Lou Roberts is leading the charge for women’s cricket in Huddersfield and is encouraged to see so many women getting involved in the sport.
Lou plays and coaches at Holmfirth and this season the club entered an eight team league for soft ball cricket and the club hosted a full round of fixtures at its home ground earlier this month.
The 46-year-old mum of three got into cricket five years ago and has become one of the leading champions for women’s cricket in the area.
On getting into the sport she said: “I play and coach the Holmfirth team. I wanted to get into coaching cricket as both my daughters played and there were very few ladies coaching. I wanted to be a role model to other girls and ladies and show that they can do it too.
“My daughter Izzie is now 18 and has just joined the Holmfirth Hurricanes as she’s been away at university. Emily is 16 and plays for Yorkshire’s U18s and I have a son named Will who is 14 and he plays cricket too.
“I love the sport and I’m really proud of how it is growing and that more women are getting into the sport. We have a lot of mums whose kids play and have thought they’d like to give it a go themselves.
“There are a number of teams in this region now. There were 14 women’s teams in Huddersfield last year and that’s growing all the time.
“I could see it getting to the point where we have a full tiered Huddersfield League system like in the men’s game.”
Lou and Amanda Garrard launched the club last year. It has already grown its membership and Lou said more women are joining all the time.
“We started the club last year with just seven women taking part and now we are up to 21 which is just fantastic,” she added.
“To see how it’s grown in such a short period of time and the enthusiasm people have for playing is brilliant to see.
“We are hoping to have more juniors join the club too. We currently have players from year eight school age upwards so the more the better.
“We are going to try hard ball cricket in a few months which will be interesting. Some of the women are apprehensive about it but they want to give it a go so we’ll see what happens.
“I would encourage any women or girls to take up the sport and they can visit the West Yorkshire Women and Girls cricket website. They can also contact me on louise.roberts1977@btinternet.com and we’ll see if we can find a club near you for you to play at.”
