Recently in Dubai, a girl who loves everything about cricket initiated a tournament to promote girls’ cricket as she wanted to support equality in sports. Hence she facilitated a program for the girls called ‘Strike Like A Girl’.
In order to eradicate the disparity between boys and girls in sports, an Inter-School tournament was organized named ‘Strike Like A Girl’. It was aimed at raising awareness about women in cricket as well as to raise money for the charity.
The student says ‘‘Cricket was a big part of my life growing up in a Pakistani household, and I grew up playing both in Pakistan and in the UAE. Being a part of the ICC Academy, the disparity between facilities and participation of the girls and boys training pushed me to pursue this project, as I believed girls deserved to play and have their talent showcased on a larger scale’’.
She further added, “My motive is to showcase the incredible talent that we have, here in the UAE, where girls are excelling in the sport.”
ICC Academy is a Dubai-based training facility for young cricketing enthusiasts.
‘Strike Like a Girl’ is an inter-school cricket tournament for girls across the UAE which was hosted at GEMS Heritage School Dubai. In total six teams took part while the top two teams reached semi-finals and best out of the two clinched the victory at the finale. Each team consisted of 8 players on the field while the game was played in a 10 over format. The tournament successfully secured sponsorships from leading brands, it was sponsored by Emirates Cricket Board. A number of leading UAE schools including Delhi Private School, Winchester, Cambridge International School, and Heritage Indian School participated.
The money that was earned from the tournament went into the charity. They raised over Dh15,000 to donate to Dubai Cares and the Al Jalila Foundation. The tournament is the first-ever girl’s cricket tournament on such a scale in the UAE. This will definitely lead the way for similar tournaments in the coming times. The student hopes to make a similar tournament a routine thing in the upcoming years after the Inaugural game’s success. With the National team doing well on the International platform, women’s cricket should be explored and given importance and such initiatives enhance the scope for future growth.
Manaal Saadaat further adds – “For me personally, the person that really pushed me to pursue this event was my mother, Faiza Saadaat. When embarking on this journey, the doubts and challenges off such an initiative flooded my mind, but she always reminded me why I am doing this, and who I am representing. Without her advice, motivation, and belief in me, this event would not have been possible. My coach at the ICC Academy, Suraj Karavadra, supported me throughout the early stages of the tournament, as he too believed in the importance of women’s cricket being promoted in the UAE.”
Source: Manaal Saadaat for Gulf news
Loves all things female cricket