110 Houston Kids Enjoy Triggers Colts Cricket’s Winter League
U-10 winners SLYCC Stars (blue uniforms) and runners-up KYC Eagles in group photo with their coaches and Tournament Director Surya Saladi (in red).
HOUSTON: Triggers Cricket Club (TCC), a Houston-based non-profit organization, took initiative aimed at giving young children an opportunity to formally learn and play cricket in a fun-loving environment of camaraderie, respect and sportsmanship.
In May 2014, TCC, in partnership with sponsors and in association with local youth cricket clubs, created a platform for youth to excel in the game of cricket and formed Triggers Colts Cricket League (TCCL).
U-12 winners SLYCC Suns pose with their winners trophies under the Triggers Colts Cricket League banner.
The goals of our Triggers Colts Cricket League (TCCL) are:
To introduce the game of cricket to children through coaching programs
To encourage young cricketers to play in age-appropriate competitions
To train coaches and teachers to expand the game of cricket in greater Houston communities
To introduce cricket at local Houston schools
The kids displayed fine cricketing forms in the finals.
TCCL Summer league was a great success ,where 70 kids from five teams participated from Houston North West (NWCC), Sugar Land (SLYCC) and Katy (KYC) Youth Cricket clubs.
Chief guest Pramod Kulkarni (left) Surya Saladi and Tony Best.
TCCL summer league final was the evidence of its popularity that attracted 250 people to watch the finals played by two youth cricket teams.
TCCL also organized Smart Choice Cup youth cricket weekend tournament on August 10, 2014, sponsored by Smart Choice Auto Group, alongside Houston Cricket League (HCL) finals, to introduce youth talent to main frame adult cricket league of Houston.
After the success of TCCL Summer League 2014 and with the aim to continue providing competitive platform for cricket, TCCL launched Winter League 2014. It was an eight-week tournament with teams divided into groups, under 12 years (U-12) and under 10 years (U-10) based on participant’s age. This allowed more kids to participate.
TCCL Winter League 2014 had eight teams, with 110 kids registered, an increase of 66% in participation.
TCCL also adopted to online scoring using CricHQ application, so that individual player’s and team statistics can be followed online from anywhere in the world.
Three teams from North West Cricket club, three teams from Katy Youth Cricket and two teams from Sugar Land Youth Cricket Club took part in the round robin league format. All three teams, in U-12 age group, NWCC Wild Cats, KYC Eagles and SLYCC Suns won two games each at the end of the round robin league.
KYC Eagles and SLYCC Suns qualified for the finals based on net run rate. In U-10 age group, participants were NWCC Saber Cats, NWCC Cubs, KYC Phoenix, KYC Falcons and SLYCC Stars. KYC Falcons and SLYCC Stars won their battle and qualified for finals.
Both U-10 and U-12 final games were played at Matzke Park on November 9, 2014 and witnessed by the crowd of 150 people.
SLYCC Suns and SLYCC Stars won their respective battle and became the Champions of TCCL Winter League 2014.
Both final games were attended by special guests Pramod Kulkarni, Chief Editor Indo American News, Jayesh Antani, oil & gas executive, Tony Best, Ex. Houston Cricket Leauge (HCL) chairman.
Pramod Kulkarni congratulated all the participating teams and reaffirmed his commitment to youth cricket. He was happy to see such talent in youth cricket teams of Houston and mentioned that it will not be too far in the future when TCCL starts producing International level cricketers that would represent the US national team. He particularly appreciated the fact that the TCCL league featured a female coach and several girls on various youth teams.
Tony Best congratulated all the teams and offered HCL Cricket ground located at George Bush Park for youth cricket teams. Twenty five coaches from all the participating teams were recognized and awarded a plaque for their effort and dedication. All one hundred and ten kids were awarded a participation trophy. MVP for all the round robin league games, Semi final, and Finals were also recognized. Best Batsman, Best Bowler and MVP of the series in both U-10 & U-12 categories were also recognized for their good performance throughout the series and were awarded a trophy.
TCCL is planning to expand to 10 or more teams in 2015. Mr. Surya Saladi, Tournament Director, informed all the participating kids and parents about introduction of cricket at school level in Houston area. TCCL has partnered with British School of Houston to provide cricket coaching to kids of the school and their participation in the future TCCL tournaments.
He also talked about continuing efforts to provide platform for youth cricket in Houston and on TCCL future plans, to include coaching camp for an all-star team and to conduct a US National level U-15 competition in Houston
TCCL has launched a new website www.triggerscolts.org to keep the greater Houston area communities informed about the future plans for youth cricket. Their Facebook page is @ https://www.facebook.com/tcccolts
TCCL sponsors were Wells Fargo, KP IT, SBS, SmartChoice, Dosa Factory, CrickMax and partners were Houston Cricket League, India House and SmartChoice.