Hoysala cricket camp
Some of the participants of the coaching sessions.

Hoysala Social and Sports Club and National Cricket Academy America (NCAA) jointly hosted the American Cricket Federation (ACF) Level 1 and Level 2 cricket coach certification on April 13 and 14, at The Cage, Woburn, MA.

Hoysala is working closely with the Massachusetts State Cricket League (MSCL) to grow youth cricket in the North Eastern area of the USA. ACF coaching and practical training sessions are considered the best way to gain momentum for the sport in the New England region,

Vijayesh Hassan, founder of the Hoysala Social and Sports 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 the MSCL and other key members of the league. The group has established Massachusetts’ first-ever Under-18 team coached by Raghunandhan Sridhar and expected to participate in this year’s National Youth Cricket League tournament to be held in North Carolina during the Fourth of July weekend.

Similar to most states in the USA, Massachusetts also face the issue of not having enough certified cricket coaches to introduce the game at the grassroots level. Lexington town high school scholars formed the social and sports club, along with Vijayesh Hassan, and are expected to recruit more players. Overall, the area lacks an adequate number of coaches with experience to help the local school programs. Some PE teachers are not able to take the initiative to the next level, because there are not many certified cricket coaches in the area with the school cricket education expertise.

Kiruthika Subramanian
Kiruthika Subramanian with the bat during the coaching session.

With the recent weekend-long cricket-coaching clinic, conducted by renowned ACF National level Director of Coaching Jatin Patel, the program organizers were able to get some folks started toward the journey of coaching the next generation of talented individuals. The vision and experience that Jatin Patel brings to the coaching sessions are second to none. He brings the experience of having played the game with the stalwarts and also being actively involved with the current breed of international cricketers in the sessions.

Jatin Patel’s style of training is unlike someone teaching or preaching. The sessions were practically conducted with bat and ball in hand, starting from the basics of the game and player corrections to game situations, he blended everything so well and empowered the attendees by sharing his immense knowledge of the game acquired from his experience.

About the American Cricket Federation Cricket (ACF) Coach Certification Program
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 the grassroots levels of 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.

Coach Jatin Patel, (far right) having a group chat.

Testimonials
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, it’s the approach one should take to coaching younger kids or helping teammates.

Thank you for giving guidance and showing the direction on how to go about coaching and passing of knowledge to the younger generation, to make a better tomorrow!
– Kaushal Patel, Member – Boston Gymkhana Sports Club

Thank you for enabling us cricket enthusiasts to take our passion to the next level. It was a fun, interactive learning session with you coach Jatin Patel.
– Kiruthika Subramanian, Former India cricketer, and current CanAm player

Hoysala camp kids
Coach Patel working with two kids.

Huge thanks to coach Jatin Patel for his time and sharing his extensive knowledge of the coaching world. He is like the walking dictionary of coaching. This event, which mainly focused on youth coaching, covered a lot more than that. Coaching isn’t just about the sport; it has so much to do with our lives. Jatin Sir was very kind and patient while teaching us and showing us simple, realistic ways to connect with a player. His talks are very inspiring and straightforward – like he says – coaching is all about developing trust with the player, and knowing them before coaching them. It was one of a kind experience for me, truly amazing.
– Mithila Moudgalya, Former Karnataka player

KIRUTHIKA SUBRAMANIAN
Born in Kolkata, India, Kiruthika Subramanian was interested and coached in cricket since age six, with the encouragement and support of her parents. The 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 motorsports 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.”