Namibia’s developmental cricket initiative wins international award

WINDHOEK, July 30 -- Namibia's grassroots cricket development initiative, the Ashburton Kwata Mini-Cricket Program, won a global award for the 2022 International Cricket Council (ICC) Development Initiative of the Year on Tuesday.
   The ICC Development Awards were launched in 2002 and honor world-leading initiatives and innovative programs undertaken by ICC Members to develop and grow the game of cricket in emerging nations during the previous calendar year.
   Namibia was named the winner due to the continued success of its Ashburton Kwata Mini-Cricket Program. This participation program was launched in 2009 and embraces the notion of playing in open environments, and encourages respect, leadership, and resilience through the game of cricket.
   Cricket Namibia Mini Cricket Coordinator Jona Ambuga in a statement said the program has kept a lot of kids out of trouble.
   "We run afternoon programs and the kids are kept occupied," he said, adding that the program has become a community engagement benefiting many more people.
   Cricket Namibia CEO Johan Muller said the biggest purpose of the country's cricket governing body is to make sure the program reaches every region of the country.
   "More than 100,000 children from all 14 regions participated last year, while 20,000 played regular matches," he said.
   Namibia's program has been honored for a second successive year in the ICC Development Awards and has expanded throughout the country. 

Xinhua