Text by Paulo Vítor Campos
The year is just beginning, but the people from the Poços de Caldas cricket are already training as if the season is in full swing. In March, the U-19 women’s team will be in Buenos Aires competing for a competition and that is why training is fast paced.

Sports Secretary
Professor Matt Featherstone met with Sports Secretary Wellington Guimarães, Paulista, during the week and was very excited about the conversation. “The secretary from São Paulo was to help us with the projects, he showed a lot of interest and this is very encouraging for the continuity of our activities”, said Featherstone.

Five more projects
Matt Featherstone says that in 2017 five more projects will be opened in Poços de Caldas. “Cricket will grow even more, we will have more projects, more games, more competitions, more practitioners, in short, we will have a lot, soon the modality will be the most practiced in Poços de Caldas for sure”, he guarantees. Currently, Poços has 26 projects and the goal for this year is to reach 30. “After the conversation with the Sports Secretary, I am very excited and I believe that this number may be even higher”, says the professor.

Teachers
As part of the growth of the sport, three more people started attending college with the help of cricket and will be the new teachers of the project. In total five students of the projects will be the future teachers of the projects that come together in order to bring the sport to as many people as possible. “By increasing the number of teachers, we will be able to seek new fans and consequently take cricket to all corners of the city. I am very excited about all of this and I believe we are on the right track, ”continues Featherstone.

Exchange
Another important fact at the beginning of the year in the cricket of Poços is the exchange made by Professor Roberta Avery, who is in Australia in search of new knowledge. She will be there for approximately one month and will bring important knowledge to be implemented in the cricket practiced in Poços de Caldas. At the end of the year, an Australian professor repaid the visit and will be checking out Poços’ projects. “It will be an important exchange of knowledge. This teacher will help us, bring news that will certainly be important for both sides ”. speaks Featherstone.

Support
The Poços de Caldas cricket is supported by the Municipal Electricity Department, Municipal Sports Secretariat, Rotary, Hotel Minas Gerais. “I always highly value our partners, who are fundamental to the success of our projects. Who wins with the incentive to sport is the city and soon we will have more than three thousand children practicing cricket in Poços de Caldas. It is a dream that is close to being realized and with the help of several partners we will get there ”, concludes Matt Featherstone.

Equipment
This week new equipment arrived that will be important for the practice of cricket in the city. According to Matt Featherstone, the material came through a group of Indian friends who came to Poços. In Brazil the equipment of the modalities are still not found and that is why there are difficulties in obtaining them. “We have to count on friends who come from abroad. When I travel, I also try to bring a good stock because there is no way to buy here because it doesn’t exist in the market ”, he says. “Gloves, clubs, shin guards, in short, a lot of new equipment will arrive this week. We do not have a store in Brazil that sells this material and we hope that with the growth of the sport we will soon have an easier time. Maybe Poços de Caldas doesn’t have a specialized store. For now we have to count on the help of friends who travel abroad and who are willing to help us ”, says Featherstone.