A Passion for Cricket. A Passion for North Wales: An Interview with Sue Wells

Tell us what you think of this episode In this episode we talk to Sue Wells, Area Manager for Cricket Wales North. Her Cricket Wales biography can be found here: https://cricketwales.org.uk/our-team/sue-wells Sue tells us about her early life in Shropshire and the farming family she was born into. She remembers never being without sport in her life and her first love was kicking a ball. She joined her first team aged 7 or 8 and joined her first organised club, Wem Town. Sue talks about her football career, winning a national football competition with Shropshire Girls football, even though she missed a penalty in the final! She had an England trial at aged under 16 and has played for a couple of welsh clubs. Her biggest regret, other than being injured early in her career, wa snever having the opportunity to play for Wrexham. Sports development came on top of Sue's commitment as a coach and referee. It was at University that she discovered Sports Science and then that sports development was an option. She completed a Masters Degree in sports development researching women and girls football and through that she got offered her first opportunity working as a Girls and Womens development officer for Suffolk Football Association. Sue tells us a little bit about her work in Suffolk and her achievements which includesd re-organising a league and raising the profile of the womens game in that part of the UK. She also talks about her links with the University of Chester and the lecturing role she performed there. Sue came to Cricket Wales in 2016 but she has always loved watching the game. She mentions the 2005 Ashes as a major influence on her love of the game. She outlines the patch she covers in her job and the team that she leads. She then outlines the roles that she has responsibility for you as a Cricket Wales Area Manager: Coach Education, Women & Girls’ Cricket Chance to Shine All Stars & Dynamos Supporting the club, league and volunteer network Sue confesses that she might be taking the plunge and participating in a softball cricket team this summer and then talks a little bit about funding, the partners that cricket wales has and how she works with them to deliver as many opportunities as possible to a wide range of young people. We get Sue to reflect on the similarities between different sports when it comes to sports development as well as some of the unique things about cricket and her 'patch' in North / mid wales. The growth of the women's and girls game is something that Sue is very proud of in her role as well as the growth and development in the mid wales junior cricket league which was reformed in the last couple of years. She mentions the young Ukrainian cricketer that was mention in the Chance to Shine impact report. This video captures the story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zc2NK8YmP4 Rewarding volunteers is very important to Sue and she talks about some of the ways she tries to reward them. We then talk about some of the challenges she has had in her role. Sue mentions one or two individuals who have helped her in her role. We finish with Sue talking about her hopes for the future of the game and the area she works in and a few reflections on her own role and where she might be in a few years time. To contact Sue, you can follow her on X at @suecricketwales or email her: sue.wells@cricketwales.org.uk