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“The ladies are a very valuable part of the club; they are accepted by all of the men’s teams and are involved in many aspects of club life, such as committees and social events”
BELLS YEW GREEN With two ladies’ cricket teams, Bells Yew Green are taking Sussex by storm…
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tarted by the men of the village after
played in age group teams until she was 15,
that is widely acknowledged,” she says.
they returned from war in 1947,
increasingly taking on more responsibilities.
“Often girls have a lot of other sports that
“I tried my hand at captaincy throughout the
dominate their free time, so it’s difficult to
age group cricket, but realised that behind the
encourage them to make cricket a priority,
Wells, originally only played friendlies, before
scenes organisation was much more my
This is why our junior section is so important,
eventually becoming more involved in local
thing,” she explains. “I now largely coordinate
as encouraging girls to start playing at an early
leagues. Now, the club boasts four Saturday sides,
the first and second women’s teams
age ensures they learn the basic skills and
a Sunday friendly side, a midweek team, eight
throughout the summer.”
develop an enthusiasm for and understanding
Bells Yew Green Cricket Club in East Sussex, four miles from Tunbridge
junior teams and two ladies teams – not bad for one of the ‘newer’ clubs around. “The ladies are a very valuable part of the club; they are accepted by all of the men’s
While men’s teams are often playing other local clubs, for the women, finding other ladies sides to take on can be one of the major challenges. “We play very few village women’s clubs so
of the game as they grow up.” Luckily, Sophie’s early love for cricket stuck and now, as well as playing for Bells Yew Green, she also plays for the Women’s First
teams and are involved in many aspects of club
generally we have to travel a lot further than
Team at the University of Exeter, where she’s
life, such as committees and social events,”
men’s teams, who can play locally,” says
studying for an English degree. For her,
says Sophie Bowen, 21, Women’s Club Captain.
Sophie. “We have been known to drive as far as
a sense of belonging is what it’s all about.
“Some of the girls even play in the men’s
East Herts or Bishops Stortford for a Sunday
“The best thing about village cricket is the
teams on a Saturday.”
league game, so this requires a high level of
sense of local community coming together,
commitment to the team, something that is
but that can be hard with women’s cricket
often a deterrent to women new to the game.”
because few of our players actually live in
For the past five years, the Bells Yew Green ladies’ first team has been successfully competing in the Women’s Southern League
Though in recent years the number of women
Bells Yew Green,” she says. “However,
and are currently in Division Two. With both of
taking up the sport has risen, Sophie admits it’s
within the team there’s a strong sense of
her parents as coaches for the club, Sophie
still a struggle to recruit new women.
community between the girls and pride in
became involved aged just six, when the junior section was founded in 2000. From there, she
“Although girls’ cricket is one of the fastest growing sports in the UK, it is still not one
representing Bells Yew Green.” www.bygcc.uk
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