Volunteer-led Girls only Everyone welcome
Where girls play, grow and belong.
We're a cricket academy run entirely by volunteers. Girls come to learn the game and stay for the people they meet doing it. No experience needed, no trials, no pressure.
First session free
Bats provided
- Training
- Saturdays
- Experience needed
- None at all
Who we are
A girls' cricket academy that runs on borrowed time, donated kit and a lot of goodwill — and it works.
Nobody here is paid. Our coaches are parents, former players, teachers and older girls who came through the academy themselves. What we offer is simple: a proper place for girls to learn cricket, get better at it, and be part of a team that wants them there.
Some of our players will go on to play county cricket. Most won't, and that has never been the point. They all leave knowing they can pick something hard and get good at it.
Why cricket?
It teaches them things
we never planned to teach.
Cricket is a slow game with a lot of waiting and a lot of responsibility. It turns out that is very good for you.
-
Confidence
Facing a ball in front of everyone is frightening the first time. After a few weeks she stops flinching, and she notices.
-
Friendship
Eleven girls standing in a field for two hours will end up friends. A lot of them arrive not knowing anybody.
-
Discipline
You cannot rush a cover drive. Practising the same thing until it works is a skill, and it transfers to everything else.
-
Opportunity
Girls' cricket still isn't offered everywhere. Where it isn't, we would rather be the ones who ran it than waited for it.
Girls in action
This is what a
Saturday looks like.
Batting, bowling, fielding, shouting encouragement, arguing about whose turn it is with the good bat.
Practice in the nets.
HerSpace in the community.
Our academy
What actually
happens here.
Four things, every week, in roughly this order of importance.
Training
Weekly sessions split by experience, so nobody is bored and nobody is out of their depth.
- Brand-new beginners group
- Developing players
- Match squad practice
Coaching
Volunteer coaches, properly qualified and properly checked. Small groups, so she gets spoken to by name.
- Batting, bowling and fielding basics
- Match awareness and captaincy
- Female coaches at every session
Games
Real matches against real opposition, because practice on its own gets dull and you learn more in one game than a month of drills.
- Friendlies and festival days
- League fixtures for the older groups
- Everybody gets a game, not just the best
Community
Girls encouraging each other loudly and without embarrassment. It is the thing visitors comment on first.
- Older players mentoring younger ones
- Families welcome to stay and watch
- End-of-season presentation night
Every week, rain allowing
Where we have got to
Small club. Big seasons.
None of this was funded or planned. It is just what happens when enough people give up a Saturday morning.
- girls training with us and growing
- 20
- volunteer coaches and helpers
The number we actually care about is how many girls come back the following week. That one has never gone down.
Read our storyOur partner
Partnered with Girls Cricket Foundation
Thank you to Girls Cricket Foundation for providing the continuous support and believing in the vision of this academy.
Volunteers
Cricket doesn't happen without a community.
Every session runs because someone drove a minibus, scored a match, washed the kit, or stood in the cold counting overs. You do not need to have played to be useful here.
- Coaches We will pay for your coaching badges.
- Match-day volunteers Scoring, umpiring, teas, boundary flags.
- Mentors Older players looking out for younger ones.
- Event helpers Festival days, presentation evenings, tournaments.
- Fundraising & support Grants, sponsors, raffles, spreadsheets.
- Lifts and logistics Getting girls to away games and back.
Parents & guardians
The questions you're
actually asking.
No pressure, no trials, no assumption that she already knows the rules. If something here isn't clear, ask us - we would rather answer than have you wonder.
Every coach and regular volunteer is background-checked ([DBS / local equivalent]) and our safeguarding lead is [Name, contact]. Girls are never alone with one adult.
Who can join?
Any girl can join. You do not need to live in a particular area, go to a particular school, or know anybody here already.
Does she need cricket experience?
No. Most girls arrive having never held a bat, and we plan our sessions around that. Beginners are grouped together for the first few weeks so nobody is the only one learning.
Girls who already play get stretched too - there is a harder group and a match squad.
Where are sessions held?
Hodari Lavington, Nairobi, Kenya. There is parking, and somewhere dry to wait.
How often do the girls train?
Saturdays, from 9:00am - 12:00pm. Coming to one session a week is completely normal.
Missing weeks for exams, holidays or other sports is fine. Just tell us so we know she is safe and not lost.
What does she need to bring?
Comfortable sports clothes and trainers. We lend out bats, pads and helmets.
A water bottle, and a jumper - it is colder standing in the field than you think.
Can I stay and watch?
Please do. Plenty of parents stay, and a good few of them ended up volunteering. There is no expectation either way - dropping her off is absolutely fine.
Is it girls only?
Our sessions are for girls, coached by a mixed team of volunteers. A lot of the girls tell us that is exactly why they were willing to try in the first place.
Bring your bat. Bring your energy.
Bring your friends.
There's a place for every girl on this team.