White Ferns Roadshow coming to Wellington

CRICKET WELLINGTON MEDIA RELEASE
1 November 2010

White Ferns Roadshow coming to Wellington on Thursday and Friday

The White Ferns Roadshow is spreading the gospel of cricket to girls around New Zealand and it’s coming to the Wellington region this Thursday 4 November and Friday 5 November.
New Zealand Cricket New Zealand Cricket Women’s National Development Officer Sara McGlashan and Wellington Blaze and White Ferns cricketer Lucy Doolan have been taking the White Ferns Roadshow throughout the country over the past weeks.

The Roadshow visits Wellington schools on Thursday, followed by an open invitation gala event for all primary, intermediate and Year 9 and 10 girls at Rongotai College from 4.00pm-5.30pm. The Roadshow visits Hutt Valley schools on Friday with an open afternoon at the Hutt Recreation Ground from 4.00-5.30pm. Both gala events will have a bouncy castle, spot prizes and giveaways and a sausage sizzle to finish. If wet, alternate venues will be posted on the Cricket Wellington website.

Now in its second year, Sara McGlashan says the initiative has been extremely well received. “There is an ongoing focus on the need to improve the profile of our national women’s cricket team and promote the game as a great summer sport for girls to be involved in,” Sara says. “Last year was the start of an annual roadshow which was very successful and it is now being carried out each summer targeting areas that have good support structures to guarantee ongoing follow up work happens.”

Along with the women’s development officers and other local White Ferns and domestic players, Sara and Lucy are visiting over 3,000 girls. Days involve school visits, coaching, umpiring and question and answer sessions.

Lucy says the visits have been extremely beneficial: “It’s been great to be able to introduce cricket to these girls and to show them the fun involved and the opportunities open to them if they play the game.
“Playing them video highlights of the White Ferns in action has also worked to grab their interest as well as running coaching and skills sessions.”

“By showing them clips of Sophie Devine smashing it into the stand and Suzie Bates launching into some big hits down the ground, spectacular fielding and big crowd shots they can see the intensity and skill that the White Ferns play at and it gets them excited about cricket.”

The aim of the Roadshow is to:
Increase the profile of the international and domestic players/teams
Visit schools and increase girls’ awareness of cricket
Encourage regions to target certain areas while having players available to help.
Create opportunities to communicate with teachers and parents at the schools

Roadshow information – Wellington:

Thursday 4 November, Wellington school visits followed by open invitation Gala event at Rongotai College from 4.00-5.30pm
Friday 5 November, Hutt Valley school visits followed by open invitation Gala event at Hutt Recreation Ground from 4.00-5.30pm

ENDS

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