(gentle music)
- Imagine a 10-year-old girl.
It's a sunny Saturday morning,
and she's off to her first cricket match with her friends.
By 15, she's invited to a high performance academy.
But at 16, they stop inviting her.
And when she asks, they can't give her a reason why.
When she tries to sign up for cricket at school,
they tell her to play with the 14-year-old boys instead,
because it will better suit her skills.
This is a common story for female cricketers,
and it's not unlike my own.
We lose thousands of women and girls each year
to our nation's favourite sport
because of experiences like these.
The problem is, we think talent is something we can see,
a physical trait or characteristic.
But what if talent is something you can learn?
When I interviewed 20 elite female cricketers
and their coaches,
they told me a talented cricketer
is defined by their ability to adapt.
But nobody could tell me how to develop adaptability.
We search for talent instead.
We scout junior sporting fields for the next big thing.
Anyone who resembles familiar stars
like Sam Kerr or Jess Fox.
Did you know that if I bowled a cricket ball towards you
at 120 kilometres an hour,
you cannot move your eyes fast enough to see it?
And yet cricketers have no problem hitting that same ball.
So why do we rely on our eyes to see talent?
We need to stop searching for it
and start developing it instead.
I developed a tool that can measure
how well a training environment develops talent.
When I trialled it in local cricket clubs,
they struggled to meet any of the criteria,
and I really wanted to help.
So I co-designed a six-week intervention
with a women's cricket team.
Together, we set goals
and designed the right training environment
to achieve them using my tool.
We set new challenges, played in open spaces,
and asked a lot of questions
instead of telling athletes what to do.
In just six weeks, their skills improved by up to 50%.
They even played in their first grand final.
Now, I plan to develop a handbook,
so that every woman and child has the chance
to unlock their potential.
What potential would you unlock
if you were given the chance?
I hope we get to find out.
(gentle music)