Essex Cricket women's team launched with Rebels stars

Leading lights of the cricket world toasted the launch of the new University of Essex-backed professional women’s team.

The collaboration between Essex Cricket and the University was launched last week in The Stratford Hotel, London, at a packed celebration.

The Essex Rebels women’s basketball and volleyball sides will work with the Chelmsford-based county side for the groundbreaking partnership.

The newly formed elite team will use the Colchester Campus as a training base, which they visited for the first time two weeks ago.

And the Rebels will share knowledge gained over seven years of professionalism, boosting women’s sports across the county.

Rebels captain and GB international Claire Paxton praised the collaboration.

The 6ft2in forward said: “This is a cool opportunity for us to celebrate women’s sport and women’s professional sport in Essex.

“We’re really looking forward to this partnership and cheering on the Essex women’s cricket team over the summer.”

Senior leaders from the University and the cricket side hosted the showpiece event, which was sponsored by Tees.

As part of the event, a panel of players spoke about the power of women’s sport and how it has changed their lives.

Former Rebels star Suné Swart, an integral part of the team that smashed the British home attendance record, reflected on her time at Essex and how the lessons learnt on the court fuelled her high-flying career at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

She was joined by Essex Cricket’s Jo Gardner who shared her excitement about the collaboration, the team’s Performance Director Danni Warren, and Ellie Sadler of London Pulse, an affiliate club to the partnership.

The quartet shared insights into their journeys as elite athletes and their experiences in professional sport with Olympian and Essex Cricket in the Community Chair, Rachel Lewis who hosted the discussion.

Jo Gardner said: “This new partnership is wicked and to have an event like this to launch Essex Cricket is massive.

“It’s brilliant to partner with the university and have that experience from the volleyball and basketball girls who utilise that facility at the moment.
“I’m super excited.”

We Are Essex

Essex Cricket General Manager, Dan Feist, added: “We are incredibly proud to officially launch our new Tier One Professional Women’s Team, which marks a monumental step forward for Essex Cricket and women’s sport across our region.

“The ‘We Are Essex’ partnership we have established is not only about raising the competitive level of women’s sport in Essex and wider region but also about creating an environment where young talent can see clear pathways to a professional future in sport.

“Through our partnership with the University of Essex and Essex Rebels, we’re building a strong foundation for talent development and elite performance, as well engaging with new supporters and expanding the fanbases across all three sports.

“The event highlighted that vision, and we’re thrilled to share it with our community, partners and businesses who will be essential in achieving our objective of being the number one region for women’s sport.

“Together, we’re paving the way for the next generation of female athletes in Essex.”