The Female Leadership Development Contestable Fund is one of the key initiatives in the Female Leadership Development Framework, which aims to encourage locally led activity with national support.

The contestable fund successfully commenced during the 2021-22 season, with 10 leadership development initiatives supported throughout New Zealand.

New Zealand Cricket are delighted to be supporting 14 initiatives through the Female Leadership Development Contestable Fund this cricket season.

Initiatives supported are focused on amplifying and enhancing the off-field visibility and capability of, and on championing and developing, females, across the key areas of governance, administration, umpiring and coaching.

This season there are five new initiatives, and nine initiatives that will again be supported after being previously delivered.

Young Leaders Courses:

This season will see eight ‘Young Leader’ programmes delivered across the motu, providing young female leaders with a range of development opportunities.

Cricket Wellington’s Young Leaders Course, launched during the 2020-21 cricket season, has a proven track record of providing opportunities for more women to serve in cricket leadership positions.

Over the past three seasons, 51 young women have graduated, many of whom are now active throughout Cricket Wellington’s network.

Otago Cricket Association and Canterbury Cricket Association have recently taken a collaborative approach to their ‘Young Leader’ courses, sharing planning and expertise across regions to provide the best possible development for young wāhine.

These programmes will be run in Auckland, Canterbury, Hawkes Bay, Horowhenua-Kapiti, Otago, Taranaki, Wairarapa, and Wellington.

Coaching:

Three coach-specific initiatives will be delivered in Canterbury Country, Cricket Wellington and Northern Districts this season.

These programmes aim to break down the barriers for women and girls to begin or accelerate their coaching journey, and to provide them with all the necessary skills to be successful.

Governance/Leadership:

Two Women in Leadership Forums will be delivered across the Otago and Central Districts regions this season, providing an opportunity for female leaders to connect with other current and future leaders.

Auckland Cricket will launch their ‘Better Boards, Stronger Sport’ programme for the first time, aiming to achieve more gender-balanced club cricket boards.

This aligns with NZC’s ‘Women in Governance’ project - introduced in 2017, which has seen a growth of women in governance roles across NZC, MA and DA Boards from just 11 in 2016 to 85 at the end of the 2022-23 season.   

For more information on NZC’s Female Leadership Development Contestable Fund, click here.