'2 days of joy': Tournament celebrates growing popularity of cricket in Yukon
Attendance at annual tournament has more than doubled since last year
An acrobatic throw precedes an echoing connection with a flat wooden paddle. Cheers erupt from onlookers as a ball sails through the air, chased by players in full uniform.
That was the scene this past weekend on a Whitehorse football field, where dozens of players competed in a cricket tournament.
The sport has been played in the Yukon since at least the early 1900s. After a long hiatus, it returned to the Yukon around 2015.
It's now the second year that there has been a formal tournament held by an official organization: the Yukon Cricket Association.
In just a year, attendance at the event has more than doubled. More than a hundred people showed up to the Christ the King Elementary School field to watch or play in the event on Saturday and Sunday.
Aashique Shaikh was the main organizer. It was far from his first time — before moving to the Yukon, he helped organize tournaments for the Indian Premier League, as well as his own league in Dubai.
One day in Whitehorse, he learned from a co-worker about a small group that was getting together to play cricket. He asked if they would be interested in taking things to the next level.
Shaikh says organizing the weekend tournament took months of work outside his full-time job, and involved many challenges.
"We have very limited resources in the North, in terms of sporting goods," he said.
He says he deeply appreciated support from sponsors and volunteers, as keeping the budget and the entrance fee for players low was a high priority given the target audience.
"Most of the people playing here are working class people," said Shaikh. "They're immigrants and they're very busy working most of the time."
But Shaikh did not cut corners — he worked hard to make the tournament a professional-level event. Cricket bats, balls and other equipment as well as uniforms were shipped direct from India. He acquired medals for all players and gold-plated trophies to hand out to first place and runner-up teams.
"I wanted to give them two days of joy," he said. "I want to see the boys happy."
Raman Kumar was team captain of the Whitehorse Strikers and led his team to victory on Sunday. He played cricket in India for years before moving to the Yukon.
"Cricket is like hockey here in Canada," he said. "It's huge in India, really competitive over there."
Kumar is hoping to help build a Yukon team that can compete with other provinces.
Amanpreet Singh is a board member with the Yukon Cricket Association. He says the organization is in talks with Cricket Canada to figure out more ways to grow the sport in the territory.
Singh is also team captain of the Whitehorse Kings.
He says when he first moved to the Yukon he started a small team on WhatsApp with his roommates. Now, that group has ballooned to 160 members.
"We are really happy about it because we love this game so much," he said.
Singh has been in Canada for eight years, but this is his first time participating in a cricket tournament.
"I'm from India and India is all about cricket. People follow it like crazy. So I was missing it a lot when I was studying in Toronto," Singh said.
In five years living in Toronto and B.C., he says he didn't play a single game of cricket. Since moving to the Yukon, Singh plays almost daily.
"Now it feels like home," he said, about the Yukon. "I was talking to my friend on the phone and he was like, 'when are you moving back to Toronto?' And I said, 'I'm not coming back.'"
Shaikh and Singh are both hoping to see more diversity and more community members showing up on the field and cheering from the sidelines. The organization is hoping to hold several more events over the summer.
"If they come and support us, they'll have a great time because it's really competitive cricket," Singh said.
"There's a food truck here, so they can come, they can sit and enjoy the weather, watch the game, have Indian food on the side and learn what cricket is."
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