Iqra Academy is an independent Girls School with an Islamic ethos situated in a disadvantaged area in the City of Peterborough. The School has no sporting facilities and no playing fields, as it is situated in an industrial area. The Students also have little or no contact with sports outside of School. This obviously has an impact on the student’s health and well-being and limits their social contact. Therefore, it is imperative that the School looks to charitable organisations to support our young disadvantaged students.
Opportunities for the girls to play cricket commenced some years ago through Cricket East and its ECB Diverse Communities Project who immediately involved the local Wicketz Development Officer, based in the heart of the city’s diverse communities. In 2019 with the opportunity to be part of a joint venture with Peterborough United Football Club as part of their Community Week. Then later that year 5 girls completed their Young Leaders in Cricket qualification supporting at that time, primary school competitions in the city. The girls benefited from a full day of teambuilding skills day as part of the qualification at Grafham Water Outdoor Centre supporting development of decision making, leadership, confidence, inter-personal and team working skills.
2 of the girls received recognition for their fundraising achievements as part of the national award at the presentation at Lords Cricket Ground. These activities were supported by members of the Regional Engagement Team of the RAF who have close links with the Iqra Academy both for football and indeed cricket. A member of the RAF team supports the Development Officer at weekly Wicketz Hubs across the city.
The Lord’s Taverners Wicketz/Cricket East safe and structured Wicketz programme of cricket at the School during lunchtimes. They provided all the equipment necessary for the girls to play Cricket and develop their skills. This was all done in the School Car park as the Academy has no on site sports facilities. The students loved playing Cricket, felt included and became more confident and active, with many stating that they were also practising their skills at home. Students have become more active and the sessions have improved their health and well-being.
Student Role models appeared and before we knew it a School team was formed.
The Lord’s Taverners and Cricket East then supported the School Team in setting up a Wicketz Cricket Match with a local Secondary School at the Weston Homes Stadium, home of the Peterborough United Football Club. This proved a great success, where not only did the Iqra Academy students gain a huge learning curve in competitive Cricket but gain a renewed confidence and make friends with the other school. To play in a stadium was also a great life experience, which they will never forget.
Iqra Academy has high aspirations to develop Cricket and will be taking part in other School Matches and competitions this summer, including the Peterborough and District Schools and the Association of Muslim Schools Competitions. We have also made enquiries for some of our Students to gain the ECB Cricket Leaders Award again in future.
The School will certainly look to participate in the Lord’s Taverners Wicketz programme on an annual basis.
Our ultimate aspiration would be to develop our School Values of Integrity, Quality, Respect, Aspiration on to the Cricket field and win the AMS National Title, as we have done in Football.
It is hoped that further opportunities will also evolve in future with Iqra and the girls section of the CCC Pboro club that the Wicketz Development Officer and Cricket East have been engaging with either side of lockdown. The Development Officer has already supported at these club sessions as well.
Quote from David Ripley Northants County Cricket Club Ambassador at the most recent football club activity: “Great to see the girls playing cricket, having fun at a wonderful venue. Some real raw talent on display. The standard of catching was really high and I hope this can act as a springboard to push the girls on further.”
Mahreen Ali, Student 12 years old; “Thank you for the opportunity to play Cricket, we all loved it. It gave me great confidence and has certainly developed my skills, which I hope to put to further good use in our Cricket matches to come. It also taught me to be resilient and to never give up. We had no previous experience and ended up winning a match in a massive stadium, which was fantastic.”
Michael Wright, Principal; “A big thank you on behalf of Iqra Academy. The Coaching was very professional, fun and inspirational. It has given the School and its Students the opportunity to go on and play Cricket, which without the Lord’s Taverners and Cricket East, we would never have been able to do so.”
Dan Wilson Lords Taverners National Wicketz Programme Manager; “It was great to see girls playing cricket today in a very different kind of venue, supported by a number of partners within the community. Wicketz is about removing barriers and promoting inclusivity, and we look forward to seeing more girls joining our project in Peterborough as a result of the work going on in the city.”
Dave Summers
May 2022