When it comes to the USA, baseball and basketball have always been frontrunners in terms of sports. Though cricket helms the second largest audience in the world, baseball and basketball continue to rule the US sports even in this day and age.
However, it would be wrong to say that cricket hasn’t touched upon the biggest sports market in the world, the United States of America. The deal between American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) and USA Cricket Board for a T20 cricket match, which was sealed this May, is a clear marker that things are changing slowly and steadily.
The US might host a T20 series sometime in the coming decade and the two partners have decided upon a billion-dollar investment for the future of American cricket. The development is being universally lauded and is an excellent piece of news for budding cricketers, especially the under 19 players who are toiling hard to take the field by storm.
The United States Youth Cricket Association is a platform that vociferously tries to up the status of youth cricket in the country by promoting cricket in schools in every way possible. Founded in the year 2010, this institution has been pressing hard to develop a culture of cricket among the young citizens of the USA. It has introduced cricket in more than 2500 schools in the USA, through its Build-A-Pitch program.
The USYCA also celebrates the National Youth Cricket day on the 24th of March to commemorate the US-based online retailer and website www.dreamcricket.com’s decision to donate ten cricket sets to the US schools back in 2010. It was this pilot program that gave birth to USYCA as we know it and in 2013 the organization officially partnered with American Cricket Federation. It was mutually decided that USYCA will take care of facilitating the sport in the under-13 age group while ACF will handle the transition of players to a higher age group.
Much like USYCA, NYCL (National Youth Cricket League) has been working hard to build a platform for under-19 cricketers. It has introduced a National Championship for cricketers aged 10,12,14,16 and 18 respectively. This has invariably brought the youth cricket community closer like never before.
However, despite this collaborative jaunt, many under-19 players are still lagging or and are failing to crack the nut. And this has inevitably made the parents of these youth cricketers anxious because they want to see their kids shine on international platforms like the T20 Under-19 World cup.
Meanwhile, other organizations in the country have made tremendous investments both in time and money to promote youth cricket. California Cricket Academy (https://www.calcricket.org/) is in its 10th year. They religiously conduct tours to the UK for under 13, 16 and 18, to provide a platform for youth to experience cricket in the international arena.
Yet another front runner in promoting youth cricket is Cricmax (https://cricmax.com/coaching/) in New Jersey. Their head coach Ashok Patel is one of the best in the business. His aim to perfection is relentless and the best part he gives youth cricketers space to thrive and play their natural game while showing nuances in the game. Locally here in Texas, we have excellent youth programs run by extremely accomplished coaches.
Sushil Nadkarni who not only represented the USA as a player but one of the successful captains has a very well run coaching in Houston and Austin, (https://www.facebook.com/MasterStrokesCricketAmericas/) He also has an excellent indoor facility Cricbase (https://www.facebook.com/cricbase/)
Coming to Dallas, we have two powerhouses lead by international coaches. Dallas Youth Cricket League (DYCL) and Texas Cricket Academy. Dallas Youth Cricket League: Asif Mujtaba who played for Pakistan alongside Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, etc helps DYCL and fostered great interest amongst youth. He has helped many youth cricketers thrive under him.
Texas Cricket Academy is run by Thiru Kumaran and has been successful in the past few years. Thiru Kumaran represented India played alongside Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman to name a few, brings in a wealth of knowledge in the game of cricket. Both DYCL and TCA have produced international standard youth cricketers and are proud to have the USA under 19 players on their rosters.
DFW is extremely fortunate to have two excellent indoor facilities, where cricket can be played year long. Recently a world-class indoor facility has been opened in Plano, which Lords Indoor Cricket. (https://lordsindoorsports.com/). Completing almost fifteen years in English Indoor Cricket Academy (http://eicadallas.net/). One of the earliest indoor facilities in the USA.
Cricket experts are all hopeful that a bright future awaits the kids who want to make it big in US cricket. One thing is for certain, American youth cricket is surely going to foster and grow in the coming years. There’s been a push for youth cricketers to get scholarships. There are quite a few cricket academies providing those opportunities and finding corporate sponsors to provide educational scholarships to aspiring players who have the skillset and capable of achieving academic excellence.
If you are looking for getting coaching for any of your kids or friends kids, please look no further and feel free to contact. I do this as a passion to promote cricket and pass this great game of cricket to the next generations.
Rajesh Cherukupalli
ICC Certified Level 2 Coach
Official youth coach of Town of Flower Mound
- Contact Details: cvrajesh@gmail.com
- Website: https://usayouthcricket.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/usayouthcricket/