Move over Yankees? New York students take up...cricket

[el-capitano]

Move over Yankees? New York students take up...cricket

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Trinidad native John Mitchell dabbled in basketball and baseball after arriving in the United States at the age of 9. But it took the introduction of cricket at his New York school to find a sport he felt at home with.
"I never got the hang of it," the 17-year-old says of baseball, even though, like cricket, it involves hitting a ball with a bat.

But cricket "feels nice and irie to me," he said using a Caribbean expression for well-being.

New York, a city famously addicted to the baseball rivalry between fans of the Yankees and the Mets, this spring became the first U.S. school district to introduce cricket as a sport in public high schools.

Mitchell now captains a team from Automotive High School, a Brooklyn high school that competes in the New York City cricket league.

School sports officials say they attracted more interest in the league than they originally expected, with 14 teams, and expect the league to grow.

"We're not going to replace basketball and football any time soon, but it will spill over," said Bassett Thompson, cricket commissioner of the Public Schools Athletic League.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/080410/15/16fjr.html

Good stuff.

T20 would be a good fit for American audiences I'm thinking to get them into the game. Then we can introduce them to the art that is test match cricket!

 

[kudu]

Re: Move over Yankees? New York students take up...cricket

Now we just need to get the colleges in the US to get some NCAA cricket teams together, which would give the high school kids an incentive to learn to play the game. That would get the ball rolling.

 

[D.K]

Re: Move over Yankees? New York students take up...cricket

Exposure to the game is all that is needed.

 

[kudu]

Re: Move over Yankees? New York students take up...cricket

What kind of exposure? If you're talking about media exposure, it won't happen anytime soon because cricket is not a "hot topic" since very few in the US understand the sport, let alone have the patience to watch it.

 

[D.K]

Re: Move over Yankees? New York students take up...cricket

What kind of exposure? If you're talking about media exposure, it won't happen anytime soon because cricket is not a "hot topic" since very few in the US understand the sport, let alone have the patience to watch it.

Yeah media exposure will go a long way to helping.

To get the game to kids the way I see it is coaching clinics, introducing it into Physical Education classes. We play Lacrosse over here in Australia in the schools, how hard is it to get a couple of ex-pats to teach kids how its done?

 

[talk-cricket]

How much cricket do the US actualli play!?

How popular is cricket in the US?

 

[kudu]

Re: Move over Yankees? New York students take up...cricket

Yeah media exposure will go a long way to helping.

To get the game to kids the way I see it is coaching clinics, introducing it into Physical Education classes. We play Lacrosse over here in Australia in the schools, how hard is it to get a couple of ex-pats to teach kids how its done?

It would definitely help, but I dont think any media execs are gonna be exposing it to the US anytime soon. Not that much interest here. Kids in the US have so many other options, when it comes to sports. Add on the short attention spans, and it makes it even more difficult to get kids (and adults) interested in cricket. I feel that if there is an incentive to learn to play the game here (ie college scholarships, tournament prize money) in the US, it will create more interest.

Take for example Ultimate Fighting. Why has this sport exploded over the past couple years here in the US? Incentives. Endorsement money. Prize money. And of course the blood and broken necks. I have seen tons of martial arts gyms pop up on every street corner around here, it puts Starbucks to shame. I think cricket in the US should follow the same suit, minus the blood and broken necks.

How popular is cricket in the US?

In my opinion, I think it is as popular as raquetball or maybe slow pitch softball, depending on where you live. Cricket is more recreational than anything else.

 

[Chandu]

Re: How much cricket do the US actualli play!?

How popular is cricket in the US?

Unfortunately, not a lot, to the point where big masses are ignorant about its existence. I've seen people get confused when cricket is mentioned as a sport, thinking about crickets as insects. Sometimes it's painted in the mainstream media incorrectly as a snobbish game in England similar to polo, which snobbish old ladies connected with House of Lords sit watching eating cucumber sandwiches.

 

[kudu]

Re: Move over Yankees? New York students take up...cricket

I've seen people get confused when cricket is mentioned as a sport, thinking about crickets as insects.

LOL...or as a wireless cell phone service provider

Sometimes it's painted in the mainstream media incorrectly as a snobbish game in England similar to polo, which snobbish old ladies connected with House of Lords sit watching eating cucumber sandwiches.

Exactly. Well-to-do, country club type. Kinda like how golf was pre-1990's.

 

[talk-cricket]

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