New Hall School girls' participation increases by staggering 200 per cent

Head of cricket, Matilda Callaghan, oversaw exponential growth in both boys' and girls' participation levels in her first year at the helm

Having made history by becoming the first woman to play in the top tier of the Surrey Championship, Matilda Callaghan – the New Hall School head of cricket - is no stranger to making an impact.

And Callaghan, who is in her second year in the role, is planning on building big things at New Hall in the future.

"We're honoured to be selected as one of the top senior schools and really pleased with how far we have taken the school in one year, and excited to see how much further we can go with it," she said.

^{Callaghan inherited an inexperienced 1st XI due to Covid, but has been impressed with their level [supplied]}

"We've increased girls' participation by over 200 per cent and overall participation for boys has also increased. We have also introduced our new academy system, with both junior and senior academies running throughout winter with trials for both boys and girls.

"This has really helped with the girls' programme in particular, who have acted as role models for the girls wanting to aspire to be like their peers. They have set the standards for the girls players and have made cricket cool here at New Hall. We even got the girls involved in creating a design for the new kit, which was a unique opportunity and helped them take on board ownership and responsibility."

Callaghan was initially apprehensive about the tender age of the senior team she inherited in September 2021, with most players having been fast-tracked to the 1st XI due to Covid.

^{Callaghan made history in becoming the first woman to play in the top tier of the Surrey Championship [supplied]}

She said: "Some of the boys were really young having not played competitive cricket since they were in year seven or eight, but I was really surprised with how well they fared over the season. Our cricket pro is Nasser Hussain or, 'Mr H', as the players refer to him, who said they are the best team he has ever seen on or off the field in terms of their fielding and team spirit."

Not only do the school have Hussain as their visiting cricket pro, they have also recruited Ravi Bopara to the ranks in a similar role.

The players at New Hall have inspiration all around.

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