Cricket Colombia Project
I don't like Cricket … I LOVE IT
from start to finish....
The Cricket Colombia Project (CCP) was created to promote cricket as a ‘new sport’ amongst the wider Colombian community. The project resulted in a new cricket training facility being built at a school in Colombia, and fitted out with junior cricket equipment.
The initiative was a huge success:
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it stimulated the local economy by engaging local and trusted contractors to construct cricket pitches and nets.
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provided school students with the opportunity to develop important co-ordination skills through cricket participation.
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gave Colombian students an opportunity to improve their English language and social skills through interactions with foreigners who introduced them to cricket.
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increased the number of Colombians participating in the sport, and potentially giving rise to more Colombians representing their country in the sport in future.
The CCP aligned with the following Focus Areas of Rotary:
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Community Economic Development
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Basic Education and Literacy
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Peace Building & Conflict Prevention
Thank you very much for your support.
YIR,
Julian Buttigieg – CCP Founder
Julian Buttigieg is a member of the Rotary E-Club of Global Trekkers and is a passionate cricketer who wants to see both Colombian students and the local community learn about and embrace cricket. He initiated the CCP.
read how we turned a dream into reality
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FROM THIS
TO THIS !
TO THIS
OUR JOURNEY
As of May 2022
A lot has happened since the project’s inception in March 2021. Nets have been built at LCB in 2021, and both students, young children and youth, and Bogota cricketers have been playing and practicing cricket skills at the nets.
In October 2021, Bogota hosted teams from Panama and Sri Lanka in a very competitive international tournament.
In late 2021, Paul Reid and Andy Wright were instrumental in developing the first official cricket club in Colombia (recognised by the Colombian Government – a big deal)! They have two teams worth of players (mostly Colombians and Venezuelans!) consistently playing cricket in Barranquilla at both the Marymount College and the offices of Consumer Sales Services (CSS). Flicx kindly donated one of their Practice Match pitches which was essential for cricket development in Barranquilla.
Barranquilla hosted a tournament in February 2022 at the Marymount school grounds, where Barranquilla and Bogota faced off for the inaugural Barranquilla tournament. Considering some of the Barranquilla players had only recently picked up cricket as a sport, Barranquilla gave Bogota a good game. In the end the tournament was claimed by Bogota, but the real winner was cricket. The aim of the tournament was to introduce cricket and inspire the community of Barranquilla.
The tournament saw the discovery of many naturally talented players who had real passion for cricket. Some were naturally talented with the ball while others had the natural ability in the field, which lead to an amazing run out during one of the games. Bogota is also beginning its efforts to start an official club too.
“The tournament went really well, the majority had never played a game before,
it was really awesome and inspiring”– Julian Buttigieg
PHOTO GALLERY
Julian on location...
Project
Completed
Cricket Nets completed (June 2021)
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR MAJOR SPONSORS, SUPPORTERS AND VOLUNTEERS
Rotary E-Club of Global Trekkers
Flicx for supplying Barranquilla cricketers with a pitch.
The Staff of Liceo de Colombia Bilingüe School (LCB) who support cricket development.
Patrick Raikes, Diana Delgado, Adam Bennett and staff at The English School Bogota @theenglishschoolbogota for allowing Bogota Cricketers to teach their students cricket.
Paul Reid and Andy Wright who are leading the development of an official Barranquilla Cricket Club @baqcricket
Travis Crockett (Bogota Cricket Club/Cricket Colombia)
Claudia Garzón Martínez and Dean Wiltshire of Graico Constructores
Nitin Chaudhary of Stag Sports Australia who is generously donating junior cricket equipment.
Kerry and Kay Danes in Australia
Members of Cricket Colombia (Teams and members from Barranquilla, Bogota, Cali and Medellin who volunteer their time and support cricket development)
And most importantly, the students at LCB and TES who are the future of Cricket in Colombia.
Rotary EClub of Global Trekkers Facebook
