Community Coach Programme in Action

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Charlotte Edwards Coaching

The very first South West Wales girl’s festival held at Llanelli CC on July 7th 2013 is the culmination of two seasons work (2012 & 2013) involving clubs and schools from three local authorities supported by three Community Coaches.  

 Girls' Cricket was established as a focus area by Jeremy Cartwright (CDO South West Wales) at the outset of the 2012 community coach programme.   Through the 2012 winter and spring planning phases of the programme the regional CDO and Community Coaches Keri Chahal (Swansea & South Carms) and Sean Evans (Neath & Port Talbot) had met and agreed with 3 local clubs that start-up girls' sections could be achieved if all parties focused on creating the demand. The three clubs targeted in 2012 were Swansea Civil Service, Llanelli and Briton Ferry Steel. These clubs already had strong junior sections and were pro-active in wanting to take the next step with girls’ cricket.   The community coaches undertook a 6-8 week coaching programme within local schools and raised awareness about cricket opportunities at local clubs. The clubs accessed funding via the Cricket Wales Club Capacity Fund to buy new equipment, train coaches and run taster evenings.    The initial migration from the schools to the clubs was very good and a core group of girls remained keen to play cricket on a regular basis.  

In 2013 the focus shifted to creating more teams to create sustainability and hopefully some competition. Rhidian Harries, Community Coach for South Ceredigion and North Carmarthenshire supported Whitland CC and Bronwydd CC to create new girls teams while Keri Chahal worked with Gorseinon CC.   The hard work culminated in teams from 6 clubs (Llanelli CC, Swansea Civil Service, Briton Ferry Steel, Whitland, Bronwydd and Gorseinon) attending the 1st South West Wales Girls Cricket Festival held at Llanelli CC on July 7th 2013.

The girls enjoyed the event so much that future dates have been agreed and there will now be regular girls-only competitions for over 60 girls. 
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