Taking cricket to school

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Loongs Cricket Academy, in Thrissur, has been setting new standards in coaching young kids for the last couple of years and this summer they have more surprises in store.

There are numerous cricket clubs in almost every nook and corner of the State, some in the business for decades, but reaching out to schools and turning their grounds into a playground has been an untried endeavour — something which Loongs is padded up for.

“We have tied up with seven schools in and around Thrissur and they will be sending their kids to our summer coaching camp. The deal is that after the summer camp we will go to the schools and offer regular coaching,” says Mohanraj Kolathapilly, director of Loongs Cricket Academy.

“In our knowledge, this is the first of its kind programme and we understand that not every kid is able to attend regular cricket coaching, so if we go to them, it will make a difference,” he said.

Besides, the cricket academy is also reaching out to girls. The programme has already received a good response.

“Apart from the under-12, under-16 and above-16 categories for boys we have also introduced a camp for under-9 girls this year. So far we’ve got at least 10 registrations from the under-9 girls and it shows that we need to offer more to our kids, not just boys, because they all like cricket and want to play it in a big way,” he says.

The camp will be helpful to spot talent and to get a grass root development, says Dinesh Gopalakrishnan, BCCI Level 1 coach and one of the coaches at the summer camp.

“We will be dividing the participants into groups and after the camp a tournament will be conducted. It is very important we feel because for kids below 16 there is hardly any competition and it is the time when they need more exposure,” he said.

Another highlight of the camp is that it will have coaching sessions by Abishek Tiwary, Indian under-19 player. Abishek inaugurated the camp and will be one of the prominent figures in it. Apart from the above Loongs has also roped in Rajasthan woman cricketer Tanvi Uppal to help the under-9 girls.