Editors’ Note

Raising the bat for women’s sport

Due to a sheltered youth my only experience of a girl playing cricket while growing up was when my best friend’s sister joined our u-11 team way back in the mid-1990s.

She had plenty of potential – easily the best natural athlete in our side – and may have had a future in the game were there greater opportunities for women’s cricketers at the time. Instead she went on to become a national table tennis player.

With the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand upon us this month, where the eight best teams will be competing for the Holy Grail, I am thrilled that young girls and women no longer need to seek an alternative.

The previously “Gentleman’s Game” has fully transformed and is now a viable profession for all. It’s also wildly popular and potentially lucrative with over 80 000 people filling up the MCG and a record further 53 million tuning in on their televisions to watch the last Women’s T20 World Cup final in 2020.

It excites me even more that it is our very own Proteas Women’s team that have firmly embraced this revolution and head to #CWWC2022 as one of the favourites to lift the trophy. They may be without their injured captain Dane van Niekerk, but she will no doubt be the loudest supporter back home cheering on the likes of Sune Luus, Laura Wolvaardt, Ayabonga Khaka and the rest of the team.

Furthermore, we are celebrating International Women’s Month and this edition is not just a tribute to the Proteas and all the women’s cricketers doing duty in New Zealand, but to all the sportswomen who have sacrificed so much to reach the summit of their chosen sport.

South Africa’s Olympic golden girl Tatjana Schoenmaker gives us a sneak preview of her life outside the pool in an exclusive interview, while we also profile SA Hockey star Robyn Johnson.

The challenges women face in sport and society at large are still abundant though and we encourage men to “Stand Up, Speak Up”.

We hope you enjoy this edition as much as we did putting it together.

Enjoy! Zaahier Adams