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Horspath Women & Girls' Softball Festival a smash hit

27 Jun 2026

Horspath's Women & Girls' Softball Festival proved a big success with more than 80 players enjoying a fun competition on a warm sunny day at the Recreation Ground.
Run in conjunction with Oxfordshire Cricket with the aim of also promoting the ICC Women's T20 World Cup currently taking place in the UK, the day opened with a Girls' match featuring teams from Horspath and Didcot.
This was followed by nine clubs playing eight-a-side matches in the Women's Festival watched by a good-sized crowd. 
Cumnor won Group 1, which also included Horspath, Abingdon Vale, Aston Rowant and Oxford, while Didcot topped Group 2 consisting of East & West Hendred, Watlington and Wolvercote.
Due to the heat it was agreed to stage a bowl off, instead of playing a final, which ended in a tie leaving Didcot and Cumnor as joint winners and taking home their respective group trophies.
With thanks to MetroBank, the Festival also featured a Coaches Networking event and an Ignite Umpiring Essentials training session for volunteers.
The coaching event was for coaches of girls' cricket and anyone coaching larger numbers at clubs or schools wanting to gain some development in their ability to coach groups.
The umpiring session was for volunteers, parents, teachers or anyone wanting to learn about umpiring, so that they are able to help officiate games at their clubs or schools or those who wished to further develop their knowledge and understanding of cricket.
It involved attending a workshop with an accredited umpire, Ian Royle, who ran through the basics of umpiring from signals to help individuals gain confidence in officiating a match, before they stood as as assistant umpire during the festival.
Thanks go to Horspath's Director of Women's Cricket Munaza Dogar and Oxfordshire Cricket's Women & Girls' Officer Dylan Swanepoel for organising the day.
They were assisted by a large team featuring Horspath members of Oxfordshire Cricket's Future Leaders Academy and club volunteers who helped umpire and score.
These included Jimmy and Zach Rayner, Jim Bull, Rabiya, Saif and Rayaan Dogar, Archie Lewins, Rayan and Josh Puliyadi and Ben Wise.
Fasih Dogar did a fabulous job on the BBQ and the scout hut had never looked so clean thanks to Caroline Rayner and Kathryn Lewis!
Special mention also to Jake Rayner, the photographer on the day, and thanks to David Ward and the grounds team for preparing the pitches.