Sandra Ibarra, a former member of the USA women’s national squad and more recently the South West Region Women’s Cricket Coordinator, has agreed to take a leadership role with USYCA. Sandra, an ICC Level I cricket coach, recently moved to the Baltimore area and will be coordinating the new community youth cricket programs starting this summer in Maryland.
Her duties will include recruiting and liaising with coaches and community volunteers, organizing the program’s sessions, seeing that each program’s material needs are met and visiting each site regularly to ensure that the programs run smoothly. Of course, she’ll also be spending some time putting her Level I credentials to use as well.
Sandra shares the USYCA vision of grassroots development and outreach to new demographics, and looks forward to her new responsibilities.
“I am delighted to take on this new leadership role with USYCA and join forces with (USYCA President) Jamie Harrison to share our passion for developing cricket in the US,” said Ibarra. “The first thing I learned from Jamie, and the thing I admire most, is that he has a ‘can do’ attitude, and I commend him for what he has accomplished in such a short time.”
For USYCA, Sandra’s addition to the team is a major coup.
“USYCA feels truly fortunate to have someone of Sandra’s talents and experience working with us, and more importantly working with the youngsters who will come out to play cricket this summer,” said Harrison. “The success of these new programs is vital to our mission, and I feel reassured knowing that Sandra will be at the helm.”
With summer only months away, Sandra is eager for the launch of these groundbreaking programs.
“Now that I have relocated to the Maryland/DC area, I can see to it that USYCA’s efforts introducing cricket kits into the schools here are taken to the next level,” Ibarra said. “As a pioneer in US cricket, having played for the US Women’s team and now becoming an ICC Level 1 Certified Coach, putting my efforts to begin turning these kids into champions will be a very rewarding experience.
“We have a lot of potential here in the US; it is just a matter of putting in some extra effort to see it through. I have a vision of where I see this sport in America’s future and working with our youth is the right way to start.”
