Youth Cricket Program
Ages 9 and up. All skill levels welcome.
Weekly coaching for refugee, immigrant and local youth, no experience necessary. Some of our players have played since they could walk. Others had never held a bat. Structured, supervised time gives them a safe place to belong.
Underhill Park, Spokane's only public cricket pitch.
How a session runs
Players arrive from school, and we start with warm-ups together, everyone in one group. Then we split by what each player is working on, batting in the nets at one end, bowling and fielding at the other. Newer players work with a coach or a senior player until they are ready to join in. We finish with a game, because that is what they came for. Families are welcome to stay and watch.
Players arrive from school, and we start with warm-ups together, everyone in one group. Then we split by what each player is working on, batting in the nets at one end, bowling and fielding at the other. Newer players work with a coach or a senior player until they are ready to join in. We finish with a game, because that is what they came for. Families are welcome to stay and watch.
At a session, a young player is never alone with one adult. Every adult who coaches or transports a player is required to pass a background check, and we are completing those through our fiscal sponsor this winter.
Sessions run at Underhill Park, 2910 E Hartson Ave, after school during the school year and through the summer. Winter training moves indoors once space is confirmed. The season finishes with a full match at Underhill Park, families invited.
Our times move with the seasons and the weather. Email info@spokanecricketacademy.org for this week's. We reply within two days.
New to cricket? KSPS made a short introduction.
Sessions run at Underhill Park, 2910 E Hartson Ave, after school during the school year and through the summer. Winter training moves indoors once space is confirmed. The season finishes with a full match at Underhill Park, families invited.
Our times move with the seasons and the weather. Email info@spokanecricketacademy.org for this week's. We reply within two days.
New to cricket? KSPS made a short introduction.
The squad at Underhill Park before the session splits into groups.
What comes next
For a player who wants more than a weekly session, there is a route.
Bowling at Underhill Park.
USA Cricket runs a national youth pathway built on regional Hubs, and there is a Seattle Hub, the closest one to Spokane. Hub competitions feed zonal championships at Under-13, Under-15 and Under-17, and from there into national age-group cricket.
Closer to home, some of our older players are ready for real matches before there is a youth team for them to join. When that happens we ask an adult club in the Northwest Cricket League to take them, and five have played for clubs this season. We look for clubs that value a player's growth over quick results, and we are putting agreements in place with them, setting out how they invite our players, look after them and follow our child safety rules. Some clubs waive fees for school-age players; where they do not, the program covers the cost.
The aim is for our players to enter the league in 2027 as their own team, the Spokane Otters, playing both the short format and the forty-over game.
No player has to go any of this way. Most come to play with friends and that is the point of the program. But when a player is ready, we know where the next step is and we help them take it.
Closer to home, some of our older players are ready for real matches before there is a youth team for them to join. When that happens we ask an adult club in the Northwest Cricket League to take them, and five have played for clubs this season. We look for clubs that value a player's growth over quick results, and we are putting agreements in place with them, setting out how they invite our players, look after them and follow our child safety rules. Some clubs waive fees for school-age players; where they do not, the program covers the cost.
The aim is for our players to enter the league in 2027 as their own team, the Spokane Otters, playing both the short format and the forty-over game.
No player has to go any of this way. Most come to play with friends and that is the point of the program. But when a player is ready, we know where the next step is and we help them take it.
Leadership Development
Older players captain sides in practice matches and teach the ones who arrived last week. Coach Manoj teaches leadership for a living, and a session is built the way he builds a class.
Our assistant coach came to us as a player. He now runs drills, leads warm-ups and works with the newer players, and he is learning to coach around a full-time job.
None of this is a separate class. It is woven through every session.
Our assistant coach came to us as a player. He now runs drills, leads warm-ups and works with the newer players, and he is learning to coach around a full-time job.
None of this is a separate class. It is woven through every session.
A senior player showing a newer one how to hold the bat.
Winter Indoor Coaching
A court the players booked themselves, and a target taped to the wall.
When the weather takes the pitch away, we have nowhere to train. Last winter the players sorted it out themselves. A few of them have gym memberships, so they booked a racquetball court there, taped a target on the wall, and spent hours working on what they had been taught. Nobody asked them to.
This winter we want to do it properly, with coaching, and with room for the players who do not have a gym to go to.
This winter we want to do it properly, with coaching, and with room for the players who do not have a gym to go to.
We are looking for anywhere with a hard floor and room to run up and bowl. A school gym, a basketball or racquetball court, a warehouse, a church hall. An indoor baseball or softball facility would suit us best, since the netting and the space are already there. If you have somewhere we could use one afternoon a week from November to March, email info@spokanecricketacademy.org.
Adult Coaching Sessions
For adults who already play, and for anyone in Spokane who wants to learn.
These sessions run separately from our youth program. Adults and young players do not train together. They exist because the adults who learn here become the volunteers, drivers and future coaches our young players need.
Your session is built around your level and what you want to work on. Free. Anything you choose to give goes to the youth program.
Year-round. Schedule via info@spokanecricketacademy.org
These sessions run separately from our youth program. Adults and young players do not train together. They exist because the adults who learn here become the volunteers, drivers and future coaches our young players need.
Your session is built around your level and what you want to work on. Free. Anything you choose to give goes to the youth program.
Year-round. Schedule via info@spokanecricketacademy.org