January 2022 saw the return of the Devon Women's Indoor winter league, after the cancellation of the event last winter due to Covid. It was thanks to the hard work of Kirsty Hambley, the secretary of the Devon Women's League that tournament ran so smoothly and was enjoyed by all. 

This year there were entries from 12 teams across 2 divisions, one in Plymouth and one in Exeter. The Women's League were really pleased to see a greater mix of teams this year, with entries not only from the established league hardball teams, but also from both unversities and for the frst time a softball team, looking to develop and build their gameplay ahead of the summer. This softball team was Exmouth, a club who only started their women's section this 2021 season and were a little daunted when they turned up to their first game. However, despite losing every game, their team manager commented on how much the team enjoyed the experience and how much they had learnt. He also said they would definitely be back next year to enter the tournament again. What great team spirit. 

The Exeter division hosted the majority of the teams and they were split into two pools. Pool One was dominated by Taunton Deane, only losing one game and Pool Two dominated by Exeter University One, winning all their played games. 5th March was play-off day and these two teams played it out to see who would be Champions. It was a really close game and up to the final over, it looked like Exeter University were going to take the win, but the loss of two wickets in he last over, saw them finally lose the game by 9 runs and Tanton Deane were the Champions! 

 

Champions: Taunton Deane

 

The Plymouth division contained four teams who played each other over the weeks. The round leading up to the play offs saw Plympton striding ahead with points and not losing any of their played games. It was unfortunate that due to a clash in events that Plympton were unable to attend the finals play offs and take their place as Champions. Plympton's loss was Cornwood's gain, as on the play off day they won both their games against Ipplepen and Plymouth University and were therefore crowned Champions! Congratulations! 

The league would like to thank the team members of Exeter University who helped to run, set up and umpire the Exeter League at West Exe school - their time and efforts were greatly appreciated. As were the team managers and volunteers who took up these roles at Eggbuckland in Plymouth. The indoor season was a great success thanks to all and we look forward to the return in 2023. 

If you would like to see a full run down of the games and results, then please click here. Or if you would like to get involved in running the indoor tournament next season, then please contact Kirsty Hambley