Once in a while, an opportunity presents itself which is not only incredibly satisfying and rewarding but also one that goes a long way in making a significant change to a young person’s life and immediate family. In late 2018 the National Asian Cricket Council (NACC) were invited by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to help support a pilot project having been approached by the charity Royal Springboard (RSB) soon after the launch of the ECB’s South Asian Action Plan.
Initially, the NACC was tasked with offering insight as well as providing assistance and connectivity with the South Asian community. All of this was to support a programme, where children from disadvantaged backgrounds who demonstrated a cricketing talent would get an opportunity to go into a number of outstanding boarding schools across England, who had a working relationship with RSB. The bursary programme provided a framework whereby the child would have all their boarding school expenses covered from academic year 7 through to 6th form. Initially, the NACC had plans to partner with a number of schools from around the Country but following further discussions, felt it more effective to work exclusively with Repton School, Repton, Derbyshire and Woodhouse Grove, Bradford, Yorkshire.
The early challenge for the NACC was to find families that would want to be considered for this once in a lifetime opportunity and who at the same time would meet the eligibility criteria. It was incredibly pleasing that via the NACC Regional Board members and the connectivity with their immediate South Asian community, the NACC soon had families that were interested to be considered for phase one of this pilot programme. By December 2018 a total of nine families from Bradford, Derby, Nottingham, Birmingham, Bedford, Luton and Cardiff had shown ‘Expressions of Interest’. This was the initial phase and it very much was about identifying the families and in particular their children becoming aware of what and how exactly the process was to move forward.
In early January 2019, Mo Bobat (then ECB Player Identification Lead & now ECB Performance Director, Men’s Cricket) who had been assigned by the ECB to lead on this project and NACC Chair (Gulfraz Riaz), arranged a gathering of the nine families at the ECB’s National Performance Centre in Loughborough where presentations were delivered by a number of key people, Lord Kamlesh Patel (ECB), Ian Davenport (RSB), Mo Bobat (ECB), Vikram Banerjee (ECB) and ex England cricketer Ajmal Shahzad (Ex Woodhouse Grove pupil). Once the nine families were briefed on the finer points of the process, the next phase involved the children sitting academic tests, families being means-tested, and children interviewed by senior principals from the schools as well having extensive cricket trials.
Following this lengthy selection process, 3 families out of the original cohort were deemed suitable to proceed further. Although the process at times was extremely challenging for various reasons, it certainly was extremely satisfying for those involved. The NACC played a key role in facilitating the most amazing educational and life-changing journey for three extremely fortunate children who now found themselves going into a world that they could not have imagined. The NACC is delighted to report that following these three lads completing their first academic year at Repton and Woodhouse Grove, the feedback from their schools has been extremely positive, stating that they have fully embraced boarding school life and are doing incredibly well in and out of class.
Following on from the success of the first cohort of youngsters, the NACC was in a much stronger position to proceed forward with the next batch who would attend their respective boarding school in 2020. Once again a similar process to the first year’s ensued and the NACC Board members were able to recommend five candidates from Accrington, Birmingham, Bradford and Nottingham. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19, many of the processes that had been put in place were not fulfilled - such as having a day visit to the schools for the boys and their families. However, despite this setback, the efforts of the NACC has resulted in three boys attending both Repton and Woodhouse Grove for the academic year commencing September 2020.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Farouk Hussain our board representative for the North West region for all his efforts in helping the two lads from Accrington and Bradford understand and prepare for not only the academic tests, but also for the vital interviews with the respected principles at the schools the boys were seeking to attend. I along with both the families appreciated this vital contribution and once again demonstrated that we have the connectivity and professionalism to help, support and deliver at the most critical of moments.
NACC have continued to offer a pastoral/mentoring service for all the boys as well as support the families with regards to taking them through each stage of the processes involved, helping the lads prepare for the academic tests and crucially offer guidance for the important interviews with senior staff at the respected schools. A number of NACC Board members who have extensive experience of being mentors are in a strong position to continue offering what is going to be a vital support to these young lads as they progress through the academic years and will require continued help and guidance from a body that has worked tirelessly to give them the best opportunity to succeed for what lies ahead. At the same time, NACC has been in a position to reassure and support the families, for whom this is the first experience of separation from their son/brother.
From the three lads that have finished their first academic year (2019 intake) the feedback from their families has been incredibly positive and they are delighted with the progress their children have made.
Mo Bobat (ECB):
"As lovers and custodians of the game, we typically strive to provide young people with the opportunities to fulfil their cricketing potential and this intent drives much of our work as a governing body. In this instance, we have embarked on a project that is so much bigger than that and it fills me with a huge sense of pride that we have been able to facilitate opportunities that go way beyond a cricket field, and will undoubtedly prove to be truly transformational. We owe a debt of gratitude to Royal Springboard for instigating this project and the engagement of the supportive schools has been outstanding. Above all, praise must go to the NACC and in particular, Gulfraz Riaz, whose unrelenting commitment has been at the centre of the project and has helped us to deliver on our aims.
From the outset, one of the key challenges that NACC were faced with was identifying suitable individuals and families to involve in the project. NACC Chair, Gulfraz Riaz expertly balanced his insight and understanding of local communities with the requirements of the project and the schools. Throughout, he did this with the highest of professional standards and a genuinely empathetic and personable approach. A further challenge has been to manage the transition of the young people and families into boarding school life which has demanded a commitment to ongoing communication and support. Transitions of any kind can be incredibly difficult and in this case, moving a young person from their familiar surroundings and support network to a relatively alien environment is fraught with risk. So far NACC have managed this well and I know how committed Gulfraz is to ensuring that this remains the case.
At a time when topics such as equality and social mobility are occupying our thoughts and conversations like never before in our lifetime, it is great to be able to reflect on the delivery of positive intervention. Whilst relatively small scale in terms of national reach, the impact for the young people concerned has the potential to be genuinely life-changing and that should fuel our desire to keep trying to make a difference. Well done Gulfraz and thanks for your support!"
Hamza Saeed
Mr & Mrs Saeed (Parents of Hamza Saeed) - As parents, we both are extremely to Gulfraz and Nasa from the NACC as well as to the ECB and Woodhouse Grove School for allowing our son an opportunity to attend a wonderful school that will no doubt have a life-changing impact on his education and cricketing journey. Hamza has had an amazing first year, getting accustomed to boarding school life, making new friends and becoming independent with the help and support of the teachers too. Thank you NACC, ECB, Royal Springboard and Woodhouse Grove.
Saif Karim
Mr & Mrs Karim (Parents of Saif Karim) - We would like to take this opportunity to offer our sincere thanks and appreciation to firstly Gulfraz Riaz & Nazaqat Ali from the NACC and Mo Bobat from ECB for being in a position to give our son this life-changing opportunity at Repton School. As parents we are also extremely grateful to all the people who have worked tirelessly in making this programme come to life, it certainly is once in a lifetime opportunity and we know that Saif is cherishing every moment at a very special school. We are also delighted that the programme has been able to go into year two and we are pleased that other boys have now been given opportunities like our son. Well done NACC & ECB!
Yusuf Bin Naeem
Mr & Mrs Akhtar (Parents of Yusuf Bin Naeem) - On behalf of my family we would like to thank Gulfraz and Nazaqat Ali from the NACC in initially making us aware of this programme and then fully supporting us through the whole process which was over a period of almost a year. Yusuf has settled into Boarding school life and we are pleased with his development. Repton School and the whole staffing network have been incredibly supportive in making Yusuf’s first year as comfortable as possible. We are also extremely grateful that we continue to get support from Gulfraz/Nazaqat at any time that we require and this is much appreciated. The pastoral support and the mentoring programme that is due to commence shortly will also be of great help and we very much value and appreciate the lengths the NACC is going to with the support offered, as Yusuf goes into his second year.
NACC Chairman Gulfraz Riaz summed up his feelings about the project:
“The NACC would like to thank Lord Kamlesh Patel, David Mahoney and Vikram Banerjee from the ECB for asking the NACC to support this programme and having faith that it would be able to deliver. Also, sincere appreciation to Ian Davenport and Ali Henderson the new CEO at RSB. I would also personally like to offer my gratitude and appreciation to Mo Bobat for all the advice, support and guidance that he has offered me from day one and despite Mo having an incredibly busy diary he was always in a position to support, be it at the end of the telephone or even take on a site visit at one of the schools with the families. It is also absolutely right to offer our sincere appreciation and gratitude to Mark Semmence the Headmaster at Repton and also to James Lockwood the Headmaster at Woodhouse Grove and their support staff who have gone beyond all expectations when comes to accommodating and helping this programme.
Moving forward I sincerely hope that we continue to build and grow a programme that is unique, that has the capacity to change hearts and minds and most of all give children an opportunity that can only be life-changing on or off the pitch.”
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