A lucky group of youngsters got some hands-on cricket training at the Wellesley Community Centre on Wednesday, Aug. 11 as part of a city-wide initiative to increase access to the sport. The city’s department of parks, forestry and recreation has been bringing cricket to camps throughout the city thanks to a generous donation from RBC Royal Bank, who gave 500 sets of cricket equipment. The children at Wellesley Community Centre received lessons on how to bowl, bat and field from former professional cricketers Tahir and Nasser Khan and instructor Dave Sawh.
\nThe trio has taught more than 1,000 kids how to play cricket as part of the city’s Operation Cricket program, and expect to teach another 1,000 throughout the rest of the summer.
\n“The kids are demanding it – everyone’s demanding it – and it’s always growing in Canada,” Tahir Khan said. “A lot of kids have never played and don’t know cricket, but a lot of kids know the game, but don’t know where cricket is in Canada.”
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\nKhan noted cricket helps develop sporting and athletic skills, but added it provides greater benefits than that.<\/p>\n
“They learn leadership, to become team players, to listen to their leader and while they do that they get to have fun,” he said.<\/p>\n
Operation Cricket began in 2009 as a City of Toronto pilot project. Given its popularity among those who were familiar with the sport and among neophytes, it has expanded in an effort to meet the growing demand.<\/p>\n
City of Toronto forestry department manager of access and diversity Ken Jeffers said Operation Cricket will expose countless Toronto youth to the burgeoning sport.<\/p>\n
While RBC has donated cricket sets to many schools across the city, the recent donation to the City of Toronto allows children aged six to 12 in city-run day camps to enjoy the sport.<\/p>\n
“Cricket is one of the fastest-growing sports in all of the City of Toronto,” he said. “We look forward to cricket being developed in gyms in the wintertime.”<\/p>\n
The sport will also help build communities, Jeffers said, by encouraging the sharing of ideas, the promotion of teamwork and the bridging of cultural gaps between communities.<\/p>\n
RBC spokesperson Camon Mak echoed those sentiments, noting the bank donated cricket supplies because it offers precisely those benefits.<\/p>\n
“We view (cricket) as a very critical sport in actually connecting communities,” he said.<\/p>\n
The kids at Wellesley Community Centre were quick to learn the cricket basics. After brief lessons, they tried their hands at playing and had a great time.<\/p>\n
Eight-year-old Jaheim Barber said he enjoyed bowling – the cricket equivalent of pitching – best.<\/p>\n
“It’s like three things at once,” he said. “It’s part doing a cartwheel, part yoga and baseball.”<\/p>\n
Even those who had played cricket, such as nine-year-old Alejandra Nava, said they learned something from the demonstration. Though she plays cricket with others at the building in which she lives, she learned she had been holding the bat wrong.<\/p>\n
“I always liked playing, but now I think I’ll be better at it,” she said.<\/p>\n