LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The United States of America Cricket Association, (USACA), the national governing body for cricket in the USA, is pleased to announce its support of a new community initiative. The Compton Cricket Academy (CCA) and USACA will work collaboratively on evolving the groundbreaking community work of the Compton Cricket Club (CCC) to become a specialist Cricket Academy designed to support the next generation of youth in the Compton area.
The CCC is a world-renowned charitable organization founded by Ted Hayes and Katy Haber, which successfully used the sport of cricket to address gang-related issues in the City of Compton, California. The CCC has successfully directed numerous young men, who were deemed to be ‘at risk’, into stable and highly productive lives.
The Club was birthed in 1996 and began recruiting players, after presenting a cricket workshop at Compton High School. The CCC toured England in 1997, 1999 and again in 2001, sponsored in part by Channel 4 and BP. In 2011 it was the first “All American Born” cricket team to tour Australia.
Katy Haber expressed excitement in the future launch of The Compton Cricket Academy;
“The CCC is forever indebted to our first coach and trainer, legendary Jamaican cricket player, the late Leo Magnus; Warwickshire cricketer Paul Smith, who trained the CCC in 2003 as a part of his work with ‘Cricket Without Boundaries’, as well as our namesake, Nick Compton, who graced our shores in 2011 to coach our team. Mr. Smith and Mr. Compton’s support and participation are ongoing.”
Mr. Darren Beazley USACA CEO said; “USACA is committed to using our sport to make positive contributions to society. Whilst we all love to play cricket on the weekend and compete, there are far broader benefits of the sport to the American community. I am incredibly humbled at the wonderful work that the Compton Cricket Club has done over so many years and would like to take an active part in the formation of the Compton Cricket Academy”.
The Academy and its partners; The Los Angeles Social Cricket Alliance, (LASCA) All Pro Sports (Severn family) and Unfinished Business (David Brook, formerly Director of Strategy and Sport – Channel 4 UK), are a seriously committed group of professionals, with such a clear idea of what they want to achieve and where they are headed, that USACA feels compelled to support their endeavors.
USACA will provide specific training and coach accreditation for all Academy coaches and its expertise in skills acquisition and refinement. In addition, it will support the Academy via promotion and marketing.
Mr. David Brook stated; “The new regime at USACA promises a breath of fresh air. Working together with the ICC and other cricketing partners, we can take cricket to the indigenous population of Los Angeles and beyond, to realize the vision of the Compton Cricket Academy”.
The Academy is currently seeking financial support with a view to being operational in early 2014. Plans are underway to present a multi-national cricket match at the beginning of next year to launch the initiative.