BY LIZ MONTEIRO, RECORD STAFF
WATERLOO REGION — Growing up in Guyana, Sandra Singh watched her brothers play cricket and often played with them. When she was 16, she tried to start a girl’s cricket team but many laughed at the idea.
Now the 48-year-old Waterloo woman is the captain of the region’s first women’s cricket team.
Playing cricket reminds me of home. I played it in my childhood,’’ said Singh, who later lived in England before moving to Canada in 2006.
Singh, and 32 women who have joined the female team, hope they can shine a spotlight on cricket, and not only the male players.

“In England they have a superb women’s team,’’ she said. “I’m hoping in Canada, with it being so new, we can push the boundaries and be as good as the guys.’’

In England, Australia, India, Pakistan and South Africa, cricket is a popular sport that attracts record crowds, second only to soccer.

But in Canada, the sport is virtually unknown. However, in Waterloo, some people are trying to give cricket some profile.

The Waterloo Sunrise Cricket Club started about 10 years ago and from May to September it’s common to see players practising in Waterloo Park on weeknights.

“It’s a dream come true for me,’’ said Parveen Sharma, founder and owner of the cricket club who pushed for a female cricket team.

The club has about 150 players and ranging in age from six to mid-40s, he said. The club plays others teams in southern Ontario throughout the summer. The new women’s team will play against male teams, as well as some female teams from the Toronto area.

Sharma said the local club is the biggest cricket club in the country. He added that he owes the success of the club to his former boss Art Brown who died of brain cancer seven years ago.

“He gave us the vision on how to grow,’’ said Sharma, who work’s at Brown’s company, Custom Leather Canada Limited.

The club also received financial help from the late Milo Shantz.

Sharma said Brown encouraged the club to covet its youth and encourage them to play the sport popular in their native country.

Sharma, 45, came to Waterloo from Jaipur, India in 1990 with his parents and siblings. He returned to India in 1991 to marry and now has two teenage children.

Sharma started playing cricket when he was seven and by 19 he was participating in national competitions in India.

He said it’s important to encourage the South Asian youth to play cricket.

“It teaches them respect, discipline and to be great citizens of this wonderful country.’’

And respect is what Sharma gets on the field. When the young boys approach the cricket guru, they bend down at his feet, touching them and asking Sharma for a blessing.

“I have no tolerance for bad words and they cannot come in front of me smoking or drinking. They have to show respect to their seniors.’’

lmonteiro@therecord.com