Young Girls Aim to Build a Stronger Future for Cricket in Canada as Sport Heads Back to the Olympics

Cricket is gaining momentum in Canada, and a group of young female players from Ontario hopes to play a role in taking the sport to a new level.

Among them is 16 year old Mississauga cricketer Laiba Qureshi, who recently travelled to England as part of an educational cricket program designed to give young athletes experience both on and off the field.

The nine day journey took Laiba and 14 other girls to London, where they played cricket, visited historic grounds and developed leadership skills through meetings with sports figures, community leaders and diplomats.

The trip also gave the players an opportunity to experience cricket in a country where the sport has a much deeper history and infrastructure than it currently has in Canada.

Laiba believes the experience can help her contribute to the future development of the game when she returns home.

“It showed me how much people care about cricket,” she said, describing the enthusiasm she witnessed during the trip.

First All Girls England Tour

The program, known as Across the Pond, is organized by the Ontario Schools Cricket Association, a nonprofit organization that promotes cricket education in Ontario.

The association has organized 10 trips to England since 2008, but this year’s journey marked the first time the program was exclusively for girls.

The group arrived in London on Aug. 21 and spent the following days combining cricket matches with educational and cultural activities.

For Laiba, the trip represented a major personal milestone. It was her first journey outside Canada and her first extended period away from her family.

She said travelling independently pushed her beyond the familiar environment she was accustomed to and helped her become more confident.

The players competed against local teams and visited some of England’s most famous cricket venues, including Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, a historic stadium that has been associated with the sport for more than two centuries.

The group also visited major London attractions, including Big Ben and Kensington Palace.

However, the organizers wanted the experience to go beyond cricket and tourism.

Learning Leadership Through Experience

Leadership development was one of the central objectives of the program.

The young players met with ministers, diplomats and professional cricketers and discussed teamwork, leadership and the responsibilities that come with representing their communities.

For Laiba, the practical experience had a different impact from traditional classroom lessons.

She said leadership lessons taught at school can sometimes be difficult to remember, while meeting people and experiencing situations directly made the concepts much easier to understand.

Ranil Mendis, a director with the Ontario Schools Cricket Association, said experiences outside the classroom can provide lessons that cannot easily be delivered through textbooks.

The players were expected to learn not only from matches but also from travelling together, interacting with new people and taking responsibility for one another as a team.

For Laiba, those experiences became one of the most memorable parts of the journey.

Building Girls’ Cricket in Ontario

The development of cricket in Canadian schools remains challenging, particularly for girls.

In Ontario, cricket is not currently among the sports governed by the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations, making it more difficult for schools to establish formal teams and leagues.

The Ontario Schools Cricket Association has therefore worked to provide cricket programs and educational opportunities for schools and teachers.

The organization hopes that players who take part in programs such as Across the Pond will return to their communities with the confidence and knowledge required to develop the sport themselves.

Laiba has already begun working toward that goal.

When she first became interested in cricket, her high school did not have a girls’ cricket program. With support from OSCA coaches, she helped establish one.

Now she wants to build a program that can continue after she graduates.

Her vision includes qualified coaching, proper equipment and regular competitions that would give girls an opportunity to develop their skills and remain involved in the sport.

She wants the program to have a structure that does not disappear when its founding players leave school.

The Need for Better Cricket Facilities

Laiba also believes Canada needs more suitable facilities if cricket is going to continue expanding.

Her experience in England showed her how established the sport can become when communities have access to dedicated grounds and organized competitions.

She was particularly impressed by the number of cricket grounds located within ordinary residential communities.

In England, she said, it was not unusual to find a cricket field in the middle of a neighbourhood.

That level of accessibility is something she would like to see more often in Canada.

Better facilities could provide young players with more opportunities to train, compete and develop without having to travel long distances.

For girls in particular, having nearby programs and safe, accessible facilities could make it easier for schools and communities to establish teams.

Olympic Opportunity Could Accelerate Growth

The timing of the girls’ initiative comes as cricket prepares for a major return to the Olympic stage.

Cricket will be included in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, marking the sport’s return to the Games after more than a century.

The Olympic opportunity could provide additional visibility for cricket in Canada and encourage more young athletes to consider the sport.

For players like Laiba, the Olympic inclusion represents more than a major international competition. It could help demonstrate that cricket has a future in Canada and create opportunities for young players who currently have limited access to organized programs.

Mendis believes cricket clubs already operate in different parts of Canada and encourages families and young players to explore opportunities in their communities.

For Laiba, however, the ambition goes beyond simply joining an existing club.

She wants to help create opportunities for the next generation of girls.

She believes cricket connects sport with culture and community and hopes more girls across Ontario and Canada will have the opportunity to experience the game.

The England trip gave her a close look at what a mature cricket culture can look like. Her challenge now is to bring some of those lessons home.

As Canada prepares for cricket’s Olympic return, young players such as Laiba are hoping they will not simply watch the sport grow from the sidelines. They want to help build the teams, programs and facilities that could shape Canada’s cricket future.

Courtesy: CBC