Cricket coaching in session. (HSSC/NCAA)

Hoysala Social and Sports Club and National Cricket Academy America jointly hosted the ACF Level 1 and Level 2 certification, April 13-14 weekend, at The Cage, Woburn, Mass.

Hoysala Club is working closely with the Massachusetts State Cricket League (MSCL) to grow youth cricket in North Eastern U.S. Recent ACF coaching and practical training sessions are considered proper way to gain momentum in the New England region.

Vijayesh Hassan, founder of the Hoysala Club and Raghunandhan Sridhar head coach of NCAA, and former MSCL captain for the two ACF national championships are working closely with the Dilip Chavan, president of MSCL and other key members of the MSCL league to create the state’s first ever U-18 team coached by Raghunandhan Sridhar to participate in this year’s NYCL tournament to be held in North Carolina during July 4th weekend.

Similar to most of the states in the U.S., Massachusetts also faces the similar issue of having low number of certified coaches to start introducing the game at the grassroots level. Lexington town high school scholars formed the cricket club with founder Vijayesh and expected to recruit more players for the school club. Overall, the area lacks in coaches with experience to help the local school programs. Some PE teachers not able to take this program to next level as there are not many certified cricket coaches in the area with school cricket education expertise.

With this recent weekend long cricket coaching clinic, conducted by renowned national level ACF director of coaching Jatin Patel, the cricket clubs were able to get some folks started towards the journey of coaching the next generation of talented individuals. Patel brings in the experience of being played the game with the stalwarts, and also now being actively involved with many of the current breed of international cricketers into these sessions. All the sessions were practically conducted with bat and ball in hand. Starting from basics of the game, player corrections to game situations he blended everything so well and empowered the attendees by sharing his immense knowledge of the game that he has acquired from his experience.

A coaching session in Cricket. (HSSC/NCAA)

The ACF Cricket Coach Certification Level 1 program was launched in May 2014, followed by the Level 2 certification program one year later in June 2015. Since the launch, 25 States can now boast of having certified ACF cricket coaches to help grassroots level youth and school programs.

Atlantis Cricket Club – NY and Queens United Cricket Academy in New York, NJSBCL in New Jersey, United Cricket League in Boston, MA, Minnesota Cricket Association Youth Program in Minneapolis, American Cricket Academy and Missouri Youth Cricket Association in St. Louis. Sarasota International Cricket Club (SICC) Sarasota, FL. Colorado Cricket League in Denver, Washington Cricket Center in Washington DC, Florida Cricket Conference in Orlando, FL, Southern California Youth Cricket Academy, Los Angeles and Southern California Junior Cricket, Los Angeles are a few of the hosts for ACF coaching camps/training sessions held since the ACF Cricket Coaching program was launched.

“I admire your coaching style of using real-life experiences as a player, teammate and a Coach. That was totally worth it and “game changing”. For me on the approach one should take to coach younger kids (or help your teammates). Thank you for giving guidance and showing the direction on how to go about Coaching and pass on the knowledge to younger generation, to make a better tomorrow,” says Kaushal Patel, member, Boston Gymkhana Sports Club.

“Thank you for enabling the Cricket enthusiasts like us take the passion to the next level. It was a fun, interactive learning session with coach Jatin Patil, said Kiruthika Subramanian, a right-arm medium pacer represented her native India and was selected for the 2000 Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand. Primarily an opening bowler, Kiruthika usually bats three down in the order. The motor sports enthusiast has represented her home State of Pondicherry as its skipper and South India, which comprise four States, as well as West Bengal Under-14 boys and girls league. The part-time wicketkeeper is an admirer of Sachin Tendulkar, and says, “I am from India and cricket is played in every corner there. I really do not have a better reason for liking cricket.” Kiruthika loves racing motorcycles and cars at the amateur level, saying, “It’s just out of a passion for driving. I still do it about once a year.”