USA Cricket: Atlantic Region holds first Annual General Meeting.

openingbat — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 13:25:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

[Under Section 18 of Article XX of the USACA Constitution, a Regional General Meeting must be held annually in each region to discuss matters germane to the operation of the region.]

The Atlantic Region Cricket Board held its first Annual General Meeting on Sunday at the DreamCricket Pavilion Indoor Nets in Hillsborough, N.J., to discuss the region’s state of affairs. The meeting was attended by 25 people, including representatives from Millennium Cricket League, Cricket League of New Jersey, Garden State Cricket League and Indoor Cricket USA.

Pic (Right): Shelton Glasgow, Regional Representative of Atlantic Region (middle) welcomes the attendees. Also in the picture - GSCL VP Colin Edwards (left) and Pradeep Vedala (right).

Shelton Glasgow, the regional representative on the USACA board of directors, moderated the meeting. Reports were given on the improvements and accomplishments for each league as well as the status of the region’s youth and women’s development programs. Coaching and umpiring development programs were also discussed.

While no financial report was given by the regional treasurer, who was absent due to a work related emergency, Glasgow informed everyone that like USACA - the parent organization, the region is also suffering from financial problems. As a result, the region is unable to finance these programs with the proper amount of money they need to run effectively.

The attendees were informed that a Planning Committee was recently formed under the leadership of Sheldon Mollineau. Similarly, Venu Palaparthi has been tasked with drafting a fundraising plan for the region and Colin Edwards will lead a committee that is expected to draft a regional operating guidelines document.

Colin Edwards, vice president of the GSCL, called for all leagues to develop and play a regular inter-league tournament. He feels that the region’s selection process (for the senior men's team) suffers for national tournaments because the region’s six leagues do not play in a competition against each other. An inter-league tournament would make it helpful for selectors to judge who the best players are rather than base the selection on one or two days of hurriedly convened trials.

Pic (Left): Attendees at the ARCB Regional Meeting

A large amount of the time spent during the three-hour meeting was used to discuss youth development. Venu Palaparthi, CLNJ's league representative on the ARCB and co-founder of DreamCricket Academy, announced his Academy's intention to start a youth league with a minimum of four teams in 2011.

Palaparthi called on the other senior leagues to support this endeavor by making some of their grounds available. He declared that there have been enough kids available to form such a league for some time, but the last hurdle to clear is getting a ground to use.

Due to the overall shortage of grounds, senior leagues and teams have faced difficulties with offering their own grounds for youth cricket. But the tide is turning and two clubs have consented to share their permits beginning 2011. Palaparthi also urged the attendees to emulate the efforts of USYCA - an unaffiliated organization that has done stellar work at the school level within the Atlantic Region introducing the sport to over 75 schools in Maryland alone. School outreach was important for promoting the sport and DreamCricket has donated 75 cricket kits in support of the Maryland initiative and will gladly support such efforts elsewhere in the region, he noted.

Lalta Persaud, founder of Indoor Cricket USA, also drew attention to his facility and academy. He runs an indoor cricket league during the winter which allows for players to get year-round match practice. The style of the league also rewards players for orthodox cricket batting techniques to ensure that young players are developing their games the right way. It was also noted that Muhammad Ghous, Henry Wardley and Yash Shah all spend their time training at Indoor Cricket USA and each went on to represent the country at the U-19 World Cup in New Zealand. Ghous also successfully graduated to the USA senior team.

Ashok Patel, founder of the USA Cricket Academy, also called on everyone to recognize his accomplishments in providing opportunities for youth both in the region and on a national level. His tours gave players a chance to develop and make it to the 2006 U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka. Patel is currently planning a Caribbean tour for the region's junior cricketers. Tony Thandi spoke about his organization, the newly formed Amwell Valley CC, which has its ground and practice facility at the scenic Hillsborough Golf and Country Club. The club has attracted roughly 20 children who are new to the game.

Pic (Right): Attendees at the ARCB Regional General Meeting

While there were plenty of accomplishments to make note of on the youth level, it was also noted by the attendees that there is not a functional youth program in place. The only time a true regional collaboration is made for youth cricket is when a team is picked for the U-15 and U-19 national tournaments. Otherwise, youth cricket has stagnated. It is hoped that with the forum that took place on Sunday, the dialogue will motivate regional administrators to get a true regional program started rather than just a couple of projects. Glasgow observed that the region had its work cut out.

Glasgow also expressed his desire for an improvement in coaching and umpiring. A WICB Level I coaching course was organized in 2009 for the region and he expressed that he intends to organize more coaching courses in the future.

Gokul Chakravarthy, secretary of the USA Cricket Umpires Association, noted that while many players and leagues complain about the state of umpiring, an umpiring course was organized in the region in 2010 and only six people attended. Things cannot change unless more people are dedicated and willing to step up to take umpiring seriously.

The meeting ended with input from just about all of the 25 people present. People are hopeful that action will be taken by the region to put some of the suggestions that came up during the meeting in place rather than let them fade away and be forgotten.

USA Cricketer : Atlantic Region cricket, new jersey cricket, USA cricket, USACA, USYCA

USA Cricket: Atlantic Region holds first Annual General Meeting.