to generous donations such as the one from TLEA which allows the Foundation to run programs to girls in areas such as Kwinana.
“Thanks to TLEA’s partnership with WA Cricket Foundation and the donations they provide, we can run more of these events and programs, so we can support the local communities by getting more girls involved,” Tenaglia said.
“We’ve seen an increase in the south metropolitan area playing cricket and getting involved in the local community clubs as well.”
10-year-old Aurora, who participated in the come and try event, said the afternoon was a lot of fun for her and her sister.
“My favourite bit so far has been when we have taken turns throwing the ball and being able to be a wicket keeper,” she said.
“I like playing backyard cricket where I like to be a batter, so it was fun to do other things today.”
Tenaglia said in conjunction with running clinics in the southern regions of the metropolitan area, support from TLEA means the WA Cricket Foundation can support women and girls in a range of different ways.
“We deliver a whole range of programs in the Kwinana area, including Social Leaders, which are leadership programs for girls in schools using cricket as a vehicle,” she said.
“It means we can get into areas that we probably wouldn’t target otherwise and can resource them appropriately and support girls as best we can.”