Among popular sports that have started finding favor with its United States-based fans, cricket is included, and a group of students at New Tech High share the same passion. It is from this love of the game and realizing the need for space to engage in the sport that some students take it upon themselves to build a cricket pitch (field) on campus. This group of students, run by juniors Nathan Fan and Kadin Maxey, and sophomore Yash Joshi, generally play on the track, which is not ideal. This permanent recreational facility will help the entire school community by providing a venue for people of all ages to hone their cricketing skills and have fun.
The cricket pitch idea came from Nathan Fan (11). “We saw how much interest there was in cricket but realized we needed our own space,” he says. He and other members, who have been playing cricket for quite a while at school, rallied more students to join the cause.
Besides the core leadership group, many other students have donated their time and energy to arrive hours before school and stay well after class to help the pitch take shape. Everyone’s pitching in, whether they’re carrying materials or spray painting the lines, this project has been a total group effort. The process was long and tedious. It required a lot of labor as well as time sacrifices.
“It’s a great initiative by the kids. Cricket isn’t as mainstream in the U.S. as sports like football or baseball, so introducing it in a town like Coppell can promote cultural diversity and inclusion. It can serve as a bridge between cultures in the area as well as the school” mentioned Mrs. Sameen (Algebra Facilitator).
This is much more than just a cricket pitch. When the project is finished, the cricket pitch would stand for student collaboration and what the students can do to bring noticeable changes on campus. The students want it to be a place where the coming generations will have a chance to play cricket while fostering school spirit, and perhaps even think about other projects in the future. The pitch promises not only to be a place for recreation for the public but also a lasting reminder of what the students can achieve if they work together with passion and dedication.
