QUCA Concludes Successful Tour of Jamaica
After a successful tour to Barbados in 2017, New York’s leading cricket academy, Queens United Cricket Academy (QUCA), concluded yet another successful international cricket tour this year, to Jamaica, West Indies.
It was a hard adjustment for the boys, going from a sub-zero chill in NY to playing under temperatures of 80 degrees plus. Despite the temperature adjustment and having practiced for the last four months at indoor facilities, the QUCA boys did a remarkable job. They really represented the QUCA motto “Inspiring tomorrow’s cricketers today.”
The 10-day tour from March 29th to April 8th saw the QUCA team playing six matches against competitive opponents from various cricket academies in Jamaica. The QUCA team won 4 out of the 6 games played. This is very commendable when you consider the boys on tour only started playing cricket less than four years ago.
The tour party consisted of 40 participants including staff, coaches, players, siblings and parents. The team was managed by coaches Leon Sylas, George Samuel, Jamaica’s current National Women’s coach Cleon Smith, and former Jamaica Under-19 coach Peter John. The touring team got the opportunity to play on international and domestic first-class grounds and the best turf pitches in Jamaica.
Commenting on the tour, George Samuel, Head Coach of QUCA said, “Our aim on the tour was to provide much needed playing experience to our youngsters at top facilities, and against quality opponents.” The tour provided a lot of actual hands-on match experience to the players interested in competing in the upcoming ICC Americas Under-19 Combines, which will take place in various cities across the USA.
Currently the academy is in talks with a local academy in Jamaica toward establishing a partnership, so that during the winter months QUCA players may visit Jamaica and practice to improve their skills.
Last year QUCA was able to take a team to Barbados and played against some of the best players. The current Barbados Under-15 Regional championship team consists of five players who played against the QUCA boys last year.
Pick of the QUCA bowlers of the Jamaica tour were Abdur, Sahil, James, and Abbas. In the area of batting, Captain Shaw, Vice-Captain Ibrahim, Romio, Nabeel, and Tegi stood out. The best all-rounder was Abbas. All the players excelled and contributed in their own ways, working together as a team, to make the tour a success.
QUCA is the leading sports academy in New York, inspiring over 300 cricketers since the academy was launched three years ago. They currently provide coaching for ages 5 -16 years, with a well-qualified and experienced team of coaches.
The QUCA academy in New York was launched with the purpose of developing the game of cricket in the USA, and to provide a platform for aspiring young cricketers to have the opportunity to learn from ICC and Cricket Australia coaches.
Anyone interested in learning cricket or wanting to enhance their cricketing skills, Queens United Cricket Academy, New York, is the place to be. Visit www.quca.org or call 917-805-5290.
The spring and summer season for QUCA is about to start at their fully equipped practice location at Idle Wild Cricket Ground, in Rosedale, Queens, NY.
