Glamorgan County Cricket Club are delighted to announce a partnership with Admiral as it prepares to start the professionalisation of the Women’s game in Wales.
With Admiral as official partner, the Club will launch a new Player Pathway, to accelerate the development of the Glamorgan Women’s Tier 1 Pathway in November ahead of the ECB funded elements which will be in place from 2025.
Admiral’s over-riding objective is to support more women into work. The company aims to use the partnership as a vehicle to effectively support women in overcoming the barriers they face in the labour market and to help them to achieve meaningful and rewarding careers. Sport enhances transferable soft skills like confidence, resilience and strategic thinking that create more rounded and employable individuals. Together Admiral and Glamorgan will create a programme for the Player Pathway participants that ensures they’re well set for a career in or out of the sport.
The aim of the partnership will be to inspire girls and showcase what’s possible, encouraging them to believe that all of their career ambitions are achievable – the rapid professionalisation of the women’s game being a perfect example of this.
Michelle Leavesley, Chief Sustainability Officer from Admiral said: “We’re delighted to partner with Glamorgan County Cricket Club at such an exciting time for the Club and for Women’s Cricket in Wales.
“Admiral is recognised as a Great Place to Work due, in part, to our focus on creating an inclusive workplace for all. Our aim with this partnership is to use Women’s cricket as the vehicle to drive more people in Wales to find meaningful employment in the sectors they feel passionately about irrespective of their background or gender. Women’s cricket’s rapid growth makes it a good model for other traditionally male dominated industries to follow.
“In line with our commitment to help more people to look after their future, we will be working with the Glamorgan Women’s players to inspire and create role models to show women and girls there are genuine career options for them in any industry.”
Glamorgan Women will initially be competing in Tier 2 competitions from 2025 but will become a Tier 1 team in 2027.
To prepare for this, Glamorgan are working closely with Wiltshire Cricket on a girls’ talent pathway partnership that will begin this winter. This means that the Glamorgan Emerging Players Pathway Programme will feature Glamorgan and Wiltshire players.
The 2025 Glamorgan Women’s Emerging Player Programme players will be:
Alexandra Williams, Glamorgan
Carys Jenkins, Glamorgan
Carys Shah, Wiltshire
Elise Haines, Wiltshire
Elizabeth Cox, Glamorgan
Esther Woolley, Glamorgan
Gwennan Walters, Glamorgan
Imogen Smart, Glamorgan
Isabel Harrington, Glamorgan
Isobel Thorndike, Glamorgan
Izzy Jones, Glamorgan
Jemima Carroll, Wiltshire
Katy Gwilliam, Wiltshire
Lauren Adams, Wiltshire
Lily Weeden, Wiltshire
Maria Sheehan, Glamorgan
Mollie Richards, Glamorgan
Mullai Chandramohan, Glamorgan
Rosemary Elias, Glamorgan
Sophie Gaiger, Wiltshire
Sophie Williams, Glamorgan
Tess Jackson, Glamorgan
The Emerging Player Programme is a programme that sits above county age group cricket, providing specialist coaching along with support services such as strength and conditioning, sports psychology and much more. The new Emerging Players Pathway programme will be based in Wales and Wiltshire under the direction and guidance of Glamorgan County Cricket Club but using a combination of coaches from both clubs.
Aimee Rees, Glamorgan Head of Women and Girls Cricket said: “There has never been a better time to be a female cricketer in Wales. These exciting new developments will allow Glamorgan to give young girls the opportunity to realise their dreams to be professional cricketers representing the only first class county in Wales.
“I would like to thank Admiral for their support which enables us to not only make the Glamorgan County Cricket Player Pathway free for all players including free coaching, training sessions, playing shirt and cap, with no cost to play in all fixtures, but will also show the players that all of their career ambitions are possible and that they can overcome any barriers even in historically male dominated industries.
“We are also really pleased to be working with Wiltshire Cricket who have a number of very talented cricketers. I am confident that the new structure will allow young girls across Glamorgan and Wiltshire to access an elite pathway and help them develop to be professional cricketers.”
Mark Wallace, Glamorgan Director of Cricket added: “This is such an exciting time for Glamorgan as a Club to be planning towards a fully professional Women’s team in 2027.
“We would like to thank Admiral for their sponsorship and I would like to thank Aimee for all of the hard work she has put into Women’s Cricket in Wales for over 22 years.
“Her dedication to the sport has already inspired many players and she is the obvious choice to be the new Glamorgan Head of Women and Girls Cricket.
“I’m delighted that Aimee will be leading us towards our aim of making cricket the leading women’s sport in Wales.”
Ed Rice, Head of Commercial said: “I'm really excited to welcome Admiral to the Glamorgan Cricket family. They're a massive brand who share our mission to provide more opportunities for women.
“I know we're going to do some special things together to drive change, open doors and get more people into meaningful employment, both in and out of cricket.”