The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced a partnership with Uber today for the development of girls’ cricket at school level across the country through its Cric4Us Programme.
The six-month partnership, which commences from the day of signing, will benefit more than 1,500 players through collaboration with schools in 14 cities, namely Abbottabad, Bahawalpur, Charsadda, Haripur, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Mardan, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Nowshera, Peshawar, Quetta, and Rawalpindi.
Under the six-month partnership, playing and training attire will be provided to 850 children, while cricket equipment will be provided to 50 schools. The program will select a minimum of four schools in every city.
With female coaches and mentors being given priority, 50 school-based sports staff will be provided training. Twenty-five pitches will be developed in schools across five zones.
PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan said:
For the promotion of women and girls cricket and the enhancement of the player pool, it is imperative that women cricket is developed at the school level. The PCB has been undertaking many initiatives through its Cric4Us Programme and plans to exhaust all avenues to provide better opportunities for girls to take up the sport and to see it as a viable profession at a later stage.
I am hopeful that this valuable partnership between the PCB and Uber will help us in achieving this very goal. I want to thank Uber for putting its trust in the PCB for the development of women and girls cricket at the school level.
GM Uber Saad Naveed Pall said:
Our goal is to not only tell stories of empowered women but to create an ecosystem that enables aspiring women cricketers. We are excited about this partnership with the PCB to provide opportunities to young girls who are willing to go on to challenge the status quo by becoming change agents of the future.
Cric4Us Programme is a women cricket development project launched under the name of Women Cricket Vision 2022, which focuses on the growth of the sport in schools and providing a proper pathway to the emerging and national teams.
The schools’ children will also be able to avail regular evening practice, this is to provide them as many development opportunities as possible. The schools will also play matches regularly, which will help children in developing the desired skill-set.
