Session Title: Forgotten Stories: Women, Cricket, Yorkshire – This Girl Did

Session Hosts:
Kirsty Smith - [email protected]
Henri Duckworth - [email protected]

Session 2: 3-4.30pm, Saturday 16 March

Present: Carolyn Eden
Morven Macbeth
Kylie – The Paper Birds
James Wilkinson
Keith Fenton
Hannah Crawford
Madeleine O’Reilly

Notes: Summary of points is an edited version from Otter AI


Action Items
• Create a PR campaign to get corporate sponsorship for the women's cricket project
• Reach out to women's cricket and women's sports ambassadors to get their endorsement
• Perform the play in small local venues even if funding is not secured
• Reach out to community funding sources like National Lottery Heritage Fund
• Perform the play in cricket club function rooms
• Sign up for All Clubs Programme to get access to cricket clubs
• Partner with girls' cricket organizations to bring play to schools
• Leverage school relationships to get play performed in schools
• Share notes with session participants by email (HD)


Outline
Forgotten women's cricket team in 1930s England.
• Kirsty Smith discovers forgotten history of women's cricket team in 1930s Bradford sparking her passion project.

Women's cricket in West Yorkshire, UK.
• Women and girls cricket in West Yorkshire is growing rapidly, with a doubling of clubs in the last year.
• Women's cricket in the 1930s parallel to current resurgence, with independent clubs emerging.

Women's sports and gender inequality in sports.
• lack of knowledge and understanding of women's sports, particularly in the UK.
• underfunding and marginalization of women's sports, with examples from the Welsh women's rugby team and the Lionesses.
• silencing of lesbian history and the lack of representation in sports, noting that it's not even considered worth discriminating against (0:09:36).
• lack of interest in women's sports is not due to a lack of talent or skill, but rather a lack of exposure and representation (0:10:35).

Women's cricket and sports representation.
• Henrietta Duckworth highlights the rapid growth and success of the newly established West Yorkshire Women and Girls Cricket League, while acknowledging the persisting gender stereotypes in sports.
• Henrietta Duckworth wonders how a project like This Girl Did can contribute to opening up conversations about women's cricket both triggering interest in the sport and advancing progress for women and girls in sport in general.
• Speaker 5 discusses the importance of making women's cricket entertaining and commercially viable, highlighting the potential for brands to benefit from their association with the sport.
• Speaker 6 discusses a fictionalized account of a woman's life, with a mix of reality and fictional elements, and how it relates to historical stories about women.
• Speaker 5 mentions the popularity of historical stories, particularly those about women, and how they are highly entertaining and enjoyable for audiences.

Women's football and sports media.
• Kirsty Smith discusses the importance of showcasing women's football, mentioning the film "COPPA 71" and how Serena Williams' involvement helped get the project off the ground.
• Kirsty Smith brings up the topic of historical stories in women's football, highlighting the documentary "COPPA 71" and the challenges of getting projects about older women's football off the ground.
• Speaker 5 mentions the importance of cultural interests in women's cricket and how it can be used to create a glossy vision for the sport.
• Speaker 6 discusses the community funding and fight for women's rights in synchronized swimming, including the creation of the "Million Dollar Mermaids" project.
• We discussed cricket stories and experiences.
• We discussed challenges and changes in women's cricket.

Cricket in schools, barriers to participation.
• We discussed the importance of addressing the class divide in cricket, particularly in state schools.
• Henrietta Duckworth highlights the challenge of reaching out to state funded schools and the need for a united front to bring the drama, art, and history departments together.

Creating opportunities for women in cricket.
• Speaker 3 discusses the growth of women's cricket and the opportunities it provides for girls and women, particularly in terms of circumventing traditional gender roles and stereotypes.

Women's cricket in the UK.
• Henrietta Duckworth and others discuss the potential for a hyper-local theatrical production to entertain and educate universally about the history of cricket in West Yorkshire.
• We discussed cricket clubs and the importance of engaging with wider groups of people.
• Henrietta Duckworth shares her experience talking to current players, particularly from south Asian community, playing cricket with their brothers, fathers and uncles, highlighting the socio-economic factors that affect access to the sport for girls not cultural or religious barriers.
• We discussed fundraising strategies for small-scale projects, with a focus on reaching unreached communities.

Transcript (30mins of session)
https://otter.ai/u/pAi6XvlTxdsEhW7Nd-oWEiADijQ?view=transcript