Four Valley girls play State cricket

Four Valley girls play State cricket

Four Moonee Valley junior players have represented the North West Wizards in the Victorian Under 14 girls championships.
Amelia Radford, Rose Harrington, Jacinta de Niese and Olivia Broadhurst (left to right above) took to the fields in Mt Eliza and Frankston in the first week of January, competing against teams from regions right around the State in the Commonwealth Bank State championships.
Amelia won the vote as player of the tournament.
The North West Wizards played against Mallee Murray Heat, Inner East Emus, South East country Sharks, Western Waves and Southern Ranges as they worked their way through the tournament.
The girls all play with the boys in Moonee Valley teams in the North West Cricket Association.
Jacinta, Amelia and Rose have also played with our senior women’s teams.
Our four girls all came into cricket through Moonee Valley’s junior girls program, playing in our girls’ teams coached by Phill King.
The North West’s girls program has stumbled in recent years – and as part of Phill’s astute vision we have brought our girls together in a mixed squad with boys in our Under 12s and Under 14s.
Amelia has played Under 14 A grade, and the girls have all had dominant matches in the NWCA this season – culminating with the appearances at senior level where our girls have shown the benefits of their cricket development.
In playing senior cricket, they have joined older teens Tanya Intagliata, Lisa Spagna and Maddie Stafford, who have come through Moonee Valley’s junior program.
We also have a group of girls playing mixed cricket in Under 10s, and others coming through our Milo development program.
Moonee Valley is again showing the way with innovative cricket development, as the North West Cricket Association is looking at our Under 14s mixed model for next season to encourage girls to integrate with the boys.
The NWCA is hoping to have one designated Under 14 grade to enable the mixed teams to play each other, and then hopefully kick-start the local resurgence of junior girls’ cricket.
The Under 14 Commonwealth Bank State Championships were introduced to build a pathway for Victoria's up-and-coming female talent. The tournament is the first step in the Victorian Cricket Pathway and becomes the main selection tool for the State U15 Representative Team.