That was the sentiment from parents of members at the newly founded club after a busy month in which it made several big strides in terms of sponsorships and opportunities.
Earlier this month, on May 21st, the club’s global Ambassador and West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews received a cheque from City of Bridgetown (COB) Credit Union worth $10 000 which will go towards developing more female cricketing talent across Barbados.
Four days prior, club members aged 6-14 got an opportunity to have a training session with the Oman T20 World Cup squad, which went down well for all who took part, parents included.
When asked how she felt to have her daughter involved with the club, mother Trisha Thomas remarked that it has been a great experience so far.
“It was an enjoyable session (Oman training session) and I think Kailey (her eight-year-old daughter) will remember this experience for a lifetime,” she said. It means so much to me to have a cricket club like this in Barbados. There was a time when she stopped going and I was like no, she has to get back into it, so I make sure she is at practice twice a week. To me, she can go a long way in this sport.”
Father Jeremy Pilgrim said: “It was good to see the guys from Oman – professional cricketers – come out and encourage the children.”
Jeremy, whose daughter Safari is the club’s youngest member at five years old, added: “This seems like a club that has the right type of support behind it, with a lot of persons associated with Barbados’ cricket and that should translate in a positive manner in terms of trying to get sponsorship and get [the] spotlight on the club.
“Not knocking other clubs, but it is not just a club in the community. It has the right support and backing behind it and that should speak volumes and it really says that the club is on the right track and has a lot of potential moving forward.”
While cricket isn’t her favourite sport, older sister Chennai Lewis admitted she was happy to see her little sister, who preferred not be named, find a new passion in recent weeks.
“It’s very exciting because everyone seems very happy to be here. I’m glad to see them having fun and learning something new. She keeps reminding me of this every week, especially when the Oman team were due to come down, saying ‘Don’t forget we have the thing on Saturday’, so I think things like that have helped enhance her interest in cricket,” Lewis said.
Ever present coach Yvonne Arthur, who has been there since the very first session in December, said she wished something like this existed when she began her journey into cricket.
She said “When I was growing up I had to play with the boys. There was no club for us, no competitions or anything like that so after a certain age you just dropped out because you didn’t see a future in it. For these girls now, there is Barbados cricket as well as franchise cricket and a lot of other opportunities out there to be explored.”
The club also recently announced a sponsorship deal with Smile Group Travel, a renowned sports travel company from the United Kingdom. This partnership will pay for overseas tours for the members of the club as well as provide sponsorship into the club.
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