Welcome back to our daily blog from Rwanda. We have settled fairly well into our somewhat challenging and massively rewarding routine. Let me tell you a little bit about my journey to be a part of this team of volunteers.
After being brought up in an area where girls’ cricket didn’t exist in the ‘70s, I spent a lot of my childhood playing bat and ball with the boys in the local park, wishing I could join a local team. Naturally, most of them went to play boys’ cricket and I could only imagine that cricket was an option for me. University was fantastic, because lo and behold they had a women’s cricket team! Better still, I ended up being great pals with a girl who played for England B at cricket. Long story short, after three years I was the captain of Lancashire and Cheshire Womens Cricket Team (with a few trials and tribulations in between) – and at the same time I was captaining my home town club (Neston CC), which had been developed in my absence!
Little did I know that getting the captaincy was the easy part. We were self-financing, had no sponsorships, no coach, paid for our own kit… you get the message! I and many other county captains throughout the years were social workers, nurses, team managers, physios, chauffeurs, coaches. So, to cut to the chase, lack of support was a massive barrier for players wishing to focus on their game rather than everything which came with it. I fell out love with of cricket and all that went with it – and I retired prematurely aged 34.
17 years later, I received a surprising phone call from a great friend, who asked me to go to Women’s Cricket week. Let me explain. Originally a festival organised by the Women’s Cricket Association to promote the participation of women and girls in cricket in Colwall, it’s a week of fun festival cricket with players of all standards, from internationals to beginnners. As I had no responsibilities other than to enjoy my cricket, I went. I was so lucky to meet some amazing characters, each of whom had a story about how cricket had helped get them through some incredibly hard times. On paper, none of us should be friends – but we each shared a common acceptance of each other’s differences through our love of cricket. I realised at that point that cricket really should be for everyone.
Womens Cricket Week 2023 – Cricket is for everyone, even Enid Bakewell OBE aged 82
One of the people I met was the wonderful Ali McCreedy, who is a long time volunteer with CWB. Year after year, I’d hear stories about her work in various African counties and had even helped her to sell raffle tickets and organises quizzes in support her work. Finally, the penny dropped. I’d rekindled my love of my game and it was about time I gave something to the game that I’d temporarily abandoned. So, I’m writing this in a hotel in Nyamata, our second base in Rwanda, reflecting on our experiences so far. On of the key messages we are trying to convey is the importance of inclusion, cricket is a sport for everyone. Get it?
So far I have met several of the U19 Rwandan Women’s team (joining in with the coaching sessions with youngsters and tennis balls, complete with enormous smiles on their faces.) I’ve been involved in a cricket match where the coaches’ team was beaten convincingly by one of the local youth teams, and being part of the team that has delivered the message of inclusion and diversity: we’ve talked to 1,500 children already this trip. It’s not easy: I’m exhausted, my nostrils are full of red dirt, my feet ache… but my heart is full of joy. I’m sharing some photographs with you today of some of the quirkier sights of this part of Rwanda. Our project can be chaotic, with numbers varying from minute to minute, goats running across the rocky playing fields, local toddlers stealing tennis balls. But perfectly imperfect.
Below photos: the red dust, dancing teachers in the first of this afternoon’s schools, and goats on the outfield!
– Allyson Byrne
Fantastic report Ally!! 😊