HTC Eindhoven, Cricket Association
HTC Eindhoven, Cricket Association
“Why can’t we start a cricket club in Eindhoven Ji” a question asked by Raja Thiruvenkadam to Bharathidasan Sekar is the starting point of HTCECA. It wasn’t a simple question to answer. Starting a cricket club needs some prerequisites and the most basic of that is a ground. Bharathidasan Sekar wanted to explore this opportunity even though Noord Brabant had another existing cricket clubs. Having had the reference of players in Softball tournaments, Bharathidasan Sekar and VimalKumar AjithKumar decided to speak to individuals to understand their willingness to compete in LMS Amsterdam tournaments. Cricket is a passionate game, and playing in cricket ball was always a wish for us. We wanted to experience it, and LMS tournament in Amsterdam provided us with a platform to test our capabilities.
Traveling 150 km every Friday and playing in Amsterdam didn’t stop us. Eagerness and desire to play cricket kept us motivated to travel. That’s where the initial bunch of HTCECA teams were formed. Initial meetings weren’t favoring us due to the administrative challenges. Ideas shouldn’t be buried, we wanted to work on our idea and keep it alive but scouting for the ground was our priority. Harish Nandagopal joined Bharathidasan Sekar and Vimalkumar AjithKumar to coordinate with HIGH TECH CAMPUS to utilize their facility. It wasn’t an easy ride, and it took N number of meetings, but the idea was still strong. Keeping alive our desire of playing leather ball cricket, an idea from Raja Thiruvenkadam opened a new door.
We explored the opportunity of playing for MOP, a cricket club in Vught. With the mutual agreement, we represented MOP with our initial team and simultaneously started working to get HIGH TECH CAMPUS facility. The motivation and enthusiasm was high, and there was commitment from the players to such an extent, that all the 16 players decided to pool in the money together as an initial investment towards the facility. With such commitment from the players, and the backing of High Tech Campus Eindhoven, we started to work towards building the cricket pitch on the football ground. HTCECA board was formed with Harish Nandagopal as the Chairman of the club, Vimalkumar Ajithkumar as the vice-chairman, Praveen Pujari as the secretary, Suneel Vemilapalli as the Treasurer, Mohan Jayaram as the Chief Operating Officer, and Bharathidasan Sekar as the Advisor.
In 2019, HTCECA club started its journey to provide a platform to Cricket Enthusiasts.
Provide a platform to cricket lovers who wish to play leather ball cricket and players who enjoy softball cricket. To be diverse. Nurture young players and groom them to play professional cricket. create a friendly and positive environment. Develop, endorse and promote cricket in all forms and formats.