Video: Cricket in Prince George's County Schools in Action

Video by Josh Flynn

There's a movement in Prince George's county that is changing the landscape of sport in the community. Cricket is an all-inclusive team sport that isn't just for the strong and athletic; it's also for thinkers and strategists. 

In a county where homegrown sports like football, basketball and baseball are king, the sport of cricket is growing quickly, with about half of all county elementary schools teaching the sport to its children.  

Earlier this year, the county formed a partnership with the United States Youth Cricket Association's Schools Program and the Maryland Youth Cricket Association, which provides free equipment and instruction to elementary and middle school physical education teachers so they can teach the sport to students.

In Upper Marlboro, Kettering and Rosaryville elementary schools have introduced cricket and more than two-dozen other schools are teaching the sport.

"Prince George's County Public Schools is excited about this partnership that will bring the international sport of cricket to our teachers and students," Superintendent William R. Hite, Jr. said in news release earlier this year.

Cricket has its roots in 16th-century England, and made its way to America in the 17th century with the influx of immigrants. Many bat-and-ball games were brought to America from England, but it was baseball–America's modification of the English versions–that became America's pastime, while cricket faded into the background.

Fast forward to April 2008 when U.S. history teacher Jamie Harrison of Cardinal Gibbons High School in Baltimore, took his students to Richmond, VA, to visit Civil War sites. It was there that Harrison, along with his students, learned about and fell in love with the game of cricket.

Harrison went on to organize and coach the only high school cricket team outside of the state of New York, while organizing a league for his students to play in. But shortly after, Harrison was laid off by Cardinal Gibbons just before the Archdiocese shut the school down due to lack of funding.

Despite the setback, Harrison knew that there was a place for cricket in the United States especially in the schools. He also knew it was a sport worth teaching to youth; he needed young kids to have the same sort of learning experience his class had benefited from in Richmond.

Harrison went on to start the USYCA, a nonprofit based in Maryland that works hand-in-hand with the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) to grow the sport through youth involvement.

Through meeting with numerous physical educators within the state, blogging about his experiences with the sport and making a number of instructional teaching videos for educators interested in teaching Cricket on YouTube, Harrison succeeded in organizing a sport that hadn't been able to sustain itself in this country.

"The USYCA is really a coming together of many people from all over America who love cricket and want to see more children have the opportunity to play," Harrison said. "There have been a number of disconnected efforts by individuals and small groups to introduce American kids to the game, but without coordination and support, these efforts fizzled out..."

Harrison acknowledges that the main hurdle in developing an American cricket culture will be ignorance. To combat this hurdle, the USYCA has focused its efforts in growing the game with kids in elementary and middle schools, so that the game will have a base to build from. The USYCA's ability to spark interest in youths about the game will ultimately determine the sport's long-term staying power.

Cricket is the second most popular spectator sport in the world, but in America's sporting landscape, one that is dominated by homegrown sports, there is little known about cricket to the average American sports enthusiast. 

So why cricket? What advantages does this sport have over others? What different lessons does it teach in comparison with more commonly taught sports? Why should you have cricket in your child's school?

The sport is all-inclusive. Many children are taught basketball, baseball or football in their physical education classes. Sports that rely on athleticism can sometimes push a group of students to the side who can't match the pace of the other more athletic kids in the class.

"Cricket rewards patience, technique and intelligence; stature has very little to do with eventual greatness," Harrison said. "This encourages all children to participate, and draws out those typically disaffected. Children who may not ordinarily do well at team sports often find themselves excelling at cricket."

Another reason for introducing cricket to schools is the sport's ability to be played on any kind of surface. Cricket can be played on a grass field, on a black top and even indoors, in an auditorium, or on a gym floor. The game is flexible in that regard because the equipment is easy to carry and set-up for a match.

Which brings up additional questions: Who is paying for the equipment? And how do physical educators learn the game to teach to their children?

Harrison said, "The USYCA Schools Program donates cricket equipment and instruction to schools without condition or requirements. The only thing necessary is for a school, or school system, to simply request that they be included in the program. That's it."

For more information, visit the Maryland Youth Cricket Association's website.

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