At Whitby Cricket Club, we’re building something that goes beyond cricket. Our aim is to make sure every woman and girl who turns up feels part of it, whether they’ve played before or are picking up a bat for the first time.

We run regular training sessions in summer and over winter, we go into our local secondary school and run free sessions for girls.
At all our training we focus on building skills, confidence, and team spirit, but most importantly, we make it fun and welcoming.

We started in 2022 and our women’s and girls’ section has grown massively since then, we play in festivals, leagues, cups, and we're delighted to come top of our softball league this year in the YPLN Scarborough and Ryedale area. This meant we got to play against other Yorkshire club League winners in a finals day at Headingly where we came second in our group. We got to the semi final of the NYSD softball cup which includes teams from Durham area as well as Yorkshire. We have transitioned into playing hardball cricket, we teamed up with another local team this year, Glaisdale, so we could make up numbers but going into 2026 season we have the numbers and the drive to get a team of our own in the league.

We have just got back this week, from Spain where we played in the Granada Sixes and T20 hardball Tournament, a brilliant experience that brought the team even closer together.

We also keep close links with the two leagues that we fall into YPLN and NYSD as well as clubs across North Yorkshire and south Durham, (and beyond) to share ideas, fixtures, and opportunities, because helping women and girls thrive in cricket isn’t just about one club, it’s about growing the game together.

Making sure our players feel safe, respected, and supported is at the heart of everything we do. All our coaches and volunteers are ECB DBS checked and have completed safeguarding training, and we follow the ECB’s Safe Hands policy.

We make sure players always have someone they can talk to, whether that’s me. Captain, another coach, or our club welfare officer, and we keep communication open with parents too.

More than anything, we’ve worked hard to build a culture where everyone looks out for each other. Cricket should feel like a safe space, and that’s what we’re committed to at Whitby.

Our next project is to look at ways we can secure funding to create a dedicated women and girls’ changing area. We currently use a small dual purpose room that is officially an umpires room, enough for about 2 people to comfortably change and shower. That's usually needed for when girls play in mixed teams which in the past has been few, but this is already changing as more women and girls are playing.

But it's not just about practicality for the times when girls are playing mixed cricket, it’s about having a dedicated space in the club that feels like ours as a women and girls section.