Happy International Podcast Day! 🎙

We are excited to celebrate by highlighting our co-founder, Uzma Iftikhar, who was recently featured on the Big Innings Podcast, hosted by Nate Hays and Aaman Patel. Have a listen to Uzma’s take on the USA’s historic first ODI against PNG and deep dive into the talented Women’s National Team!

Thanks to the Big Innings for featuring Women’s Cricket

🔗 You can catch the podcast, here: Big Innings - Ep 26: Uzma Iftikhar talks USA Women ODI; USA Men vs Canada T20i

The latest study by the Women’s Sports Foundation was released this month and is a powerful reminder of the positive impact youth sports have on women’s leadership development.

Key Highlights:
🏆 67% of women believe they’ve carried skills and lessons from sports into adulthood.
🌟 49% of women credit sports with shaping their leadership abilities.
🥇 The top skills learned from sports: 73% teamwork, 53% learning from mistakes, 51% handling pressure, and 46% pushing physical boundaries.

However, barriers still persist for girls’ participation in sports:
💸 27% cite family finances.
👩‍👧 20% face low parental engagement.
🏟️ 20% lack opportunities to participate.
🩹 17% have injury/health concerns.

The results from this study resonate deeply with us at Aspire Cricket because we have all gained so much in our lives and individual careers through life-long involvement in sports. In our work to pay it forward, we aim to address many of the barriers that hold girls back from participating. By creating safe, fun, accessible, community focused programming, we hope to inspire young cricketers to keep at it and to encourage more girls to give the sport a try.

Creating opportunities in cricket for girls to learn and grow not only expands the game, but also develops our next generation of female leaders. We are driven by the role we have to play in this space and hope that support for girls and women in sport continues to grow!

Thanks to the Women’s Sports Foundation for this study.

🔗 Play to Lead: The Generational Impact of Sport on Women’s Leadership

🔗 You can catch our recap video, here: Play to Lead Study - The Generational Impact of Sport on Women’s Leadership | Aspire Cricket

We are excited to highlight a recent press release from West Monroe celebrating the inspiring journey of our co-founder, Sindhu Sriharsha. Sindhu has had a remarkable career both on and off the cricket pitch. She currently serves as a manager at West Monroe’s Technology & Experience practice, leading strategic Salesforce implementations, while also captaining USA's Women’s Cricket Team since 2017.

Sindhu's story is one of resilience, leadership, and mentorship. Having rediscovered her passion for cricket after moving to the USA, Sindhu rose through the ranks to become the leader her team needed. Her journey is not just about personal achievements but also about giving back to the community through Aspire Cricket, a nonprofit she co-founded to make cricket more inclusive and accessible for girls and women across the USA.

In the press release, Sindhu talks about the challenges she faced in India, her rediscovery of the sport in the US, and how West Monroe has supported her leadership journey—both in her corporate role and as the captain of Team USA. As cricket looks toward its inclusion in the LA28 Summer Olympics, Sindhu continues to mentor and inspire the next generation of cricketers, ensuring that opportunities abound for girls and women in the sport.

We are grateful for this feature and proud of the continued impact Sindhu makes both through Aspire Cricket and her professional career.

🔗 Check out the full story on West Monroe's website here: Cricket, Leadership, and Mentorship: The Inspiring Journey of Sindhu Sriharsha

Catch the latest episode of the Good Vibe Show featuring our co-founder, Sindhu Sriharsha! 🌟 As the USA Women's Cricket Team Captain and a visionary leader behind Aspire Cricket, Sindhu shares her incredible journey from player to captain, reflecting on her cricket career, leadership, and her passion for empowering girls and women through cricket. 🙌

Tune in to hear Sindhu's story and her vision for Aspire Cricket’s mission to expand opportunities for women in cricket across the USA. Thank you to the Good Vibe Show for the amazing spotlight!

Our co-founders Aundria Mirabrishami and Sindhu Sriharsha attended the San Francisco Unicorns’ 2024 Friends of the Unicorns Kickoff Event in Palo Alto. The event brought together sponsors, partners, and community members to celebrate the upcoming Major League Cricket season. With Coach Shane Watson joining virtually, the event featured a sneak peek into the team's preparation, further solidifying Aspire Cricket’s connection to the cricket community in the USA.

What a treat to connect with Kerry Schonfelder, a Brand & Marketing Strategist for Visual Traffic Pty Ltd. We appreciate the support from all around the globe, and we can't wait to continue bringing people together through cricket.

The ICC 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier begins TOMORROW!

Join Aspire Cricket in supporting Team USA as the gals take on Argentina in Match 1! 🏏

Coin toss is Monday, September 4th at 8:30am PST with a 9:30am PST start.

You can watch the match on icc.tv or in person at Woodley Cricket Field in Van Nuys, CA.

Welcome, Argentina and LET’S GO USA! 🚀

Last, but certainly not least, in Aspire Cricket's Meet the Team series is Aundria (Auni) Mirabrishami!

Auni is a budding all rounder and cricket fanatic who is the perfect example of how the sport can capture the hearts and imaginations of girls and women in the USA. In a relatively short amount of time, Auni has not only become a competitive bowler and batter, but also an ICC Certified Level 1 Coach.

She is passionate about introducing the sport she loves to as many new people as possible in as many new communities as possible - something she is really good at!

Auni brings great ideas, that can-do spirit and endless enthusiasm to the Aspire Cricket Team! We are over the moon to have her with us.

Check out Aundria’s bio, below:

Sports have always been an important part of Aundria's life. She grew up playing basketball, golf, softball, soccer, and outrigger canoeing, but didn’t pick up a cricket bat until January of 2022. Growing up in a Mexican-Iranian household, cricket was relatively unknown to her outside of her friends and Bollywood movies. On a whim, Aundria decided to check out the nets one evening after work. The rest is history.

Aundria fell in love with the sport and began pouring all of her time and energy into learning everything she could about it. She hired a coach and, being a lifelong athlete, was able to make rapid progress in bowling and batting. By the summer of 2022, she found herself making quite the splash on the US cricket scene by competing with some of the best cricketers in the nation!

At her core, Aundria is a relationship builder and change maker. She recognizes that girls and women enjoy limited opportunities in sport, with cricket being no exception. Being full of gratitude for what cricket has given her, Aundria is inspired and driven to change that. She is passionate about creating new opportunities for girls and women to experience the sport of cricket and fall in love with it too.

Up next in Aspire Cricket's Meet the Team series is Uzma Iftikhar!

Uzma is an off-spin bowling all rounder who has played for the USA National Women's Team and is also an ICC Certified Level 1 Coach.

She loves mentoring young cricketers and introducing the game to new people. Through Aspire Cricket, Uzma hopes to pay forward her years of experience in international play by making quality mentorship and training more accessible to girls and women and to improve the popularity of the sport overall in the USA.

Uzma has been a heavy-hitter on the American cricket scene and is just getting started. We are lucky and grateful to have her on the Aspire Cricket Team!

Check out Uzma’s bio, below:

Uzma’s love for cricket began at the age of 5 while playing with the boys in the streets of Karachi, Pakistan. After relocating to Toronto, Canada she continued playing tennis ball cricket in the park with her cousins using a bat she made at school. As a young adult, she became curious about opportunities in women’s hardball cricket and was able to connect with a few girls at her local nets. From there, she found her way to the Canadian National Women’s Team training squad and enjoyed two years of cricket training and experience.

In 2015, Uzma relocated to the USA and immediately began looking for opportunities to continue playing cricket. She started in local cricket associations before being selected for the USA National Women’s Team in 2017. One of Uzma’s proudest moments playing for the USA National Team was defeating Canada in the 2019 ICC Americas Tournament where her contributions to the win earned her Player of the Match.

Uzma’s lifelong love for and commitment to the game of cricket, along with her experience playing for the USA National Women’s Team, makes her a natural leader in the cricket community. She loves nothing more than sharing her passion for the game and hopes to inspire, mentor and lead current and future generations of female cricketers in the USA.

Next up in Aspire Cricket's Meet the Team series is Sindhu Sriharsha!

Sindhu is the USA National Women's Team Captain and wicket keeper, Captain and wicket keeper for the Fairbreak Invitational Warriors and an ICC Certified Level 2 Coach.

She is a fierce competitor and highly-regarded leader whose love for the game seems second to none. Through Aspire Cricket, Sindhu is hoping to inspire, mentor and train this country's current and aspiring cricketers.

Sindhu has made a significant positive impact on the game of cricket for girls and women in the USA. We are thrilled to have her on the Aspire Cricket Team!

Check out Sindhu’s bio, below:

Growing up in India, Sindhu (Sins) got her start in cricket as most kids growing up there do - playing gully cricket in her neighborhood. At the age of 9, she was introduced to formal coaching. From then on, her skill and passion for the game grew as fast as she did. Sins went on to play age-level cricket for Karnataka (South Zone), then the National Cricket Academy and eventually India’s U-21 Team.

At the age of 24, Sins relocated to the USA and began what she calls her “second innings” in the sport. In 2017, she made her way onto the USA National Women’s Team as Captain and led the team in their European Qualifiers that same year. Sins remains the USA National Women’s Team Captain and has recently led the team to victories in two Americas Qualifiers. She not only captains the USA National Women’s Team, but is the only associate-level player to captain a team in the Fairbreak Invitational Tournament. In 2023, Sins led The Warriors to a Fairbreak championship win and was highly regarded by the world cricket community for her leadership.

Sins is immensely grateful for the opportunities cricket has provided her. In addition to playing for her country and captaining the USA National Women’s Team, she also wishes to contribute her diverse knowledge and extensive experience in the sport to benefit and develop the cricket community for girls and women in the USA.

Wondering about the team behind Aspire Cricket? Welcome to our Meet the Team series where we highlight our amazing founders.

First up is Julia Price!

Julia is a two-time Women's Cricket World Cup Champion hailing from Australia. She is passionate about the development and growth of the women's game. Being the former USA Women's Cricket National Team head coach, she is keen to continue her work with American cricketers through Aspire Cricket.

Julia is an inspiration to so many. We are very fortunate and excited to have her on the Aspire Cricket Team.

Check out Julia’s bio, below:

Julia (Pricey) started playing cricket at the age of 17 after discovering the women’s game on TV while on school holiday. She had been flicking through the channels and landed on an England vs. Australia Women’s World Cup final. Seeing women play at the national level inspired Pricey to call her local cricket association to get involved in the sport. A few weeks later, she hit the pitch and never looked back.

Pricey went on to make the Australian National Team and enjoyed winning two World Cups playing for her country. As a player, these wins would seem like the pinnacle of her success, but Pricey also found great pride in overcoming setbacks and adversity in her career. At one point, she was dropped from the Australian National Team, but took the opportunity away to learn and improve as a player and was able to make a comeback.

As Pricey transitioned into coaching, some of her proudest moments were taking her WBBL team, the Hobart Hurricanes, to the semi-finals in their first two years, even though the competition had ranked them last. She is also proud of having coached the USA Women’s National Team through two World Cup Qualifiers and getting to witness the group’s commitment and improvement over time.

Pricey is a decorated member of the world cricket community and brings a level of experience and perspective that is difficult to match. She is passionate about the development and growth of the women’s game and is uniquely qualified to inspire, mentor and lead the community through times of challenge and opportunity.