On the Taieri, sisters are doin' it for themselves.
An abundance of junior cricketers has led to the formation of Taieri Junior Cricket Club's first all-girl team.
''These girls, the bulk of them, it's their first year of cricket,'' Taieri Sparkles coach Ian Day said.
''We are going right back to the basics of how to keep your arm straight when you bowl and how to hold the cricket ball. But I'm loving it and you can see the improvements week on week.''
The Sparkles are competing in section three of Dunedin's junior cricket competition.
The team was the junior club's - and possibly Dunedin junior cricket's - first all-girl team, he said.
Mr Day said the team had the ability to smash expectations out of the park and bowl over some male competitors.
''I think we will surprise a couple of sides once they get going,'' he said.
''At practice this week, there was some very strong hitting getting done.''
The team had been particularly easy to coach because of its players' enthusiasm.
''They run to practice because they can't wait to get there. If practice runs 20 minutes over, they don't care because they love it,'' he said.
''It's something different, it's something new and it's all girls so they are all equals.''
Mr Day has coached junior cricket for seven years, up to premier grade, and was ready to give it up this year until he was lured back by an influence close to home.
''My daughter came up the hallway in her brother's cricket gear and said, `There's an all girls team, can I play in it?'.''
Keen to oblige and help the team out, he agreed to coach, thinking ''it would be a hell of a lot of fun''.
So far, his assumptions had proven true and the parents of the team's players were pitching in to help the girls learn as fast as possible and to make coaching duty as easy as possible.
''The parents realise it's something special as well and they are very willing to help,'' he said.
''It's a very family-like atmosphere; we are just all one big family.''
The team lost its first game by about 50 runs, but took three wickets in the process and showed signs of improvement.
''For their first ever game, they did very well,'' Mr Day said.
By the end of the season, he was picking the Sparkles to shine.
