In a year where COVID restricted many social and sporting activities, the turnout to the 2021 Diamond Girls Program was outstanding. We were very excited to see a lot of new faces, as well as some familiar ones, signing up to be 2021 Diamond Girls. Over the Program’s four weeks, we saw 17 girls between the ages of 12 and 17, from 6 different schools around the wider Springvale community.
The Diamond Girls’ Program was founded by Springvale Lions stalwarts, Simone Wearne and Siobhan Stephenson, with assistance from many members of the prestigious/renowned Springvale Women’s Program. The mix of leaders include the experience of past and present State and Australian representatives, Simone, Siobhan, Shae and Sinead, with the injection of youthful energy from up-and-comers such as Gabby Bevan, Maddy Patrick, Hanami Campitelli, Lily Bell-Tanner and Lili Cavanagh.
The Program itself has grown and matured since its inauguration in 2020, with a new, dynamic game, dubbed “Diamond Dash”, created to replicate the excitement and speedier elements of baseball while removing some of the slower, drawn-out parts of the game. Like many sports, inspiration for this style of game was taken from cricket’s 20/20. It worked perfectly, with the Diamond Girls participants’ all getting equal time to play, quickly picking up the skills of baseball in a fun, rapid-fire environment - and hitting an average of 10 home runs each night!
"After the initial success of the 2020 program which was cut short due to COVID, it was fantastic to have the program up and running again in its exciting new format. Although it's only the second instalment of Diamond Girls, we're really starting to build a program that we hope will be strong into the future." - Simone Wearne
The goal of Diamond Girls is twofold; to teach the physical skills of baseball as well as to create an environment where life skills such as leadership, friendship, passion and teamwork can be fostered. It was fantastic to see so many smiling faces, laughter, dancing and blossoming friendships while teaching and introducing a new generation of young women to the sport we love.
At Springvale, we have all learnt that being involved in baseball and surrounded by like-minded females in a minority sport, has allowed us to learn many things about life in general and about the challenges and opportunities that come with being a female athlete. We’ve learnt how to work hard, be resilient, fight and stand up for what we believe in, develop lifelong friendships, build leadership skills and enjoy many successes, and it has been our pleasure to pass on our collective knowledge, experience and passion to the Diamond Girls Program.
In a few short weeks, we witnessed many shy young women coming out of their shells, - and by the final week, their social, leadership and baseball skills had improved out of sight (as well as their dance moves).
Diamond Girls Scholarship!
This year we awarded a ‘Diamond Girls Scholarship’ for the first time. The award went to someone who participated in all four weeks, was energetic, had a great work ethic, and displayed core Diamond Girls values such as team work, leadership, effort and enthusiasm.
We are pleased to announce that Eliza Hunter from Killester College was our inaugural scholarship recipient!
Congratulations Eliza, we loved having you in our Diamond Girls Program and can’t wait to have you back in June! In addition, we thank all schools who supported our program this year, notably Killester College and Westall Secondary College who had several girls in attendance.
What's next?
Diamond Girls will continue this year, with a special winter program in June and a pre-summer program beginning in September. Our June program will include two special Friday night sessions that will take place indoors at the Springvale Indoor Centre, located just a couple of minutes from the club. The two sessions are open to any girls aged between 12 and 18, and will provide an opportunity to have a go at more baseball specific skills and fun baseball themed games.
To register for our free two weeks program on Friday June 18th and Friday June 25th, please click here.
Thanks to Days in the Sun Photography for all images.