As part of Middlesex Cricket’s ongoing community engagement activities, the Club recently spent a day in Tower Hamlets, one of the counties most ethnically diverse boroughs, to hold a women’s only ECB Support Coach Course.
One of the Club’s ambitions, aligned to its ongoing ED&I Activation Plan, is to encourage more female coaches and volunteers to get involved in the game, committing to doing all that we can to make sure cricket is a game for all.
The Coaching Day in Tower Hamlets was tailored specifically for women, to provide a welcoming environment where female only participants could enjoy a day of coaching in a safe and comfortable setting, with a course tailored for their needs.
Eleven Muslim women from a Bangladeshi background took part in the course, representing one of the most inactive ethnic groups, according to Sport England’s 2022 Active People Survey. All eleven women who attended the course were taking their first steps into what the Club hopes will be a long and fruitful coaching and or volunteering career.
The feedback received from the course participants was overwhelmingly positive and as a result the Club has committed to hosting a further three additional women only courses across the summer months ahead, as we look to inspire the next generation of female cricket coaches and volunteers in the game.
Mahmuda Akter, one of the participants who attended the course commented:
“I really enjoyed the ECB Support Coach Course especially as someone who has never attended a cricket coaching course before, so it felt tailored to my needs.
“I travelled from North London to attend the course as this was the first female only course I had come across, and I would only feel comfortable in a women’s only setting as a practising Muslim.
“This was my first positive experience of playing cricket, albeit on a cricket course, and I am now keen to use this experience to inspire more women and girls to play cricket in North London.
“I am now eager to progress on my coaching journey and am looking forward to the next course, hopefully again in a women’s only setting. I must credit the tutor who was very professional and friendly, and the learning was well-paced and engaging for a novice like me.
“Finally, I am sincerely grateful to Middlesex Cricket for putting on this women’s only course to ensure people like me are not excluded.”
Middlesex Cricket would like to thank our delivery partner Capital Kids Cricket for organising and delivering this course on our behalf.
If you are interested in attending one of the remaining three Women only ECB Support Coach course this summer, please contact Mash Mehter, Participation Manager at Middlesex Cricket by email at [email protected]
