In spreading its wings, the academy will provide a pathway for cricketers to pursue the sport at higher levels. – Suhaas Vedham
Boston, Massachusetts, March 21, 2021 — The New England Eagles, a Minor League Cricket Franchise of the Eastern Conference, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Major League Cricket and acquired a Major League Cricket Academy franchise.
With enrollments commencing by mid-June 2021, the ‘New England Eagles Major League Cricket Academy’ is expected to cater to over 1,000 active cricketers in the region.
The academy’s management plan to bring professionally qualified coaches on board to conduct training programs for cricketers across all levels viz. Foundation for beginners; Select for intermediate, and Premier for Advanced Coaching.
The training programs will be conducted in batches twice or thrice a week for budding cricketers. They will also accommodate one-on-one sessions tailor-made for individualized attention and the steady progress of a player. Along with guidance on technique and support in building endurance, mentorship on the ‘mental aspects’ of the sport will be addressed; as a way to aid in the well-rounded development of the minds of younger players. Tournaments such as U11, U13, U15, U17, U19 are expected to increase exposure for youth, boosting their chances of being on the selectors’ radar.
Moreover, meaningful interventions at the various age-group levels will raise the overall quality of the country’s cricket. As cricketers evolve at every stage, heightened game awareness, tactical prowess, imaginative play, etc., will make them more polished products to feed the international circuit going ahead.
“The journey between starting and achieving excellence is less cumbersome when the basics are right and when there is the best possible guidance at every juncture.
Ravi Uppalapati, the managing partner of the New England Eagles and the person responsible for the Academy’s Operations, noted, “The New England Eagles Major League Cricket Academy is designed to make the journey of aspiring cricketers as smooth as possible, so that they may become the best possible version of themselves.”
The centralized framework of the franchise will become a promising pathway for the youngsters – the future of USA Cricket – and bring advancement in the national dream of gaining ‘full member’ status by 2030 through stipulated U19 performances.
Once operational, the academy will boast a sprawling indoor facility that will ensure regular practice and player development even during winters in the region. In addition, organized tours, across age groups, for the cricket teams during the off-season will erode a ‘seasonal approach’ to cricket and reduce the number of cricketers who taper off in the absence of a well-managed hiatus. International tours to ICC full-member nations are also a possibility during winters at home.
The management of the New England Eagles intends to make way for more cricket academies in the coming years. Ranging from Connecticut to Maine, the academies, strategically spread across the New England region, will tap unearthed cricketing talent and provide professional guidance at every stage. Furthermore, the management is securing more dedicated fields for organizing youth games throughout the summers. It will provide opportunities to inculcate in children; an interest in cricket through interactions with their local heroes and Minor League teams.
By bringing the process of identifying talent to nurturing, launching it under the same umbrella, undoubtedly, Major League Cricket, with the support of cricket academies, aims to build a roadmap for all budding cricketers to realize the ultimate dream of representing the USA.