Women's cricket has grown rapidly in Crookwell over the last couple of years, and that growth was put on display last Thursday when the Crookwell High School girls' team beat Goulburn High School.
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Having batted first, the GHS girls were all out for 109, which the home side chased down in 12 overs.
Having scored at more than nine runs per over in the second innings, Crookwell's dominance in the match continues a trend which began last year.
In 2019, CHS competed in the South Coast Knockout and put forward a strong performance.
This was particularly impressive given only a few of the girls in the team had played the sport before.
That experience from year, according to team manager Rebecca Dark, helped the girls prepare for the competition in 2020.
"Most of them played together last year so they knew they'd have a pretty good chance of winning," Dark said.
"They joined the team just to have a good time and the fact that they beat Goulburn, they were pretty stoked."
While some of the girls developed their skills and knowledge of the game last year, some have also been busy playing on the weekends in the boys' competition.
This, Dark said, was vital for Crookwell, and led to some of the more experienced players acting as mentors for the newer members of the team during training.
Though to win so convincingly was pleasing, Dark said the best part of the day was seeing the camaraderie between the sides.
"Some of the girls are pretty close and knew the girls from Goulburn High, and they were cheering the girls from the other team on," she said. "It was nice to see."
Girls' cricket has been undertaken with an unexpected level of enthusiasm over the last two years, which Dark attributes to a love of sport in general throughout the town.
"Kids at Crookwell High will give anything a go, they just jump in and do it for fun," she said.
"It's nice that they have the opportunity to do that. There's players that are experienced and mentor the other girls in the team, but mostly it's for fun and friendly competition."
Crookwell High will next take on Mulwaree High School in Goulburn, with the exact date of the match to be confirmed soon.