Development Programme
With Brazil's entry into the ICC came the creation of junior development programmes in Brasília, Sao Paulo and Curitiba.
In Brasília, a big breakthrough came when cricket was offered as an accredited PE course at the national University of Brasília. This led to the formation of the Candangos team, made up wholly of Brazilians. It also created interest amongst female students and resulted in the beginnings of women's cricket in Brasília. In terms of junior development, there is a growing number of boys participating in regular training sessions and games, giving the core of a future U17s team.
In Sao Paulo, progress is being made through a working relationship between St Paul's School and SPAC (the Sao Paulo Athletic Club). Enthusiastic people are in place to develop children's cricket further in Sao Paulo.
In Curitiba the focus has been on teaching children aged 8–12. The Associaçao Brasileira de Cricket employed a local junior development officer/coach for three years, and the success of the programme, which works with about 300 kids at four schools, was recognized by the ICC through the Volunteer of the Year Award presented to Norman Baldwin and to the programme itself for Best Junior Development Programme. This ongoing programme provided the platform for a very successful U13s tournament held in July 2009 in Curitiba, played between Argentina, the eventual winners, Chile and Brazil.
In addition to these three main centres of cricket, there are promising signs of life in the northern city of Fortaleza, and most recently, in Rio de Janeiro, the original home of Brazilian cricket. Development programmes are planned for these cities with a view towards increasing the number of teams in the domestic competition in the near future.
To help ensure the continuity and raise the level of the games, coaching, umpiring and scoring courses are being run throughout the year in all three cities, conducted by the coaches and umpires who have received ICC training. At present there are more than 20 level-one umpires.
In terms of facility development, Brazil is a little behind some of the other countries in the region. In Curitiba, the HSBC ground is very scenic and has a net, but is too small for ICC tournaments. In Brasília, there is still a need for a proper-sized, permanent ground, though the club does have two permanent nets at the Australian embassy. In Sao Paulo, where SAC8 was held, there have been a number of improvements at the full-size SPAC ground, including a new portable net.
Read more about this topic: Cricket In Brazil
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