Empowering girls in sport and celebrating future stars
Transcript
Date: 4 July 2024
Ms WARE (Hughes): As a self-confessed cricket tragic, last Sunday it was a privilege for me to attend the presentation day of the Sutherland Shire Junior Cricket Association. The association has proudly seen the likes of Steve Smith's from his under-10s through to captaining the Australian men's team. The association fields 1,000 players in 97 teams in their Saturday-morning competition. Importantly, this includes 95 girls. The Association has nine girls-only teams, and this is an amazing credit to President Matt O'Brien and the executive team that have led this association so successfully. When I wanted to play cricket as a young girl, there were no girls teams, only boys teams. However, I'm delighted to see that in one generation we have seen tremendous growth in women's cricket, where our Australian team is well known and our WBBL teams are attracting great crowds and sponsorship money. It was fabulous to see the emerging talent from the shire's cricket association, both boys and girls, on the weekend. Australian fast bowler Maitlan Brown joined us, which was greatly appreciated, particularly by the many female players in the room. You cannot be what you cannot see. Her presence on the day and her feats on the field have inspired countless budding creditors and provided great encouragement to those players at the awards day. So congratulations to the association in all of its forms: the players, the parents, the scorers, the managers, the coaches and the administrators.