Nation's First Youth Cricket Leagues Come to Prince George's County

Students from Prince George’s County Public Schools are helping to popularize an uncommon sport in the United States, as players in the nation’s first elementary and middle school cricket leagues, according to a news release.

Through a partnership with the Bowie Boys and Girls Club, 15 elementary schools and four middle schools in Prince George’s County participated in the Bowie Elementary School Teams and Washington Area Middle School Cricket Leagues in 2015. The participating schools have received a free cricket set from the United States Youth Cricket Association.

The leagues were established with the help of Bowie resident Kancham Chotoo, a Trinidad and Tobago native and radar scientist. Chotoo played cricket as a child and is a member of the Washington Cricket League.

“I have three children who played soccer, baseball, and volleyball with the Bowie Boys and Girls Club, and thought it would be fun to introduce them, as well as other children in the community to cricket,” said Chotoo. “It’s the second most popular sport in the world and I remember my own experiences and how valuable playing the sport was to me.”

Perry Baltimore Sr. recalled his initial response when his son, Perry Baltimore Jr., a fifth-grader at Kenilworth Elementary School, asked if he could play on the practice team in 2014.

“Cricket?” said Baltimore Sr. He admits that he knew very little about the sport, only that it was similar to baseball.

Since then, Baltimore Sr. has witnessed both his sons, and his teenage daughter, grasp the basic fundamentals of cricket, develop and strengthen skill sets, such as hand-eye coordination, and become more aware of other cultures.

“Cricket is now my second favorite [sport],” said Baltimore Jr. “It’s very challenging, but a lot fun once you get the hang of it.”

Baltimore and more than 300 other PGCPS students will participate in the upcoming tournaments, which begin in March 2016. Practices and matches will take place at schools throughout Prince George’s County, but Rockledge Elementary School will serve as the hub of cricket in Bowie because it has a real cricket pitch that was built last year.

The participating schools include Berwyn Heights, Cherokee Lane, Cora Rice, Fort Foote, Glenn Dale, Greenbelt, Heather Hills, Hollywood, Kenilworth, Robert Frost, Rockledge, Springhill Lake, Thomas Pullen, Tulip Grove, University Park, Whitehall, William Paca, and Yorktown Elementary Schools, and Benjamin Tasker, Buck Lodge, CMIT Academy North, Kenmoor, and Samuel Ogle Middle Schools.

For information on how to start a cricket program or participate in the BEST or WAMS, contact Chotoo at cricket@bbgc.com.