Story by Tafara Chikumira
MARONDERA’s Wise Owl Group of Schools emerged as the overall winners of the inaugural Midlands Girls Cricket Tournament, held in Gweru over the weekend.
The tournament, hosted at Midlands Christian College, was a celebration of young female talent, as cricket enthusiasts enjoyed some exciting moments while the girl child showcased her skills in a thrilling cricket extravaganza.
In a captivating final, Wise Owl proved their prowess by defeating Gweru’s Chaplin High School to claim the championship.
Zimbabwe Cricket’s Under-19 Women’s Cricket Team Head Coach, Trevor Garwe, expressed his satisfaction with the level of competition, commending the teams for their impressive performances.
“It is good to see girls undertaking cricket and schools supporting this development programme. I am impressed by the number of girls playing and the standard of cricket being displayed,” he said.
“I think these are good signs for us as Zimbabwe Cricket and it is a platform for me and my technical team to scout for the next group of players to represent Zimbabwe. I think cricket is in good hands and its growing fast so I would encourage parents and other schools to keep on supporting us as it can give the children a bright future.”
Stakeholders chipped in heaping praises on Zimbabwe Cricket for coming up with a junior policy that guarantees posterity.
“This has been a successful tournament in the sense that it gave the girl child the opportunity to showcase what they have in store as far as cricket is concerned. The turnout was good but we need more participants in the future so that we get more support,” a parent said.
“What I have witnessed is that the girl child is now concentrating more on sports, which is something that we never experienced when we were growing up. So, I want to thank Zim Cricket for encouraging the girl child to come out and shine on the cricket front. Cricket was not popular amongst girls in Zimbabwe, we are thankful for the development we have witnessed here. It is quite a milestone indeed,” another parent said.
Zimbabwe Cricket is now focused on strengthening junior development with a view to make cricket the most followed sport in the country.
