Cricket to help teach life lessons on the streets of New Delhi
With just 100 days to go before the start of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, community workers supporting street children in New Delhi will find out this week how they can use India?s passion for cricket to help deliver important social messages.
Thanks to a partnership between the International Cricket Council (ICC), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and UNICEF, 24 non-governmental organisation staff will be trained in using the game to engage with vulnerable young people forced to live on the streets.
UK-based charity Cricket for Change will deliver the training that focuses on Street20, a simple, fast and inexpensive form of the game. Their coaches will show how this can be an effective way to bring young people together before offering them support and guidance around a range of non-sporting issues. These include understanding the importance of teamwork, inclusion and the importance of child protection.
?In the past few years we have already seen how popular Twenty20 cricket has become in India. I am sure that the participants on this unique course will enjoy the excitement of Street20 cricket as well and go on to share these skills with the young people that they work with,? said Jon Long, ICC?s Head of Member Services.
?Through the Great Spirit programme, a legacy of the ICC?s centenary year, we have already seen how cricket can make a social difference in countries such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. By extending this programme to India we are excited that our social partners in the three host countries for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 will be delivering innovative initiatives that have the potential to make a real difference to young people?s lives.
?Cricket for Change will be empowering NGO staff with the skills to run simple coaching sessions, sustainable, long term programmes and regular, inexpensive and exciting Street20 competitions. The theme that runs through all of the charity?s training is to help the young players to be safe, confident and to understand the help available to them to move forwards in their lives?.
?We are excited to be working with the ICC on this initiative ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. Cricket means so much to people in this country and I hope we can use its popularity to help inspire and improve the lives of children living on the streets in New Delhi,? said Prof. Ratnakar Shetty, Chief Administrative Officer of the BCCI.
Cricket for Change has delivered similar programmes with child soldiers in Sri Lanka, marginalised girls in Bangladesh and disadvantaged boys and girls in Afghanistan.
?I?ve seen first-hand the positive impact that cricket can have on young people?s lives. In India the game exerts huge influence so we?re hoping our training here will be especially successful,? said Andy Sellins, Chief Executive of Cricket for Change, who will be attending the course in New Delhi.
The 24 trainees will be given with their own Street20 kit bags at a programme launch on Friday 12 November. They will then get the chance to try out their new skills by organising a Street20 tournament for 50 homeless youngsters.
Successful participants will also be rewarded by having the chance to run coaching sessions that will involve some of the competing players at next year?s ICC Cricket World Cup as part of a wide ranging community programme.
This initiative also brings together the ICC?s ?Great Spirit? campaign and UNICEF?s Sport for Development initiative.
UNICEF country representative Karin Hulshof has high hopes for the camp: ?We need to ensure that all children enjoy both their right to education and their right to play. We know that building the skills of these leaders will help them play an even greater role in transforming the lives of some of the most marginalized children living in Delhi.?
