This past month, I met some remarkable young women who are going to be the very bright future of Indian women’s cricket.
I was invited by the GoSports Foundation to be on the panel for part of their elaborate process of selection for the Equal Hue Cricket Excellence Programme. I was warned that I’d have my task cut out, and I did, but I also came away with so much awe for these players, their drive, their sparkle and maturity at such a young age.
The Equal Hue Cricket Excellence Programme is in its second cohort. GoSports, in their documentation, describe it as a “holistic athlete scholarship programme … to help harness the untapped potential within the [Indian women’s cricket ] ecosystem by supporting emerging female cricketers between the ages of 15 and 25, enabling them to become champions and change agents.” Support could be anything from coaching to apparel to sports science support.
It’s all pretty cool.
Also cool, on a personal level, is that the programme is the one big change prompted by the Equal Hue report and initiative I was part of a few years ago. The report, which I co-authored, charted the way forward for women’s cricket in India. GoSports and their partners embraced our findings on the barriers of participation and high performance, and came up with EHCEP as a solution. How lovely when an idea becomes something tangible.
In interacting with these players, it was fascinating to see how the women’s cricket ecosystem has evolved since that report, and how the needs of the players have changed with it. Facilities are more accessible, as is knowledge of a high-performance environment. Social acceptance of their dreams is high, family support atmospheric. Players, still in or just out of their teens, have such clarity about a career in sports.
The financial challenges, though, remain considerable. Knowing what you need to do to be an elite athlete doesn’t mean you can always afford that path.
Athletes, however, are more willing than ever to stick with it. What to them seems more urgent is the desire for mentorship, life coaching and community.
This generation of athletes, already well versed in the language of high performance, often no strangers to fame and media attention so early in their careers, understands the importance of mental health — but they also seem ready to expand the understanding of these ideas. They are only beginning to articulate what more wholesome support looks like. They are defining their ambition beyond numbers and medals and trophies. And I can’t wait to see what they come up with and how the cricket world changes to accommodate them.