March 14, 2011

The Orange County (CA) Youth Cricket Association delivered a USYCA American Cricket Champ kit to Del Cerro Elementary School in Mission Viejo on Mar. 10. Del Cerro is the first school to include cricket in its PE program in Orange County, California. Dr. Larry Callison, the school's principal, and his PE staff received information about cricket and playing instructions from OCCA staff.

OCCA was established in 2007 to promote cricket among men, women and youth in Orange County. OCCA believes that to promote cricket in the USA it is paramount to introduce the game at the grassroots level and has joined hand-in-hand with USYCA in this fruitful endeavor.

OCCA is also offering free coaching to U-15 and U-19 youth, and has administered an adult summer league for last three years. OCCA trained eight Level 1 coaches in 2010, who will assist in the youth cricket development program.

According to Shantha Suraweera, President of the OCCA, there are six more elementary schools in Orange County already interested in the program, and he expects more schools to join once word spreads.

"The partnership with USYCA has pointed us in the right direction on the road to achieving OCCA's vision of introducing and promoting cricket at the grassroots level in Orange County," said Suraweera. "We are very excited about this project, and we are thankful to USYCA for their support."