Namita Patel, Karen Coleman and Betty Evans were all recognised for their outstanding contribution to the sport at a glittering awards ceremony in Leicester.
At the inaugural Impact of Cricket Awards 2025, Leicestershire and Rutland Cricket Foundation managing director Namita Patel was presented with the prestigious Leading Change award for her transformational work to create a fully independent charity focused on inclusion and purpose.
“I’ve really enjoyed the challenge,” says Namita. “It’s been a steep learning curve at times, and this award recognised the journey I’ve been on.”
Namita entered her role without a background in cricket. Since then, she’s successfully set up the foundation, established governance structures, managed staff dynamics, and rebuilt team motivation.
“When I started, we had seven people. Now we’re at 15 and we’re still growing and being bold in our ambitions. But I was genuinely surprised when I won – and there’s still a huge amount more to do. We now have a four-year strategy, which we launched in October 2025, and my priority is to deliver on this.”
She adds: “Although the award recognises my leadership, I genuinely believe none of it would be possible without the team. We’ve worked hard to build trust and momentum together. Now the exciting question is: what next? Where else can we make a difference?”
At the Cricket Collective Awards 2025, Staffordshire-based Karen Coleman collected the Metro Bank Champion of Girls’ Cricket award for her dedicated efforts at Endon Cricket Club.
“I got involved the way most women start: on a Friday night watching your kids play junior cricket. Then you start doing a bit of scoring, and I joined the committee maybe four years ago. Having women on the management committee has really driven our growth in women’s and girls’ cricket. We’ve helped the committee to think differently about things, and they’ve been really willing to accept our ideas.”
In just three years, the club has developed three girls’ teams and gone from one to three women’s teams. “There’s so much community spirit,” says Karen. “If you can get the mums and girls involved, cricket becomes a family-orientated activity.”
She adds: “My dad used to play cricket. I lost him about 10 years ago, before I started playing cricket myself. He gave up cricket when he had two young girls, because clubs weren’t really family clubs at that time, and the time commitment was too much. I’d love to think that if things had been the way they are now, where we’ve got mums and dads and kids all playing, he might have stayed involved.”
For now, though, Karen’s focus is on continuing to increase the cricketing opportunities available to women and girls in her local area.
She says: “It’s so important in terms of resilience, exercise, and the connection that comes from playing a team sport. When you see the statistic that 94% of female leaders played sport in their youth, that’s huge.”
The sterling efforts of fourteen-year-old Betty Evans were also recognised with her Rising Star award.
Dorset-based Betty is heavily involved at Puddletown CC, where she plays, umpires, and volunteers – all with the aim of inspiring other girls to take up the sport. She is also an ambassador for female cricket clothing company Maiden Cricket.
Her cricket journey began when she was just six years old. “I enjoyed it because it’s fun, on a Friday night after school, to be playing with all your friends,” she says. Within a couple of years, she was playing hardball cricket and progressed to county cricket when she was still only in Year 5 at school.
Today, she regularly umpires or scores for the club’s women’s softball team or junior teams, as well as getting involved in fundraising initiatives.
“Cricket is like a big family,” says Betty. “You get lots of friends and it’s just one big community. It’s also important because it gives you team and leadership skills.”
She adds: “When you’re a teenager, it’s easy to want to quit stuff or get bored, but you’ve got to keep pushing otherwise you’ll regret it. So you learn resilience as well.”
Last year, Betty was named a Sports Leader at her school, helping to generate enthusiasm for sport among children who might not have shown any previous interest. She has also completed her Young Officials course, and played her first Saturday match with the club’s men’s side.
“I just want to keep improving and get better,” she says.
Find out more about all the winners and nominees from the Cricket Collective and Impact of Cricket awards here.
If you are looking to grow women’s and girls’ participation at your club, This Is Cricket is a new resource hub for the recreational game with practical guidance on a range of topics. Explore here.
For more information about our Metro Bank Champion of Women’s and Girls’ partnership, head here.