Little Wickets founder Chloe Williams has been named winner of the prestigious EWiF New Woman Franchisor of the Year National Award 2026, sponsored by RevPR Ltd.
The award celebrates Chloe’s work to build a values-led children’s cricket coaching franchise opportunity. It also recognises Little Wickets as a growing option for people who want to build a rewarding kids cricket business in their local community.
A Children’s Cricket Coaching Franchise Built on Confidence and Fair Play
The national award recognises Chloe’s journey from founding Little Wickets in 2011 to creating a trusted kids cricket coaching franchise opportunity.
Chloe started Little Wickets as a mum looking for fun, safe and inspiring cricket activities for young children. Today, the business is ready to grow into more communities across the UK.
Little Wickets delivers fun cricket activities for children from 2½ years upwards. Sessions help children develop confidence, physical literacy, teamwork, fair play and a lifelong love of sport. The programme is built around the Spirit of Cricket. It focuses on far more than batting, bowling and fielding. Children also build life skills through active, age-appropriate play.
About the EWiF Awards
EWiF champions and supports women across the UK franchise sector. Its annual awards recognise women from businesses of all sizes, sectors and stages of growth.
The 2026 EWiF Awards celebrated excellence in franchising. They were held in partnership with the British Franchise Association at Leicester Tigers Stadium on 20 May 2026.
Why the Judges Chose Little Wickets
The EWiF judges, who are all industry specialists, recognised the strong foundations behind the Little Wickets children’s cricket coaching franchise model. They also highlighted Chloe’s commitment to building the business in a responsible, values-led way.
The Spirit of Cricket has always sat at the heart of Little Wickets. Its values include teamwork, honesty, resilience and respect. These values shaped the business Chloe founded in 2011.
Since then, Chloe has built a financially secure and proven model. In addition, she has developed the infrastructure needed for sustainable franchise growth. Including BFA Emerging Membership, Children’s Activities Association membership, continued ICAP quality assurance, the development of comprehensive online franchise operations and coaching manuals, and a growing franchise pipeline.
The judges also recognised the successful launch of Little Wickets’ first pilot franchise in Berkshire, where sessions started in Reading in April 2025 and have since expanded into Bracknell.
A Team Achievement
Chloe Williams, Founder of Little Wickets, said:
“I’m incredibly proud and still taking this in. Little Wickets started because I wanted young children to experience cricket in a way that was fun, safe, inspiring and rooted in teamwork, respect and fair play.”
“For many years, the focus was never growth for growth’s sake. It was about getting the programme, culture, safeguarding, coaching standards and systems right.”
Chloe added:
“This award means a huge amount personally, but it is very much a Little Wickets team achievement. None of this happens without the coaches, operations team, franchise partners, schools, nurseries, venues, cricket clubs and families who help bring Little Wickets to life year-round.”
Creating Opportunities through Cricket
The award also reflects Little Wickets’ wider impact beyond weekly children’s cricket sessions. The business has created development routes for coaches, new cricketing opportunities for local communities, including the new Golden Wickets programme, which brings the joy of cricket into elderly care home settings. Most importantly there are the multiple income streams for Little Wickets franchise partners.
Little Wickets’ first franchise owner, Mark Jones, praised the support he received from Chloe and the team. He described it as “consistently going above and beyond”. Mark is building his own business, but he never feels like he is doing it alone.
Inside the Little Wickets Children’s Cricket Coaching Franchise Model
The EWiF award comes at an exciting time for Little Wickets who are continuing to speak with values-led people who are interested in launching their own children’s activity franchise.
The Little Wickets children’s cricket coaching franchise model includes several income streams. These include term-time sessions, schools, nurseries, holiday camps, community partnerships and links with local cricket clubs. This gives franchise partners the chance to build a flexible, community-focused business, supported by a proven programme and the day-to-day backing of the UK-based HQ team
Chloe continued:
“We are looking for like-minded people who care about children, community, quality coaching and building something meaningful. Franchising allows us to create more opportunities for children, coaches and local business owners. It also helps us keep fair play, fun and integrity at the heart of everything we do.”
Explore Children’s Cricket Coaching Franchising
Little Wickets is now inviting prospective franchise partners to learn more about joining its growing kids and toddler cricket coaching franchise network.
Whether you are exploring a career change, looking for a children’s sports franchise opportunity, or want to build a purpose-led business in your local community, Little Wickets offers a proven programme, strong operational support and a values-led brand.
To find out whether Little Wickets could be the right franchise opportunity for you:
Download the Franchise Prospectus
or
Book a Discovery Call
We look forward to sharing the future of kids & toddlers cricket coaching with you!