Dave Inman, PE Teacher at Washwood Heath Academy, chuckles when he realises the final of the 2022 WCB / Deloitte Day involves two of his most competitive Year 9 cricketers facing each other on opposite teams – Yousaf on the New Zealand team against Ayaan for the Pakistan team (the team names having been chosen to reflect the participants in the upcoming Commonwealth Games). When asked who is going to win, both boys answer confidently in unison, “We are going to win!”.
After some power hitting from both sides, the final is won by New Zealand. The nature of the competition, with each team containing two Year 9 pupils from each of the five participating schools, means that every school attending has winners at the end of the day long tournament. Much more importantly, however, is the fact that the pupils have the opportunity to play cricket, to mix with girls and boys from other schools as part of a team, and to meet some inspiring Deloitte volunteers and WCB coaches. This summarises the aim of the WCB / Deloitte Day – to promote social inclusion and provide opportunities to young people in Birmingham.
As an added inspiration, to finish off the day at the Edgbaston Community Ground, there was also a presentation ceremony with medals handed out by Birmingham Phoenix players Gwen Davies and Olly Stone. Pupils, staff and Deloitte volunteers also had the opportunity to ask the Phoenix players some questions in a Q&A session.
Bringing people together
The WCB / Deloitte Day has been bringing Birmingham pupils together since 2015. It is a unique collaboration, involving people from the world of business, sport and education. WCB Community Participation Officer Mina Zahoor summarises what makes the day special. “I’ve been involved in this annual event for four years now, and what I love about it is that we have people from every part of our community here today, all mixing and having fun together. You can see the participants started quietly in their teams alongside new people from other schools, but they’ve all ended up making new friends, supporting each other, and being really loud by the time they played their final match. That’s what this event it all about and why we are so pleased to continue our relationship with Deloitte in Birmingham.”
Anika Kinkhabwala, Deloitte coordinator of the event, has been involved with the WCB / Deloitte Day for six years and agrees with Mina. “It’s great to be working with the WCB and local schools to make an impact. Since this event started in 2015, we have provided funding and volunteers to give opportunities to well over 200 children in Birmingham.
Importantly, this includes many pupils who haven’t played cricket before. It’s great to see so many girls having the opportunity to play cricket for the first time.”
“Our commitment to this event is part of Deloitte’s ‘5 Million Futures’ initiative,” explains Anika. “As a firm, we have given a commitment to make a positive impact on the lives of 5 million pupils and students globally – providing opportunities not just in sport but also in education, mentoring and business. We have 12 volunteers here today from Deloitte in Birmingham, and they are supporting the teams, scoring the matches and encouraging team building. This is a popular event amongst our staff. When I sent an email round the office to ask for volunteers, I immediately had a great response and actually had a waiting list of people wanting to come and help.”
Volunteers
Anika’s Deloitte colleague Stewart Cumberbatch echoes Anika’s words about the Deloitte ‘5 Million Futures’ programme. In his summing up at the presentation ceremony, Stewart stresses the importance of giving young people opportunities to grow in confidence and skills. A keen cricketer himself, he comments on how he watched the pupils in his group improve their skills over the course of the day. Stewart also adds, “It’s also really important to enjoy days like this and sport generally. I have enjoyed seeing some great camaraderie today.”
Saif Ahmed works in the Transaction Services team at Deloitte in Birmingham and is volunteering with the Pakistan team today. He used to play cricket seriously at school, but now plays recreationally and enjoys watching it. “I saw the opportunity to get involved in something cricket related, so I grabbed it,” says Saif. “I remember going to Edgbaston for a tournament when I was in Year 6 and I enjoyed it. I wanted to help current pupils to have a similar opportunity. The pupils today are really into it and quite competitive. They are all getting on well with each other and there is definitely a focus on getting everyone involved. It’s not a case of the star players taking over – even those who haven’t played before are involved and enjoying the day.”
Alongside Saif, also with the Pakistan team, is Deloitte colleague Iqra Kauser. Iqra usually works in the Tax division at Deloitte, but she admits it is great to be out of the office for a day to volunteer at Portland Road. “It’s great to be here,” says Iqra. “My family love cricket and I can see the enthusiasm on the pupils’ faces. Our team has done well today – it’s fun but also a little bit competitive. It’s fantastic that Deloitte does this. It makes me proud to work for the firm. The ‘5 Million Futures’ programme was one of the reasons I joined Deloitte. I also work as a tutor at the weekends and giving something back is important to me. It’s also been nice to meet people from other parts of the Deloitte business. It is a big firm and, before I arrived today, I only knew one other person who was volunteering.”
Positive experience – the participants’ view
Alexia and Tyese are pupils at John Willmott School in Sutton Coldfield. They have both come to the WCB / Deloitte Day as beginners at cricket. Tyese explains how her initial worries about fitting in were unfounded. “I thought my team looked good and I was worried I wouldn’t fit in. But everyone has helped me and been really nice. Nobody told me just to stand there and do nothing – they have included me, and it has been a really nice experience.”
Tyese’s friend Alexia has also enjoyed the opportunity to meet new people from different parts of the city. “It’s been a diverse event, and a chance to meet people from different backgrounds. I didn’t understand cricket before, but this shows if you put your mind to stuff you can do it. I was nervous for the first three games but then I started to come out of my shell, and I have been talking to other people on my team.”
Getting pupils active – the teachers’ view
Alexia and Tyese were selected for the tournament by Liz Smart, PE Teacher and Year 9/10 Phase Leader at John Willmott School. A former cricketer herself for Warwickshire and Walmley Women, Liz was keen to give her Year 9 GCSE PE pupils an opportunity to experience cricket. “The girls I have brought today are part of my developing Year 9 girls’ cricket team. They have played in a couple of softball tournaments and enjoyed it, so we have come off the back of that. It’s great to see them mixing with other pupils. Sometimes you bring them to things like this and they stick together, but this event is designed to get them mixing with pupils from other schools. There is a good range of abilities here today.”
Liz continues to explain how events like the WCB / Deloitte Day make an important contribution to getting young people active after the pandemic. “Especially after Covid, it is hard as a PE teacher to get pupils active again. It’s a ‘Phone World’ now and it’s just nice to see them not attached to their phones for a day. Altogether, it’s a great experience and something a little bit different for these girls. We also got tickets in the school ballot for cricket at the Commonwealth Games, so I will be taking 12 pupils to see England v South Africa. It will be special for our school as Amy Jones, the England wicketkeeper, is a former pupil of John Willmott School.”
In addition to John Willmott School, the other schools represented at the WCB / Deloitte Day are Broadway Academy, Hamstead Hall Academy, Hillcrest Academy and Washwood Heath Academy. Cathy Reeves, PE Teacher at Hillcrest Academy, has brought a group of Year 9 beginners to the tournament. “I have chosen girls who have potential but are not able to attend an after school club. This event will give these girls an opportunity they otherwise wouldn’t have had. They are enjoying themselves and have made friends because of the way the organisers have split it. It’s nice for the girls to meet people they wouldn’t normally meet – and also to play alongside boys, which obviously at a girls’ school they don’t do.”
Cathy admits she didn’t tell the girls they wouldn’t all be playing on the same team until they actually arrived at the Portland Road ground. “Some of the girls are quite shy, so I decided not to tell them until we were here. It’s good to see them all getting along well. I played a lot of sport when I was their age and turned up to events where I didn’t know people initially, but it actually gives you an extra friendship group through sport with people who you share an interest with. I am pleased for those girls who struggle to do something out of school. Today, they have an opportunity to be part of something else.”
Echoing the thoughts of Liz Smart, Cathy has also experienced difficulties getting sport re-established after the pandemic. “Getting things set up after Covid has been challenging. Things are still not running smoothly and lots of things just haven’t happened. We have done all that’s been available, but so much talent in secondary schools will be wasted unless there are more events like this. We don’t have a minibus, but we still managed to get here. A free event like today is great, but it also has to be beneficial to the girls, as this one is.”
Keeping the cricket tradition alive
Returning to Dave Inman from Washwood Heath Academy, he is delighted for the school to be involved in an event which helps continue the strong cricket tradition in his school. “There is a big tradition of cricket at Washwood Heath. A few years ago, the school reached national finals and just before Covid our U16 team won their indoor league. At lunchtime in the playground, I can guarantee every bin is being used as a wicket. There is always an endless number of balls flying onto the roof. Amongst our students today, the boys are confident, the girls less so. The boys are all in our cricket team, but only one of the girls has played before. The other girls are sporty and it’s good to see them enjoying a different sport and making new friends. The girls at our school love the Glow in the Dark cricket organised by the WCB. Anything that comes our way from Edgbaston, we try to get involved with it.”
Looking forward to Summer 2022
One of the Washwood Heath pupils attending the WCB / Deloitte Day is going to be a baton carrier for the Commonwealth Games. Dave Inman describes how Ocean has grown in confidence after being nominated as a baton carrier. “Ocean is naturally shy and wouldn’t put herself forward, but she is now confident enough to have made a speech about her role in front of our local MP. It’s great how events like today and the Commonwealth Games are giving our pupils confidence. I have seen our girls today participating really well, after initially being quite shy.”
Following on from the Commonwealth Games, of course, is The Hundred. Sifaya Ikbal from The Birmingham Phoenix team has arranged for Phoenix players Gwen Davies and Ollie Stone to present the winners medals and take part in a Q&A session with the Deloitte Day participants. Their responses differed when asked which rule of cricket they would change. As a batter, Gwen opted for a first ball grace, while bowler Ollie said he would prefer 4’s and 6’s not to count! Both players were in unison, however, when asked for their tips about cricket – both stressing the importance of keeping it simple and enjoying the game. For everyone involved in the WCB / Deloitte Day the highlight of the day was seeing a group of pupils from Birmingham schools doing just that – being introduced to cricket, making new friends, and enjoying the game.
The WCB would like to thank Deloitte and all the participating schools for their partnership in making the 2022 WCB / Deloitte Day once again a great success.
