Physical Education teachers from the Philadelphia region gathered in Horsham for cricket training at the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit Health and Physical Education Symposium held on February 15. Attendees from school districts such as Central York, Upper Moreland, Delaware County, Pottsgrove and Wissihickon were there, along with a number of private school teachers. This is the third eastern Pennsylvania cricket event in the past eight months, joining cricket rollouts in Berks County and the North Penn School District.
Teachers at the training session.
After a brief explanation of the game’s recent history and rules, the teachers were divided into teams and began to learn in the best way possible – by playing.
Each of the schools will be receiving a USYCA American Cricket Champ set, and some schools have already asked to purchase additional sets.
Philadelphia is the historic center of American cricket, being the locus of the national scene in the latter half of the nineteenth century and the home of John Barton King, the most successful American cricketer produced to date. Philadelphia was also the base for many excellent touring teams, which both traveled to and received a number of English and Australian sides.
Today, cricket continues as a part of the Philadelphian landscape, thanks to USYCA supporters such as the C.C. Morris Cricket Library Association, the British Officers Cricket Club, and the Merion Cricket Club, along with Haverford College, and also the Philadelphia and Germantown cricket clubs. Each May, the area hosts the Philadelphia International Cricket Festival.
