Volunteer Sharon Dare helping girls cricket continue to grow and thrive in Newcastle Junior Cricket Associations

Keeping them in the game could prove the challenge but one volunteers such as Valentine's Sharon Dare have embraced.

The 43-year-old has always been a cricket fan.

When her son James, 12, and daughter Molly, 14, took up the sport, Dare got involved too by taking on club and association roles that are proving pivotal to the continued growth of female participation in cricket.

Statistics provided by Cricket Australia show the registration of girls playing cricket in Newcastle over the past four years has increased 32 per cent from 487 to 643.

The bulk of the growth has come through club juniors, rising from 110 girls to 257.

At national level, there are now more than double the number of girls playing junior cricket than there were in 2016-17.

Newcastle Junior Cricket Association (NJCA) offered a full pathway of cricket for girls this summer from an all-girls Blasters Smash, for ages five to 10 years, through to Stage 3 competition (under 14 to under 18).

Stage 1 (under 12) and Stage 2 (under 14) were already in place.

Dare is the registrar and girls cricket officer for Valentine Eleebana Cricket Club (VECC) as well as NJCA administrator.

"We've offered a few competitions this year that haven't necessarily gone ahead but we need to offer it, then next year we'll build on that," Dare said.

"We're really still in the infancy, trying to develop these competitions and find out what's going to work best.

"I want to see it build so all of the girls involved have a pathway. The boys have a complete pathway right through to nationals, so it's really important to build that pathway for girls so they've got the same opportunities."

At a club level, VECC have utilised grants such as the Growing Cricket for Girls Fund as well as other initiatives to make the sport inclusive and accessible for females.

That has helped provide equipment for girls teams and players as well as specialised coaching sessions.

"There was a lot of work done in the girls' space before I joined in and I've just piggy-backed on that really," Dare said.

"We're looking at updating the uniform so it's more inclusive for girls, so moving away from the white because that's known as a barrier to retention of girls in sport ... The main reason why I, and all the volunteers, do what I do is it's all about the kids. We all volunteer our time to get kids playing sport and having fun.

"It's so wonderful to see or hear of kids learning new skills and achieving, making lifelong friends and having fun."

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