WOMEN’S CRICKET
Women’s cricket in Peru has developed at a slightly slower rate than that of the men, but in spite of this, Cricket Peru has made it their focus over the years to promote equality in sport, championing female participation in Peru.
Trying to grow a traditionally male sport in a Latin-American country is a challenge that demands patience in its undertaking. In the past years, women’s cricket has begun to prosper with more and more female participation within Cricket Peru’s outreach development programs.
In the past, the main females playing cricket here were British expats, but through perseverance Cricket Peru has managed to raise Peruvian female participation consistently since 2014.
Many young Peruvian girls and women have been attracted to Cricket Peru’s free initiatives all over Lima, so as a result, in July of 2018 a program was launched to help unify the female participation in Peru and to create an environment to help it prosper even more.
This program is called CRICKET PARA MUJERES/CRICKET FOR WOMEN, which has helped Cricket Peru to begin the important process of creating a women’s cricket pathway for Peruvian females of all ages while also creating a strong base to choose from for the national team.
The national team is LAS VICUÑAS. The national team competes in the Women’s South American Cricket Championships every year against Chile, Argentina and Brazil and now Mexico.
This year the tournament will be held in Lima and in a historic first, the Vicuñas will be playing an ICC Official Peruvian team in the championship.
In the past, many of the Peruvian girls were not able to afford the trip over to the championships in Brazil and Argentina to represent their country, and as Cricket Peru is a non-profit organization it couldn’t afford to pay for all flights. This year, with the championship being in Lima, it is the first opportunity since Cricket Peru last hosted in 2014, to showcase the Peruvian female development of the past 5 years.
Cricket Peru strives to promote the equality of women in sport and we will continue to support equal participation and empower young Peruvian girls to push down the outdated stereotypes they can be faced with.