It was great to welcome back alumna Kira Chathli (Class of 2017), the professional cricketer for Surrey and South East Stars, to meet and coach our girls’ team. Girls’ cricket has been increasingly popular at Trinity, with this year’s team recently making school history by progressing in The Cricket Paper National Girls U18 100 Ball Cup.
Kira visited us last year to give a coaching session to our girls for International Women’s Day and it was so well received by the students, and their performance improved so much, that we were keen to welcome her back.
Despite our Sixth Form having their Sports Day in the afternoon, nine Lower Sixth girls stayed after school to participate in the session – and really valued hearing and learning from a professional!
Kira was on the Surrey County Cricket pathway since the age of nine, making her debut at 14 years old, and has played 45 times for the South East Stars. She was part of the Oval Invincibles side that won the Hundred in 2022; this year she will represent the Trent Rockets and has signed for Surrey for the 2025 season. Kira holds the ECB Level Two coaching qualification and set up her own coaching company called Next Level Cricket Academy.
Lower Sixth student Emily said, “My favourite part was one-on-one coaching with Kira in small groups. I did learn something new. I learnt how to hold my bat properly and effectively, and where to place the ball when I hit it. I think it will really improve my batting skills and technique for the future. And teamwork skills working together to improve our performance. I would highly recommend a session with Kira as it really improved my batting skills, and it was a very fun to experience with my teammates.”
Tabi said, “I really enjoyed the one-on-one coaching too; it surprised me to hold my bat facing the field rather than face down. I think it has improved me and my whole team’s cricket performance as I feel as though my team is much more confident in their batting, and their technique.”
Thanks to Kira for giving her time to the Trinity Girls’ Cricket team in Croydon!
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