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Austin South Asian | October 2020
Youth Cricket in Austin
By Gulshan Singh Cricket is the second most popular sport in the world. However, it has
popularity. “Should I have a full-length cricket pitch in my backyard during the
not been among the major sports in the US. Recently, with more immigrant families from cricket playing countries, it has been gaining
pandemi¬¬¬¬c?” an enthusiastic parent of Indian origin asked. Another Sri Lankan parent shared his dilemma of how much time his
twin sons should spend on drills and how much on playing a cricket game. Many other such eager parents in Austin have sought guidance to support their kids playing cricket even during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Greater Austin area, many young students have taken up cricket. Alok Singh, Sundeep Chadha, Santosh Pogaru and Amit Shukla have been instrumental in developing this from the ground up. Alok Singh is also a Youth Coordinator at USA Cricket that governs cricket across the country. He explains the surging interest in playing cricket: “2019 Cricket
Senate Hopeful Mj Hegar’s
(Continued From Page 01) “The fact that we gutted the State Department has caused a childlike approach to foreign policy by this administration,” she added. When asked how she would balance interests of her constituents with the corporate world, she said, “I don’t think we need to balance it at all.” “I would pay attention to corrupting influence of wealthy corporate world. If they are bringing jobs, I’ll have the conversation,” Hegar added. When talking about gun violence and open carry she said, “I was the first person running for office calling for an end to open carry. It is an assault on by standers. Gun violence is a big threat to Second Amendment. We have responsible gun owners crying for universal background check.” “Having used weapons of war and being shot with one, I can tell you military weapons of mass casualty should not be sold.
When we stopped selling them, violence went down,” Hegar went on while showing support for universal background checks. Attendees commented about Hegar’s openness and clear thinking. Hegar did not hide her emotions when asked about the death of Supreme Court Justice Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg and its effect on the future. “It is a gut punch. I am devastated. When the affordable care act comes before Supreme Court, it might be dismantled and that will hit Texas and 2 million Texans will lose health insurance then,” Hegar explained. “Texas will be left behind in energy jobs because of John Cornyn. We had an oil economic crisis before Covid and lost 60K jobs,” Hegar said. “Texas has the opportunity to be America’s leader in wind and solar energy, and we should use our natural, renewable resources to create jobs here in our state,” Hegar added. About the pharmaceutical industry,
Hegar said, “I am not advocating for artificial price ceiling. We need to make sure Big Pharma companies are fair. If there is no incentive companies will not invest. I am a capitalist. Once they get reward I am against over expensive life-saving drugs.”
World Cup had a huge influence. Many cricket loving families watched thrilling matches on the TV during the summer vacation. The kids who had earlier played casually in their backyard or parks now want to develop their skills.” Alok Singh then collaborated with
Hill Country Cricket Association (HCCA) to offer kids suitable cricket infrastructure and coaching setup. His proposal to start a youth club at HCCA immediately found support amongst HCCA club members. HCCA is a nonprofit organization comprising the largest group of cricket enthusiasts in Central Texas. Since then, about fifty kids under
Dr. Zarmeena Vendal, one of the hosts of the event, thanked MJ Hegar for her time. “We want to be part of the fabric. We are passionate and couldn’t be more grateful,” she added. Dr. Vendal, hosted the event along with Lubna Ashraf, Dr. Nadeem Malik and Amil Malik, Dr. Junaid and Yasmeen Siddiqui, Dr. Yasir and Ambereen Cheema, Adnan and Hawama Sattar. Austin Muslim Democrats also joined the event. For more information on M.J. Hegar please visit https://mjfortexas.com/
the HCCA Youth Cricket Academy have shown eagerness to turn-up for the sessions. Their keen interest has led to the efforts to organize cricket events in schools. The cricket club at Cedar Valley Middle School enrolled about thirty students who played cricket on the school campus regularly before
the summer vacation. “Love that our campus has so many opportunities for our students to get involved,” commented Dr. Zac Oldham, Principal of Cedar Valley Middle School in Round Rock ISD. Dr. Zac Oldham and Mrs. Katie Benson at Cedar Valley Middle School have greatly supported in launching the first ever official school cricket club in the Greater Austin area. Patsy Sommer Elementary School organized a “Cricket Festival” to demonstrate how cricket is played to over a thousand students. This school is also considering making cricket part of their regular PE activities. “The kids had a blast,” commented Coach Kassie Krusely at Patsy Sommer after ‘Cricket Festival’ on the campus. Many passionate parents have been involved in this journey. Ataullah Baig has commented, “It is an excellent program for youth cricket run by parent volunteers who are passionate and dedicated.” Peyoosh Jain said, “Great place for young kids to get introduced to cricket. Very encouraging coaches in a low-pressure environment.” “Certainly, more and more young students will enjoy cricket in the US. We just need to develop the cricket setup in schools across the country and equip PE teachers with basic cricket coaching skills,” says Singh.
