Cricket gaining ground in Orillia thanks to community effort – OrilliaMatters.com

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Collectively driven by their passion to bring people together and an awareness of the growing interest in cricket, four friends from India are pushing for more inclusive arts and sports opportunities in Simcoe County.
“We’re four friends from Southern India, so we thought of doing something under a bigger community umbrella,” says Nithin Liviero, president of the Barrie Arts & Sports Academy (BASA).
Last year, Liviero, Denny Jose, Basil Mathew and Reagan Francis opened the doors to BASA. Its mission is to inspire and foster participation in sports and arts programs from the diverse populations across Simcoe County.
It started with Super League Barrie and competitive games for adult cricket teams. Eight Barrie cricket teams participated last summer, playing on weekends for three weeks.
“The point of the league is for community and inclusiveness,” Liviero says, noting the goal to attract more teams from wider areas in the future.
From its success, the idea of a free cricket clinic was born.
By partnering with the Mariposa Cricket Club, a one-time introduction-to-cricket session held last year helped them assess public interest.
Ahad Bhai grew up playing cricket in Bangladesh. Since moving to Orillia in 2016 and playing the sport with his son, he saw a need for Ari to learn and play cricket with others his age. The eight-year-old was his inspiration to form the Mariposa Cricket Club, which funded the intro session last summer.
Feedback from both parents and kids who attended last year was for more depth to the program. With that in mind, the four friends worked closely with Bhai to offer the free clinic this year from May to June 21, for ages six to 12, in Orillia. Liviero describes it as a grassroots effort to build the game of cricket in the area.
Mere days after opening for registration in Orilllia, the free eight-week cricket camp was filled to capacity. About 28 kids signed up, and roughly 15 attend the weekly session. In May, even the chilly spring weather didn’t deter a dozen kids from showing up and eagerly working on their cricket skills.
Organizers were impressed and are considering ways to move the program forward.
“I think it’s been very successful in creating awareness that a sport like this exists and it’s fun, and the whole point (of) making it free is to encourage people to try it out,” says Bhai.
He highlights that the drop-in sessions have no commitment and he is confident people will return after the first try.
Each session is structured around basic skills. Coaches start with warm-ups and stretching before leading the kids through batting and fielding drills. Because it’s free, not every week has the same group of kids showing up.
It opens the door to help kids find a sport they love at no cost to parents.
“It’s a healthy outlet. It offers kids an opportunity to learn, socialize, meet other kids, be productive with their time. Exercise is important and being outside is important. … I think the sense of competition is also good for kids, so there’s a lot of positive benefits for kids being involved in sports that they love,” says Bhai.
He says the active sports community is already a positive influence in the region. Considering the levels of competition in the area, he suggests the free clinics offer an avenue into sports without the limitations of competitive leagues.
Overall, he says, the aim to include people from different communities and backgrounds has been successful.
“There has been a wide range of people getting involved … people who had no idea what cricket was to people who grew up liking it but don’t have the opportunity anymore because they moved to Canada recently,” says Bhai.
People from an hour away drive their kids to the Saturday morning session. Bhai also noticed his son’s friends from hockey and baseball attend the cricket clinics.
Initially, funding was an issue.
“As it stands now, we cannot get the league, so we committed to getting the kids out there,” says Liviero.
Priority was given to the free clinics in Orillia as the team works on developing similar sessions in Barrie. Liviero says the lack of response from businesses in Barrie for sponsorship is likely due to economic uncertainty.
This year, funding for the free cricket sessions came from the SIXR Cricket Foundation. Bhai is also involved with the newly developed institution, based out of London, England. It helps with cricket camps around the world. Ground space, coaching fees, and equipment are the main expenses covered by the foundation.
The greatest challenge was finding the space to play. The closest designated cricket pitch is in Bradford, but organizers say they make due with what is possible.
Synthetic grounds are OK, and for Super League Barrie, the City of Barrie helped procure a portable mat.
Liviero tells of the makeshift pitches he and friends played at in India. He says players used the West Orillia Sports Complex as a half field for games in the evenings, when fewer people are around, to minimize danger from stray balls. The space also works for the learning sessions where tennis balls, as opposed to the leather cricket balls, are used to teach young players.
The goal remains to provide suburban and rural areas exposure to more sports opportunities, however possible.
Organizers are planning a way to extend the current program. With the same group of kids, SIXR will help host a six-hitting competition similar to the one held in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Hitting a six in cricket is comparative to hitting a home run in baseball. 
“If all goes well, we will have ex-captain of Canada Rizwan Cheema attend,” Bhai says, noting they are awaiting confirmation from the batsman.
Further future developments include plans to offer indoor sessions during the winter. Since the organizations have been working together, roughly 50 kids registered for their events.
The Mariposa Cricket Club is currently an events-based initiative. Ongoing and future events are posted on BASA social media pages. To offer support, register for events, or find out more, email [email protected].
The free cricket sessions take place every Saturday at 9 a.m. until June 21 at the West Orillia Sports Complex.
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