Sport
23 August, 2023
Melbourne Renegades on the road
MORTLAKE College students honed their skills with a visit from the Melbourne Renegades cricket team this week.
MORTLAKE College students honed their skills with a visit from the Melbourne Renegades cricket team this week.
Star cricketers Poppy Gardner and Sophie Molineux were among the players to visit the region as part of the 2023 Renegades Regional Roadshow, which included stops in Mortlake, Camperdown, Cobden and Warrnambool.
Students had the opportunity to ask questions and hear from the players before heading outside for a skills challenge with soft cricket balls they could later get autographed.
Molineux said it was “awesome” to be back out on the road meeting regional students.
“Last year was the first year back after not being able to do the roadshow during COVID, and we absolutely loved it,” she said.
“We loved being able to connect with all our fans, and hopefully get some new ones on the way, but it’s great to see kids with the bat and ball in their hands.”
Gardner said she hoped the Renegades Regional Roadshow, which forms part of National Play Cricket Week, would help encourage kids to get involved in the game.
“It’s important for the growth of the game and community cricket to get more participation numbers in the local teams,” she said.
“Coming to schools is a big part of opening up that pathway for students.”
Molineux, a close friend of team mate and Mortlake export Georgia Wareham, said she was excited to see the growth of the women’s game in the south west as the Mortlake Cricket Club prepares to field a women’s team in Warrnambool and District Cricket Association this coming season.
“Georgia played for Mortlake, and probably five or six years since she was back playing here there’s a women’s team; it’s so cool,” she said.
“I think there’s a lot of young girls who would look up to Georgia and now they have great opportunities to play in a girls’ team.
“It’s amazing, really.
“The pathways are clearer than ever for young girls; you wind back the clock not that long ago and we were playing boys cricket, but now there’s girls cricket and so many opportunities for girls to be comfortable with their local club.”
Melbourne Renegades general manager James Rosengarten said visiting regional Victoria was an important opportunity for the team to inspire the next generation of cricketers.
“The Renegades Regional Roadshow is a program that’s really important to our club and we’re again looking forward to connecting with communities across our regional heartland,” she said.
“For us, it’s about inspiring the next generation of cricketers and there’s no better way to do that than by having our BBL and WBBL players out in the community.
“We have more than 40 school and community visits planned across the three days, so we’re trying to have a big impact in a short period of time and connect with as many people as we can.”
