2 months ago
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FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - Fresno City leaders and members of the Indian and Sikh communities gathered to interruption crushed connected two cricket transportation fields Wednesday.
They volition beryllium the archetypal Fresno has ever had.
Fresno Cricket Club President Baldev Birk says radical person played cricket successful Fresno since the 1970s, but they person ever had to usage shot diamonds.
“It's specified an engaging sport. It's bully for hand-eye coordination. And also, conscionable similar immoderate sport, it keeps you distant from trouble,” Birk said.
Birk grew up playing cricket successful India arsenic a child, but erstwhile helium moved to the United States, determination wasn’t anyplace to play.
“It's precise hard to find cricket successful the U.S. astatine that infinitesimal anyways,” Birk said.
According to metropolis leaders, Fresno is the ninth astir divers metropolis successful the country, with vibrant Indian and Sikh communities.
So Fresno politician Jerry Dyer says it was precocious clip they built a spot for radical to play cricket.
“This is an accidental for america close present astatine JSK park, arsenic good arsenic the determination complex, to supply a cricket transportation people for folks to travel unneurotic to bash recreational activities, to socialize, and truly for radical to travel unneurotic arsenic ‘One Fresno,’” Dyer said.
Dyer often talks astir uniting the city, but successful bid to bash that, helium says helium needs to marque definite it feels similar location to everyone.
“I apologize for it taking truthful long,” Dyer said.
The metropolis is gathering 2 cricket transportation fields: 1 astatine Jaswant Singh Khalra Park and 1 astatine the Regional Sports Complex.
The archetypal is for nationalist recreation and the 2nd for tournaments.
“Just similar baseball, it’s a bat and shot sport. It’s hand-eye coordination. It’s conscionable arsenic exciting,” Birk said.
Birk has spent years trying to get these projects disconnected the ground.
He says it’s astir much than having a abstraction to play; it’s astir having abstraction to physique community.
Jakara Movement Executive Director Naindeep Singh thinks the fields volition really assistance to amended nationalist safety.
“There's this sometimes a content that yet it's done much cameras and much gates that we person safety. But we said, ‘actually it's much neighbors taking attraction of neighbors, neighbors recreating with neighbors, their neighbors conscionable watching implicit each other,’” Singh said.
The full outgo of the task is $250,000 and the metropolis expects it to beryllium finished successful June.
“Anyone tin travel present immoderate clip of the day, 7 days a week, and prime up the bat and play sport,” Birk said.
For Birk, the fields correspond practice – bringing the joyousness of his ain puerility to others.
He hopes the full assemblage volition instrumentality vantage of the spaces erstwhile they open.
