12 | news / the standard / feb. 2020
Going Clubbing students weigh in on new clubs and their various functions and meetings
Cricket club
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ricket Club is a fairly new club that was first assembled in October. Junior Nityanta Saripalli is a founding member of the club and said he has been a fan of the sport since his childhood. “My parents just showed me what cricket was when I went to India,” Saripalli said. “I was maybe [in] fifth grade, I think. So I bought myself a cricket bat and a ball. They told me all the rules, and how the game works and that’s just how I learned.” Although Cricket Club was created in the fall, the prime season to play is in the late winter and spring, so right now the members are working on practicing and logistics for the upcoming season. “We meet about twice a month for now,” Saripalli said. “But then as our games start getting scheduled, [we will meet] maybe like once a week.” Although cricket isn’t a school-recognized sport, the club is not intramural in nature either. “As of right now, we’re just planning on working with other clubs and the other districts and other schools,” Saripalli said. “And we’re just going to do little matchups with them and just have fun and play games with them.” Even though the club isn’t a school-
sponsored sport, members still plan to utilize district property, for which they have to obtain permission and coordinate with other activities. “We’re still working our schedule out because we have to talk to the district people to get permission to use fields,” Saripalli said. “We’re still working on the entire schedule.” Although the club hasn’t gotten full clearance to use district fields that hasn’t stopped them from hosting their own practices and dedicating time to the club and sport. “We have two hour practices when we do practice,” Saripalli said. “And every now and then I just like whip out a cricket bat and just practice a bit.” Saripalli said that although he is content with the club, it is difficult to find new members. “The hardest part is just convincing people that cricket is an actual sport and it’s actually a fun sport,” Saripalli said. “A lot of people who we ask to join Cricket [Club] were like, ‘There’s no point for me to do it because it’s not a sport I’ll be using in college’ or ‘It’s not like a necessary sport for me to grow as a person,’ but the thing about Cricket Club is that you can connect with people that you wouldn’t normally connect with. It’s just a fun time to hang around and just play the sport.”
