Why Sara wants to see female sport grow in Ballarat

"There's a senior women's competition, which is growing already," she said.

"I want to see that getting bigger and better."

A promising Australian cricketing talent, the 16-year-old has progressed from cricket tournaments with Skipton Primary School to the Mount Clear Cricket Club girls pathway squad, to the Ballarat Bolts and now to Premier Cricket at Carlton.

Sara said she thinks sport across Ballarat is heading in a great direction.

"There are lots of young kids coming though, lots of kids at my school are doing great things with aths.

"There's lots of cricket and football and I think its really good to build it from the younger age groups."

When it comes to increasing female participation in sport, Sara said it is good to see club being able to build teams for younger age groups.

She said she got into cricket participating in school programs like Woolworths Blast.

"I think that [having those programs] is really important for getting kids into sports," she said.

While at Skipton Primary School, Sara remembers a strong cricket community.

"Our school took lots of pride in its cricket," she said.

"When I was in year four we got to play on the MCG in the state school final which was awesome."

Sara has been involved in sports throughout her life, including football and cricket.

2023 has been a big year with Sara playing in 11 of 14 season games for the Melbourne Renegades.

This year she said she has been learning lots and having a good time.

"It has been great, lots of fun," she said.

"Didn't have a lot of team success, but it has been a great experience to be around it all."

This year Sara has been doing lots of travelling for sport, especially as part of the WBBL.

She said it was one of the big takeaways and lessons from her debt expense to "learn how to travel and play".

"I had to balance all that and school work together," she said.

Sara has started boarding at Clarendon in 2023 which she has been loving.

"It is closer to training and closer to Melbourne."

At the same time she has been a part of the Victorian Women's Premier League playing for Carlton Cricket Club and attending tournaments in Brisbane for the Victorian Women's team and under 19 Australian tournaments.

Also in 2023 Sara played for both the Ballarat Swans's female under 19 and 16 teams,winning the under 19 female best and fairest award for the Ballarat Football League.

Looking into next year, cricket is taking precedence but she plans to keep playing school football.

Sara said the weather has played a part in her love for the sport.

"I have just enjoyed [cricket] more, it's a lot warmer and games get called off if it starts raining rather than having to play through."

Sara said her focus for 2024 would be playing as much cricket as she can while also balancing Year 11 studies.