We spoke to Faatima, who was home schooled, about her love of cricket and how it helped her to make friends, create a fun and active social life and feel part of something.
Tell us about your love of sport, and cricket in particular
The thing that I love about sport is that it has this amazing ability to bring people together and unite them behind a common purpose – whether that’s working together to win a competition or collaborating on a specific idea or approach to a game. The thing I love about cricket is how multifaceted it is. The game itself has 3 aspects - batting, bowling and fielding, which require different skillsets, so there is always something to work on and improve and something for everyone to get involved with. Another thing that I really enjoy about cricket is the fact that it’s set outdoors plus I travel to different cricket grounds and see new places when playing matches which is awesome!
As someone who did home school and online school, how important has cricket been in helping you to meet new people and make friends?
As someone who was home-schooled and went to an online school, sport has always been a great way for me to meet new people. Other people rely on making friends in school and my situation was different. When I was younger, I did lots of sports, and cricket was the most team-based one that I did. Having that team aspect to it made cricket a really good environment for me to make friends, since having a task to do together at the same time as getting to know people. This was especially true when I was younger and a bit quieter and cricket was a really good ice breaker.
Is it important to you to stay connected to your teammates when the cricket season ends?
I think it depends on the person and the friendship in question. In some cases, it’s really important and good for me to keep in touch with a teammate – especially if we have other interests in common, but equally, I think that it also works to catch up with teammates after a few months when training starts up again. That said, I do think it’s good to organise team meet ups outside of the sport regardless, since it really improves the social aspect of the sport for everyone while also being a great teambuilding exercise!
What do you think are the main benefits of getting involved in a team sport?
Meeting new people and becoming a part of a community are two of the biggest benefits in my opinion. Often it can be hard to know where and how to meet people; getting involved in a team sport is a really great way to do this alongside getting active which further improves your physical and mental health. I also think that getting involved in a team sport has improved my confidence and leadership skills – regardless of whether you’re the designated captain or not, sharing ideas and strategies, making connections with people and helping new or younger team members all work to improve confidence and leadership skills.
As well as cricket, you're also a member of the Young People’s Sport Panel, has that helped you to meet new people and make new friends?
The Young People’s Sport Panel (YPSP) has been an amazing way to meet new people and make friends in a similar way to team sports, in the sense that we’re all working together towards shared goals. Everyone on the YPSP shares the same enthusiasm and passion for sport, which has been a great basis for forming friendships and discovering other shared interests.
What would you say to young people who might be feeling a bit lonely or isolated and who might be looking to meet new people through sport?
I’d tell them to take the leap of faith and get involved with sport as soon as possible. When you’re feeling isolated it's often easy to get into a slump where you don’t feel like doing anything, so pushing yourself to go to that first sports session is the hardest and most important step – and the most exciting step in my opinion as you never know who you could meet or what experiences could follow on.
Are there other sports groups or teams that you're involved in?
My cricket teams and the YPSP are the two main ones although I’m also on the Scottish Women in Sport Digital Committee. Being on the sport panel has really made me realise how many amazing opportunities there are out there to get involved with teams and panels and how valuable that collaborative atmosphere is to my overall experience in sport.
