The Santa Clarita Valley Cricket Academy held its awards ceremony in Central Park on Sunday afternoon, celebrating the end of the organization’s first-ever Youth Cricket Tournament. The event’s final matches were held earlier in the day.
“Each and every one of you has shown exceptional talent, determination, and teamwork throughout this tournament,” SCVCA President and CEO Subhash Ravisankar said to the young players during his opening remarks. “Your hard work and commitment to the game is inspiring.”
“As we gather here today to honor the achievements of our budding cricketers, let us not forget the values that cricket teaches us,” he continued. “Discipline, resilience and fair play. These are not just skills on the cricket field but lessons of life.”
Ravisankar also thanked the athletes’ parents, coaches, volunteers and city officials, giving special attention to their support given when poor weather earlier in the year interrupted their schedule.
“We had so many times when the rain stopped us,” Ravisankar said. “We come here, draw the lines and mark it, and the next day, there’s rain, and we had to cancel it. And in fact, I’d like to thank the city officials for working very closely with me whenever I had to cancel. They were just supporting us along.”
Santa Clarita Mayor Cameron Smyth was a featured guest of the ceremony, given an opportunity to speak after Ravisankar. He told the athletes about how his experience in athletics taught him important skills that have aided him throughout his life, including during his political career.
“The first time I ran for office here in Santa Clarita, I actually lost, and if it wasn’t for my athletic background and understanding that losing is sometimes part of it, I probably wouldn’t be here,” Smyth said. “After I lost that first time, I could’ve very easily said, ‘That was really unpleasant, and I don’t like to lose, so I’m gonna quit. I’m gonna do something else.’”
Smyth added that he hopes that the young cricket players would continue to play the sport and that they’d serve as inspirations for other children in the community who want to take part in athletics.
“If you look at our community, we have Olympic athletes, professional athletes in all different sports. And maybe you won’t be those, but you’re laying the foundation for other kids. They’d come out of the Santa Clarita Academy and be able to play at a higher level.”
The award recipients of the SCVCA awards are as follows:
U11 (11 years old and younger)
- Winners: Irvine Southern California Youth Cricket Academy.
- Runners-up: Woodley Tigers.
- Best Batsman: Aarav Arora (Irvine SCYCA).
- Best Bowler: Sheraz Riyaz (Woodley Tigers).
- Best Fielder: Bhumika Havinash (Santa Clarita Wolves).
- Best Wicket Keeper: Zaid Malik (Woodley Tigers).
- Best All-Rounder: Aryan Arora (Irvine SCYCA).
U13 (12 to 13 years old)
- Winners: Irvine SCYCA.
- Runners-up: Buena Park Southern California Cricket Association Youth.
- Best Batsman: Krishang Parmar (Santa Clarita Wolves).
- Best Bowler: Kian Sahasrabudhe (Irvine SCYCA).
- Best Fielder: Shritan Reddy Yelal (Irvine SCYCA).
- Best Wicket Keeper: Ahan Sharma (Irvine SCYCA).
- Best All-Rounder: Ankit Narsina (Buena Park SCCAY).
