Gippsland is set to host the world's best female cricketers during the 2026 Commonwealth Games, with women's T20 cricket set to be played at Moe.
The Australian women will be defending the title they claimed earlier this year when both the T20 format and women's cricket made their debut in the Games in Birmingham.
The popularity of the women's game is on the rise: In 2020 86,000 people watched the Australian side win the T20 World Cup at the MCG.
At a local level, the second season of the Latrobe Valley and District Cricket Association's women's competition will start later this month with eight teams, up from six last year.
Sarah Prime captains the Mirboo North team and is also the competition's representative on the board.
She says the Commonwealth Games will show young girls that professional cricket is a possibility.
"The women's game is just growing and growing and I just love that our girls, our women, our young teens [of] all ages can get down there and see it and see themselves," she said.
"If you can see it, you can be it … you can place yourself there and that drives you.
"If you can't, it's really hard to see where you fit in."
Gippslanders will be hoping to see two homegrown talent taking to the field at Ted Summerton Reserve in Moe with Bairnsdale's Sophie Molineux and Traralgon's Nicole Faltum.
It's one of two venues where women's T20 cricket will be played in 2026, with the second yet to be announced.
Shooting and parashooting, badminton, rugby sevens and road cycling will also be held in the Gippsland region.
'Lasting legacy'
The location of the athletes' village in nearby Morwell has also been revealed, with design work to be done in consultation with the local community and traditional owners.
"We're going to be working really hard [to make sure] that accommodation will not only be useful for the few weeks that it's going to be used for the Commonwealth Games, but for 20 years plus past that," Minister for Commonwealth Games Legacy Shaun Leane said.
Latrobe City Mayor Kellie O'Callaghan said the village would be a "valuable legacy" of the games.
"It will provide us with opportunities for affordable housing, for pathways for further participation in social housing, and also ageing in place, which is very important in our local community as well," she said.
"We can't underestimate the impact that this will have for our community."
