We’re super excited to see that four all girls’ sides have been submit into this year’s Rookies Cup tournament.
Manly, Ryde, Cronulla, and Plumpton (Greater Western) have all submit teams for this year’s Rookies tournament, which shows some amazing steps forward in growing the women’s and girls’ game!
The Manly Diamonds and Cronulla Blue sides have also been preparing for competition with some scrimmage games in the lead up to the tournament. Manly Warringah reps have said “We were very fortunate that Cronulla sent their all-girls Rookies team to play us in a six-inning game. All the players and parents had a great time, and it was played in the best spirit.”
We recently spoke to Manly Junior Representative Co-Ordinator, Darren Kelly, to discuss what the diamonds team means to the association. He noted that since taking over the junior representative program, alongside Stuart Hanrahan, they have wanted to have an all-girls Rookies side, and “finally being able to achieve [this] has brought a great feel to the program. Seeing how happy the girls and their parents are makes it even more important to keep growing girls playing baseball”
Junior athlete, Jocelyn Page, will be involved in coaching the Manly Diamonds team this year, and as one of the first female representative of the club, is a great role model for the young girls. It’s great to see young players taking on these roles to help develop the next generation.
We wish all the teams competing in the Rookies Cup the best of luck at this years tournament and we can’t wait to watch the game continue to grow!