{"id":10008,"date":"2012-01-04T18:07:32","date_gmt":"2012-01-04T18:07:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tat.reddaisytrading.co.uk\/index.php\/2012\/01\/04\/salmas-m-a-d-about-cricket\/"},"modified":"2012-01-04T18:07:32","modified_gmt":"2012-01-04T18:07:32","slug":"salmas-m-a-d-about-cricket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/2012\/01\/04\/salmas-m-a-d-about-cricket\/","title":{"rendered":"Salma\u2019s M.A.D. about Cricket!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sport star on getting more Asian women playing Cricket<\/h3>\n
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AWARD-WINNING sportswoman Salma Bi is MAD about cricket and believes her exciting new project can Make A Difference in getting more females involved in the game.<\/strong> <\/div>\n

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Birmingham-based Salma is soon to launch a new coaching organisation called Believe in MAD (Making A Difference) which aims to raise awareness of both girls\/women\u2019s cricket and disability cricket.<\/div>\n

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Salma, 25, made the headlines two years ago when she won an Outstanding Achievement Award at the British Asian Sports Awards for her contributions to women\u2019s cricket on a night which also saw world boxing champion Amir Khan and England Test bowler Isa Guha pick up top accolades.<\/div>\n

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Salma\u2019s love for the sport started at an early age. Her family settled in Birmingham from Pakistan when Salma was just two years old. <\/div>\n

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And growing up in a \u2018sporty\u2019 family, you could say it was inevitable she would find her calling in the world of sport at some stage in her life.<\/div>\n

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\u201cI first started playing cricket at home with my family and having five brothers and a sporty father helped,\u201d she told The Asian Today. <\/div>\n

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\u201cI captained the cricket team at secondary school and that\u2019s where my love for the sport started.\u201d<\/div>\n

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Determined to make her mark in cricket, Salma attended Warwickshire County Trials and soon turned heads with her off-spin bowling.\u00a0She was quickly in demand with three different cricket clubs vying for her services. <\/div>\n

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Today Salma has her name etched in the history books having become the first Asian female ever to be chosen to represent Worcestershire CC.<\/div>\n

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The 25-year-old also plays for Five Ways Old Edwardians and Wall cricket clubs and is a level one umpire and level two coach who aims to inspire young girls from ethnic minorities to become involved in cricket.<\/div>\n

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Salma admits it took her family a while to share her passion for the sport – a passion no less which she passed down to younger sister Anisha who plays for Warwickshire County Cricket\u2019s Under 15 Girls team.<\/div>\n

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\u201cThey don\u2019t expect me to be at home in the kitchen but they are proud to see two girls in the family playing County Professional Cricket,\u201d Salma says.<\/div>\n

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\u201cThey only started supporting me, when I brought Medals and Trophies home. Before I had my own car it was hard for them to support me and take me to games; they couldn\u2019t understand why the sport was in demand of so much commitment.\u201d<\/div>\n

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Salma balances her commitment to cricket with a fill time job as a Haemodialysis Specialist Adult Registered Nurse. And when she\u2019s not tending to sick patients, she\u2019s helping Asian women \u2013 young and old \u2013 get active in cricket coaching sessions. <\/div>\n

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Her latest venture \u2018Making A Difference\u2019 is a Coaching Academy to help create awareness of girl\u2019s cricket and disability cricket which is dedicated to her young niece who is wheelchair bound.<\/div>\n

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\u201cI want to make a difference with this project,\u201d Salma says. <\/div>\n

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\u201cI always wanted to start my own coaching academy as I love teaching what I\u2019ve been taught. For me I believe every opportunity should be grasped. One thing will eventually open a Window of dreams to another possibility. <\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a legacy I want to leave for others to remember, to make female sports stand out and to have something to be proud of. Hopefully my younger sister will take on this role and promote the Foundation Internationally too.\u201d<\/div>\n

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Part of the initiative will involve hosting a pioneering national Ten10 cricket tournament that invites girls aged 14 and over to participate in a six-a-side World Cup-style competition.<\/div>\n

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It is hoped the Edgbaston Indoor Cricket Centre in Birmingham will stage the event, which is set for March 31, 2012, but if that venue is not available another nearby sports centre can be used.<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe aim to have 12 teams, all provided with a coach,\u201d explained Salma.\u00a0<\/div>\n

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\u201cThere will be two pools of six teams, each playing five games on a round-robin basis, with progression to the quarter-finals, semis and final depending on points accumulated.<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe idea is to have exciting, fast-paced games and to add extra intrigue; teams who finish on the same points will play-off in a \u2018super over\u2019 where each batsman will try to score as many runs as possible off one ball each.<\/div>\n

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\u201cPlayers of all abilities will be welcome and each team will be represented by a country name to give the event more of a World Cup theme.<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt will be a day of fun, games and learning, but most importantly involving girls and women playing sports.<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe shall have case studies of people with a disability playing cricket and a special guest attending to present the awards, hopefully an England Women\u2019s player who can share their experiences and Make A Difference.\u201d<\/div>\n

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To widen the competition\u2019s appeal further, there are plans to provide stalls, refreshments and various sideshows at the March 31 showpiece.<\/div>\n

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If the indoor tournament is a success, Salma plans to stage an outdoor one too in the future.<\/div>\n

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She says initial response to the initiative has been great.<\/div>\n

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\u201cI have people in Wales, London, Sandwell and Nottingham supporting in this fantastic idea. They always wanted a female face to make something work, so I guess now is the perfect time for me to boost the Event and attract some fantastic talent out there. <\/div>\n

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\u201cI have the vision of an outstanding event I just now need the support of the people out there to make it possible.\u201d<\/div>\n

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Salma is now seeking sponsors for an event she hopes will attract local, regional and national media coverage.<\/div>\n

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Believe in MAD are having their own logos printed and sponsors motifs will also be displayed on banners publicising the tournament. Sponsors logos will also be used on team kits.<\/div>\n

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As for the future, Salma and Believe in MAD\u2019s co-founder hope to eventually open an indoor cricket academy in the Birmingham area with nets, coaching facilities and regular staging of T10 league matches.<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe want to break the barriers of Asian girls limited to playing cricket outside of educational hours and give them the access to achieve goals and Make A Difference in a safe and suitable environment,\u201d added Salma.<\/div>\n

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Salma would very much appreciate any offers of sponsorship towards the T10 Tournament or her academy project. <\/div>\n

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If you would like to be part of the project contact Salma on 07950542308.<\/div>\n

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Sport star on getting more Asian women playing Cricket AWARD-WINNING sportswoman Salma Bi is MAD about cricket and believes her exciting new project can Make A Difference in getting more females involved in the game. Birmingham-based Salma is soon to launch a new coaching organisation called Believe in MAD (Making A […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}