AMY HUNT WINS THE 'JODIE FIELDS YOUNG CRICKETER SCHOLARSHIP'

As proud sponsors of the Jodie Fields Young Cricketer Development Scholarship, we are excited to announce that rising star Amy Hunter from the small town of Kairi, on the Atherton Tableland, has been awarded the prestigious scholarship for 2021. The scholarship is valued at $3,000 and supports her sporting and educational development and it is always encouraging to see young talented women taking strides in the sport. 

Former Australian Captain Jodie Fields (née Purves) started the personal scholarship program seven years ago to assist talented female players from regional centres. 

“Having grown up in Toowoomba and travelled extensively throughout Queensland during my cricket career, I am acutely aware of the challenges facing regional and rural communities,” Ms Purves said.

“These include equitable access to quality health and education opportunities, particularly for young women and girls. 

“I was fortunate to have benefited from incredible support from my family and some very close supporters. The Scholarship is my opportunity to give back to another young cricketer.” 

Despite the 2020/21 calendar being disrupted by COVID-19, Hunter, a right-arm fast bowler, has impressed talent development staff at Queensland Cricket both for her ability and her attitude and approach to the game. 

The Atherton State High School student took up cricket at the age of 10 and has already amassed representative caps through school and club competitions. 

In addition to playing in the Cricket Far North ladies’ competition for Innisfail, Hunter is part of the Atherton Cricket Club’s senior third grade side. 

From 2017 to 2020, she was part of the Northern Queensland Cricket Academy program run by Queensland Cricket. 

In 2020 she was vice captain for the Sunshine Coast Under 15 Girls, and captained the Under 15 Girls Flames team, in Brisbane. 

The JFYCD Scholarship has given young female cricketers the opportunity to develop their playing careers and further their education. Each year the Scholarship provides at least one recipient with $2,500 financial assistance, as well as $500 worth of playing equipment from Kookaburra Sport. 

The initial two scholarship holders, Charli Knott and Josie Dooley, have played for the WBBL Brisbane Heat and Queensland Fire in recent seasons, while Toowoomba’s Ruth Johnston (Ipswich/Logan) and Bundaberg’s Lucy Hamilton (Sunshine Coast) have impressed in this year’s Katherine Raymont Shield in the Queensland Premier Cricket competition.

Previous recipients of the Jodie Fields Youth Cricket Development Scholarship include: 

- Josie Dooley (Brisbane – 2015/16)

-Renee Irvine (Wondall – 2016/17)

     - Ruth Johnston (Toowoomba – 2017/18) 

-Stacy Rockliff (Townsville – 2018/19) 

-Bonnie Berry (Mackay – 2019/20) 

-Lucy Hamilton (Bundaberg – 2019/20) 

 

KOOKABURRA & FAIRBREAK GLOBAL ALLIANCE PARTERNSHIP SUPPORTS GENDER EQUALITY


Fairbreak Global and Kookaburra have formed a partnership bringing together the leader in world cricket with Fairbreak’s focus on advancing gender equality in leadership and performance roles.

The partnership has seen Kookaburra balls and equipment used in Fairbreak’s global cricket competitions and academies, giving female players from developing cricket countries the chance to play and compete at the elite level with the best equipment.

Team Kookaburra player and Australian star Rachael Haynes is an ambassador for the partnership.When asked to comment about the partnership, Haynes said:

“Kookaburra had led the industry in its sponsorship of elite female players in Australia and around the globe and has been a leader in instituting gender-neutral sizes for grassroots cricket to make the cricket experience more inclusive for young girls. I’m a big supporter of the Fairbreak concept so it's great that Kookaburra can now extend its support of female cricket to the emerging cricket nations via Fairbreak’s programs.” .
 

Fairbreak Global founder Shaun Martyn shared Haynes convictions:



 "Having the most recognizable brand in world cricket partnering with us is a powerful statement from Kookaburra about their commitment to gender equality. There is much work to do in this space. Kookaburra shares our values and desire to see all areas of cricket prosper with gender no barrier to opportunity or equality.”

 

NETHERLANDS WOMEN'S STAR PLAYER JOINS TEAM KOOKABURRA


One of the brightest young stars of associate cricket from the Netherlands’, Sterre Kalis, has joined Team Kookaburra as part of Kookaburra’s partnership with Fairbreak.

The 20 year-old opening bat played her first game for her country when she was just 14 years old and is now universally recognised as one of the most talented cricketers outside of the top flight of world cricket.

For one still so young in the game Kalis’ experience is vast. She has spent time playing in England since she was 16 and currently plays for Essex. She has also perfected her craft the previous two summers spending the northern winter in Australia playing club cricket, this summer playing for Prahran in Melbourne.

In addition to being part of the Netherlands team for World T20 qualifiers, she has also spent time training with WBBL teams when in Australia. But perhaps more importantly has been her involvement with Fairbreak, an organisation that aims to help give talented female cricketers from associate countries a chance to shine on the international stage. 


Kalis explained the benefits she received from playing in Fairbreak tournaments:

“Fairbreak is a really good initiative for people like me from development nations. “Fairbreak has helped me a lot, it’s given me the exposure and I’ve played against elite payers all over the world.”

“Through the partnership between Fairbreak and Kookaburra, I’ve now joined Team Kookaburra.”

The signing of Kalis is one of the fruits of that partnership, bringing one of the most promising players in the world to the attention of the world’s leading cricket brand.

Kalis played for Fairbreak in the UK in July against Kent, the Sir Paul Getty XI and the MCC. Her teammates included Australian Alex Blackwell and Sana Mir from Pakistan, part of a squad of 14 players from 10 countries.

Kalis has become the first Netherlands women’s cricketer to be a Kookaburra player and will use the Ghost bat with an orange grip as a nod to her homeland.

 

KOOKABURRA SUPPORTS GIRLS WITH ACCESS TO CRICKET KITS


Kookaburra have joined forces with Toyota and Cricket Australia in their partnership to help out 100 community cricket clubs across the country. Many Cricket clubs teams do not have access to necessary gear to support the growing participation of girls playing cricket.

Kookaburra have created the Good for Cricket kits featuring pads, bats, balls, gloves and helmets have been designed to give girls a better chance at success on the pitch and further extends Toyota’s support for community cricket.

Chief Executive Officer of Cricket Australia, Kevin Roberts said:

“The number of females participating in community cricket has grown significantly over the last season, with 873 new female teams joining competitions around the country.

“We’re delighted that partners like Toyota are invested in our vision to make cricket the leading sport for women and girls in Australia.

“Females now make up 30 per cent of all cricketers in Australia and these kits will create greater opportunities to ensure we’re setting girls up for success in the formative stages of their cricketing journey.”

Chief Marketing Officer of Toyota Australia, Wayne Gabriel said:

“Toyota has long been a supporter of grassroots cricket through its Good for Cricket raffle that has raised over $2.9 million for clubs since 2012, and through the donation of the kits, we hope to encourage even more girls to get involved.

“Our annual Good for Cricket raffle has helped thousands of community cricket clubs across the country but one of the things we have found is that the girls sometimes lacked the confidence to continue to develop their cricket skills, despite their passion for the game.

“Part of that came from often having to use inappropriate or oversized equipment so this is a step towards helping address gender equality in cricket and inspire the next generation of Australian women’s test champions.”

The first Kookaburra Good for Cricket Kit was handed over to the Le Page Park Cricket Club at an event at Melbourne’s iconic CitiPower Centre with two of Australia’s top female cricketers and Team Kooka players – Rachael Haynes and Megan Schutt.

Of the initiative to give Kookaburra kits to girls teams, Rachael Haynes said:

 “I know how hard it was for girls to remain committed to pursuing their dreams in cricket and these kits will help the girls of today gain the confidence they need to improve and succeed.

“When I first started playing for the North Balwyn Under 12s, I was playing against predominantly boys and the majority of our gear was handed down from older players.

“But our success at an international level and the ever-increasing participation of girls in community cricket shows girls with a passion for the sport can be involved at all levels of the game.

“Anything we can do to further that, like the donation of these kits to clubs, is a good thing for women and the communities that rally around their cricket clubs.”

<a class="homepage-button" data-cke-saved-href="https://www.toyota.com.au/community/partnerships/cricket" href="https://www.toyota.com.au/community/partnerships/cricket" style="text-align: center; font-family: monospace; font-size: small; rel=" nofollow"="">TOYOTA GOOD FOR CRICKET





 

 

 

KOOKABURRA LEADS THE ADOPTION OF GENDER NEUTRAL SIZING


Kookaburra changed all its sizing to ‘Adults’ and ‘Juniors’ in 2017 to better reflect the growing female participation in cricket and break this anachronism. Before 2017 all cricket equipment used a convention of ‘Boys’ and ‘Mens’ for sizing, so Kookaburra were leaders in adopting gender-neutral sizing.

We understand young Queensland cricketer Olivia has seen some old stock that has old sizing. Regardless, her letter shows how crucial these changes were to reduce the barriers for girls to play cricket. It’s another reason why we proudly sponsor so many female players in Australia.

This includes Australian squad players Alyssa Healy, Nicole Bolton, Megan Schutt, Rachael Haynes,Tayla Vlaeminck and many more at WBBL level and junior levels. They feature prominently on all of our social media platforms.

We also work with these stars of the game to better tailor equipment to women’s needs.

The great outcome from Olivia’s letter is the support she has received from around the globe that hopefully furthers her passion for the game.

 

For more information please contact:

David Orchard
General Manager - GTM
Kookaburra Sport
[email protected]

 

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