Young Leaders is the brainchild of the conversation between Cricket Wellington women and girls community manager Frances Stewart and 14-year-old Dhriti Girish, a Premier Women’s player and aspiring leader.
Our mutual goal of getting more female youth involved in coaching, umpiring and players lead to the development of a leadership programme for Wellington girls aged 14-17. 15 girls were nominated by their club and college coaches for their leadership potential. Participants would enter into a summer of learning, on the ground experience, and mentoring. In the learning stage of the programme Dhriti, the student lead for this programme, coached the participants through the online section of the coaching qualification. In August 2020 we met as a group, leaving the parents at the door, and under the experienced guidance of former WHITE FERN Justine Dunce, successfully achieved our advanced coaching qualification. Participants backed this up with two self-development and leadership workshops with ex-Olympian Rower, coach mentor and public speaker Tina Manker, and were now fully fledged Young Leaders.
“I loved the workshops with Tina. I leaned a whole new aspect of cricket - coaching and leading. The leadership course came to good use in some of my games where I was team skipper. The coaching course with Justine was also great - I liked how it was interactive whilst teaching and this helped me while is coaching in the kid’s holiday programme.” – Neharika Ramathan, Young Leader
“I really enjoyed the sessions with Tina. I learnt plenty of new things about leadership and being a good follower!” – Iris Campbell, Young Leader
Young Leaders have fully immersed themselves in the world of leadership, coaching and umpiring during the 2020-21 season. Young Leaders were offered many opportunities to gain experience. Anna Martin managed the Cricket Wellington U13 team at their recent Wairarapa tournament as well as running Hardball Cricket workshops for girls. Neharika Ramanathan, Ariana Lock, Ashleigh Henderson and Abby Holdaway have been coaching and umpiring their local Girls Years 5-8 cricket teams. Dhriti Girish has been busy speaking with international cricketer Sophie Devine, Grant Robertson MP and CEO of ICC Cricket World Cup 2022, Andrea Nelson, to help promotion gender neutral changing facilities and the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2022. Iris Campbell has been engaging the Porirua and Tawa communities in the Yeah! Girls programme while Hannah Ryan and Hannah Francis have been learning from top Wellington coaches Taylor Wenlock, Caitlin King, and Callum McLachlan to deliver Junior School Holiday Programmes.
"I have really enjoyed the opportunities that came out of this programme. I got to help coach young cricketers through several programmes and manage an U13 team at their tournament. I have really loved the ability to coach and meet many people through the programme, but also to develop my own leadership skills." – Anna Martin, Young Leader
“The Young Leaders programme has been beneficial in helping us young girls to understand how to become a good leader and a good coach. I have been enjoying the workshops we have attended and the opportunities we have been given to coach and umpire younger players coming through.” – Hannah Francis, Young Leader.
Alongside their coach delivery and umpiring, Young Leaders have been working in small groups with assigned mentors; Suzie McDonald, Allex Evans, Thamsyn Newton and Lucy Doolan. With support from former Cricket Wellington board member Gretchen Young, the mentor programme was designed to provide the Young Leaders with an external experienced person who would take an interest in their development, their goals and their experiences during the programme. Their mentors provide wisdom and guidance where needed.
“My mentor, Suzie McDonald gave me lots of insight about time management and all the other aspects that comes along with taking up a new sport and activity. It was a fun and interactive session learning from someone who had first-hand experience in professional sport!” – Neharika Ramanathan, Young Leader
“Being a student lead for the Young Leaders Programme has been a great opportunity for me to enhance my leadership skills and my overall confidence. The received opportunities from this programme to gain more knowledge about the game, and also learn from successful women cricketers and sports professionals. We’ve been fortunate enough to work closely with current and ex-Blaze players as our mentors and also coach young cricketers along with some specialist coaches. I have thoroughly enjoyed the journey of Young Leaders programme right from inception to the current stage where we are all gaining experience of coaching, umpiring and scoring.” – Dhriti Girish, Young Leader and Student Lead
"The YL program has provided a great avenue for current and past players to connect with young female players, give back to grassroots cricket and discuss important aspects that exist outside the boundary rope. The accessibility to female athletes, mentors, past players or leaders for young female athletes has not always been prevalent in sport in NZ, and this program certainly increases those opportunities." - Thamsyn Newton, Wellington Blaze allrounder
“I always thought cricket could be used as a vehicle for developing leadership skills in women and girls, and here we are doing just that!” – Gretchen Young, former Cricket Wellington board member
“The importance of contributing to our community, having a positive engagement with sport, and to experience themselves as strong and skilful is a valuable gift for all girls!” – Olivia Boyd, parent and coach
Our Young Leaders programme culminates in the 2021 graduation on International Women’s Day March 2021. After a full evaluation of Year One of the programme we are already looking forward to what we can achieve together for the second year of Young Leaders.
Frances Stewart
Cricket Wellington Community Manager - Women and Girls
Article added: Tuesday 09 February 2021
