Youth cricket is on the rise across upstate New York

Open to kids of all ages, the Capital District Cricket Association features mostly first-generation South Asian Americans. Some of these players have played cricket for most of their childhood in upstate New York. They feel that they have learned a lot about their culture and identity through the sport. 

“I’ve been playing cricket for about seven or eight years now, ever since I was a little kid. Cricket’s always been big for me as my parents always watch the IPL at home, so it just grew on me. So, I watched cricket all the time. I started to love playing. I came here and now I got my opportunities to play,” said Aniket Kothapally, youth player of the Capital District Cricket Association.

And of course, there’s opportunity to learn good sportsmanship, which would only build their confidence. 

“[It] helps you play a team sport. It helps you learn how to communicate with others and to work as a team. This is a great way to learn,” said Kothapally.

“They encourage each other and there’s different facets of the game as well with the bowling, the fielding, the batting, the support for each other. So, I think it brings them together, a lot of individual skills that get combined for a great team,” said Matthew Stabler, youth coach at the Capital District Cricket Association.

“Very much like baseball and softball, if you can play those games, you can play cricket. But there’s a lot more action in cricket, there’s a lot more going on. So it’s a tremendous game to watch as well,” Stabler continued.

The Capital District Cricket Association (CDCA) was established in 2015.

“If you don’t know about it, then you should probably like look into a little bit, like just looking out like highlights of an old game or something. It’s really interesting to watch,” said Adikoppula.