Dubai, UAE (21, November, 2023) – Two of the Desert Vipers’ UAE contingent – all-rounder Aryan Lakra and leg-spinner Karthik Meiyappan – have visited the Gems Winchester school in Dubai to support the Desert Vipers School and Community Outreach programme.
Both players participated in cricket coaching sessions with children between the ages of eight and thirteen, while also doing their part in spreading the word about the Desert Vipers’ sustainability agenda.
Aryan Lakra said: “I am here with the Desert Vipers today. They have launched a campaign, raising awareness about climate change, and I am here today to hopefully inspire a few kids to play cricket and spread the word about ILT20 as well. In my experience this is the first time a franchise has done this, so it is a great feeling to be a part of such a franchise that things about more than just cricket.
“I came here today, spent about an hour with these kids and I think hopefully Karthik and myself got a chance to inspire them today, because (I remember) when I was this age, I think I know definitely that if I had some of UAE’s top players or big name players playing for teams like Desert Vipers had come to my school and talked to me and engaged with me, that definitely would have inspired me to get into cricket and take it more seriously.
“I am just hoping, maybe out of the thirty-forty children we interacted with, maybe down the line, we can get a couple of players, playing for the UAE and the Vipers in the ILT20.”
Karthik Meiyappan also engaged with the students across a couple of sessions, offering tips on bowling: “I am here to meet the local kids of Gems Winchester and I am representing the franchise (Desert Vipers). We are here to coach them a little bit and then get them introduced to the game as well as introduce them to sustainability. I think it is pretty important that we create awareness amongst the kids because that is the future generation that we have to look to.
“It is a proud feeling for me to be a part of a franchise that is trying to create awareness as well as getting kids exposed to the game (of cricket). Also, I feel like the fact that COP 28 (the global climate summit) is going to happen in the UAE makes this even more relevant to create awareness amongst the kids, because that is how they are going to learn.
“We had a couple of stations today, doing three drills and the kids had a lot of fun. I think there are some future prospects for the UAE and the Desert Vipers right here.”
The Desert Vipers School and Community Outreach Programme’s primary goal is to engage with the local community, to help contribute to the health and well-being of youngsters (targeted age group of 8-13) while also promoting sustainable practices at the same time.
Desert Vipers operations manager Sam Charnley, who leads the outreach and coaching programme, explained the key objectives: “The purpose is to deliver a sustainability message while we are coaching cricket and to introduce cricket within schools in the UAE.
“We designed the program around sustainability and the messaging through that so, for example, we talk about reduce, reuse, and recycle throughout the session. During the warmups we do with the children, we also talk about the world getting warmer and trying to reduce that steep increase that we are seeing now. We also try and make sure that there are no plastic bottles in the sessions, only reusable ones, and different messages like that. That is the key for us."
The Desert Vipers have invited a number of international and local schools across the UAE to participate in this initiative. As part of the offering, the Desert Vipers top-class coaching team delivers cricket sessions to students, while also engaging with them about sustainability. Cricket coaching sessions with a sustainable twist is the best description for these sessions that are being delivered successfully to students across the UAE.
A number of top-tier schools have committed to joining hands with the Desert Vipers through this programme, with the goal of introducing and helping to develop an interest in the game of cricket amongst youngsters, unearthing local talent, and providing them with a platform to grow, while at the same time building an awareness of the environmental challenges facing the planet.
A typical coaching session begins with fitness games and then focuses on introducing the children to specific batting, bowling, and fielding drills, for them to have a taste of cricket. Sustainability is at the heart of the coaching and outreach programme, with key ideas and concepts like reduce, reuse, and recycle being seamlessly intertwined with the cricket skills activities for the children.
Coach Navalesh Naidu, who leads the coaching sessions for the Desert Vipers explained: “We try at the very beginning of the session to encourage kids to be more sustainable within their lifestyles, be it at school, at home and with friends and family. And through cricket and through sustainability, we try and merge the two projects together and just give them a fun introduction to the sport.”
The staff and students at Gems Winchester gave the programme a big thumbs-up. For the school’s Director of Sports, Stuart Booth, the Desert Vipers’ carefully curated coaching sessions represented a unique opportunity for the students to learn and have fun.
“When the Desert Vipers came along and gave us this opportunity, we thought it was too good to pass up. And we saw the kids were having a great time and that was and is what I want as Director of Sport, for children to enjoy sport and have a lifelong passion for it.”
The students came out on the other side of the unique session with a variety of learnings. Vidur Mathur, a student of year thirteen, was one of a group of senior students who convinced Lakra and Meiyappan to play a two-over match with them at the end of the session. And while the Desert Vipers stars managed to win the contest, they left an indelible mark on the students.
Speaking later, Vidur said: “Sustainability is a very important thing because, due to global warming, the temperatures are increasing, and yes, cricket is such a big sport with such a large following, that we could actually make a change while implementing sustainability, especially in the UAE. This is a year of sustainability as well, so (I believe) cricket will make a huge impact on this."
Rohan Ali, from year seven, added: “It has helped in teaching us how to play cricket and there are professional players that have come along for us, so I really appreciated it.
Pirasan Adel, who plays basketball for her school, enjoyed the introduction to a new sport and she said: “It was a great experience. I thought I was training for a real-life cricket game to be honest. They (the Desert Vipers coaches and Aryan Lakra and Karthik Meiyappan) were nice. It was fun and I liked it.”
Another child, Aarav Nair, who is a cricket player himself, was inspired by the opportunity to meet the two visiting UAE and Desert Vipers stars and he said: “I enjoyed the fact that we were able to meet some famous people from the Desert Vipers. I also enjoyed the fact that I could learn from them.”
The Desert Vipers efforts are also aimed at building a fan base in the UAE, and the hope is that many of the students who have attended the coaching sessions will come out and support the team during their matches in season two of the DP World ILT20. The second edition of the ILT20 is scheduled to start on 19 January 2024 with the Desert Vipers’ first match against the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday 21 January.
The Desert Vipers finished as runners-up in the inaugural edition of the tournament in January and February 2023.
