Women and children drive growth of cricket in Mexico
Cricket isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think about Mexico, but developments made over the last year might slowly change that.
The Mexico Cricket Association (MCA) has done quite a bit of good work for the sport in the country, and importantly, the women are playing a prominent role in driving the sport.
A women’s cricket programme was initiated in September 2017. It started with just one participant, but as of June 2018, there are as many as 23 women involved, including two international NFL players – Anjuli Ladron de Guevara and Semiramis Huerta, an international rugby player – Dolores Garza, and Ana Montenegro, the ex-international footballer.
Montenegro, the vice-captain, is also sports coordinator at the Lomas Hill school in Mexico City, and she plans to add cricket to the curriculum. In fact, Montenegro was one of the first players involved with the women’s cricket programme, and she recollected the efforts that went into the programme’s growth.
“Women’s cricket in Mexico has had a slow, but continuous growth,” she said. “At the end of September 2017, I received a call from Craig White, secretary of the MCA, who invited me to play cricket with a clear vision – that we should join efforts to grow this sport in Mexico and recruit more players with the aim of sending a team to represent Mexico at the 2018 South American Championships in Bogota.
“I started to train and understand this sport and what hooked me was cricket’s technique and its philosophy. I made calls to sports friends, inviting them to join this great project, so little by little we became four. These four called others, and so, through sharing our own experience and surprise of such a wonderful sport, we are more than 20 players (now).”
The popularity of the programme wasn’t limited to the field. Montenegro says linguistic and cultural barriers were broken as the team bonded. “More than a sport, they (my team-mates and coaches) have shown us a new language of expression, a culture, a philosophy of life. With a lot of pride, work, trust and love, we have created a great family – the Mexican women’s cricket family.”
Then, there are the children, who are slowly being introduced to the sport. Much like Montenegro’s plans to introduce the sport to her school, the Lancaster College, also in Mexico City, plans to add the sport to its curriculum while at the Wingate school, the sport is already a popular subject.
Elsewhere, the Victoria Institute in Tequisquiapan, and the Tepoztlan school in the city of Queretaro also plan to introduce cricket.
This isn’t the only way the sport is being taken to Mexican children, though. The domestic season opened with the Mexico Under-13 side touring overseas for the first time ever – thanks to the efforts of the British Society in Mexico and the national airline AeroMexico – to take part in the Junior South American Championships in Santiago.
The team clashed against the likes of Chile, Argentina, Peru and Brazil, and even came within inches of a victory against Chile, who prevailed by one run. Mexico may not have won a match in the tournament, but they did set an example in how to go about playing the game, and came away with the competition’s Spirit of Cricket award.
Efforts have also been made to spread the game beyond the limits of Mexico City. New teams have come up in Guadalajara and Monterrey, the second and third largest cities in the country respectively, and as a knock-on effect, the pool of players has doubled.
A new team was created in the city of Queretaro as well, and in all, four new state teams were created within 12 months. It allowed MCA to hold its first National Championship – Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey faced off on 26 and 27 May.
Guadalajara were crowned champions at the end of it, but they will have stiffer competition in 2019 when the tournament will be expanded to five teams.
The MCA’s efforts, and evident results, meant the country was awarded hosting duties for the Central American Championships 2019. The tournament, held every two years, will see Mexico, Belize, El Salvador, Panama and Costa Rica competing for the title.
The increase in the sport’s popularity in Mexico is reflected in the digital space too: Since June 2017, MCA’s followers on Facebook have risen from 981 to 1159, and on Twitter from 1801 to 2753.
If the last year is any indication, don’t expect that counter to stop anytime soon.