Compton Cricket Club
Encyclopedia
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
club based in Compton
Compton, California
Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The city of Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city to incorporate. The city is considered part of the South side by residents of Los...
, Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states...
, USA. The CCC is the only all American-born exhibition
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...
cricket team. The CCC has toured to the UK 4 times (last time in 2001) and most recently to Australia in February 2011.
The night of the photo shoot for an ad campaign featuring the CCC modelling the new National English Soccer uniform in LA . which was held on Super Bowl Sunday 2009, one of the team members was an innocent bystander in a drive-by shooting
Drive-by shooting
A drive-by shooting is a form of hit-and-run tactic, a personal attack carried out by an individual or individuals from a moving or momentarily stopped vehicle without use of headlights to avoid being noticed. It often results in bystanders being shot instead of, or as well as, the intended target...
in Compton and died . This Ad campaign featured in British GQ magazine on a 2 page spread in 2009. That same night the future manager for the teams historic February 2011 Australian tour was at the photoshoot meeting the team for the very first time.
Background and mission of the team
The team was originally called the Los Angeles Krickets. In the early nineties the club toured England where they played at Hambledon
Hambledon, Hampshire
Hambledon is a small village and civil parish in the county of Hampshire in England, situated about north of Portsmouth.Hambledon is best known as the 'Cradle of Cricket'. It is thought that Hambledon Club, one of the oldest cricket clubs known, was formed about 1750...
, upon their return the Los Angeles Krickets took a new direction when Disney signed up all members of the team for a film project. The publicity garnered by the tour was unprecedented in American cricket circles and included coverage by the BBC4, KTLA, ITV, SkyNews, The Australian The Daily Telegraph and numerous local newspapers in England and Australia.
Compton Cricket Club was birthed at the Dome Village Homeless Community in Downtown Los Angeles in 1995, by US Homeless activist Ted Hayes
Ted Hayes
Theodore "Ted" Hayes, Jr. is an American advocate for the homeless and an activist.Hayes' activism began in January 1985, when Justiceville, a community of homeless people in Los Angeles, was founded. It survived for five months, until authorities moved to shut down the shantytown. When they did,...
and Hollywood Movie Producer Katy Haber, to combat the negative effects of poverty and homelessness. After a highly successful tour of Great Britain later that year, the LA Krickets expanded the team to include inner city Latino gang members from the City of Compton. The Compton Homies and the Popz (Compton Cricket Club) emerged in 1996 as the first All American Inner City Cricket Team. The club uses the ideals of sportsmanship
Sportsmanship
Sportsmanship is an aspiration or ethos that a sport or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors...
, and the particular importance of etiquette
Etiquette
Etiquette is a code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group...
and fair play in cricket, to help players develop respect for authority
Authority
The word Authority is derived mainly from the Latin word auctoritas, meaning invention, advice, opinion, influence, or command. In English, the word 'authority' can be used to mean power given by the state or by academic knowledge of an area .-Authority in Philosophy:In...
, a sense of self-esteem
Self-esteem
Self-esteem is a term in psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame: some would distinguish how 'the self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, the...
and self-discipline. The Compton Homies travelled to the UK in 1997, 1999, and 2001, joined LASCA (the Los Angeles Social Cricket Alliance) and won the British Cup twice.
“The aim of playing cricket is to teach people how to respect themselves and respect authority so they stop killing each other”
(Team Founder, Compton Cricket Club, Ted Hayes)
The 'Homies' mission is to:
- Curb the negative effects of gang activities amongst the youth of Compton.
- Addressing homelessnessHomelessnessHomelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
in the inner cityInner cityThe inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...
through the principles and ethics of cricket. - Encourage and promote civility, good and productive citizenship.
The team motto of 'Let the game begin again in America' harkens back to former popularity of cricket in the United States
History of United States cricket
The history of United States cricket begins in the 18th century. Among early Americans, cricket was as popular a bat and ball game as baseball. Though Americans generally never played cricket in great numbers, it did enjoy an initial period of sustained growth...
during the 19th century.
The majority of the team is formed of the founding members and Hayes sees them as a "cross-generational village-like team
Village cricket
Village cricket is a term, sometimes pejorative, given to the playing of cricket in rural villages in England. Many villages have their own teams that play at varying levels of the English cricket pyramid....
".
Tour Highlights
The LA KRICKETS tour of the UK, 1995, laid the ground rules for future tours, sponsorship and partners and engered a movie deal with Disney. Since then, the Compton Homes and the Popz (CCC) 1997, 1999 and 2001 tours included games against the Windsor Castle Staff cricket team, "Rap" session rappingRapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
for HRH Prince Edward
Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex KG GCVO is the third son and fourth child of Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh...
at Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
, a visit with His Royal Highness at Buckingham Palace, and with the Rt Hon Mo Mowlam at Stormont Castle, a cricket bat presentation to Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...
at Stormont, Belfast and a Hurling Stick to the David Pringle,to help broker the peace accord in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. so.
A 2001 Game against the Legendary Lashings team, with Brian Lara playing on the CCC cricket Club side.
In 2003, Warwickshire cricketer Paul Smith
Paul Smith (cricketer)
Paul Andrew Smith born April 15, 1964 in Gosforth, Northumberland is a former English cricketer who played for Warwickshire from 1982 to 1996....
spent three weeks helping train the CCC. The trip was a part of Smith's work with 'Cricket Without Boundaries', a charity that seeks to empower communities through cricket.
CCC vs the Afghan national cricket team
A match with the Afghanistan national cricket team is being planned. The original date for this groundbreaking cricket event had to be postponed due to lack of funding for the National Cricket team from Afghanistan to fly from their home camp to Los Angeles for the historical match.This will be the first time that a cricket team from Afghanistan has toured America. The match will help raise money for an orphanage rebuilt by US marines in Afghanistan and continue the CCC's vital work around the world promoting greater peace through 'cricket diplomacy'.
Tour of Australia
The clubs hopes that their recent historic Australian tourPro Tour
Pro Tour may refer to* UCI ProTour, a cycling competition under the Union Cycliste Internationale* Pro Beach Soccer Tour, international beach soccer events* Pro Tour , an invitation-only tournament for Magic: The Gathering...
January 31 - February 12, 2011 will continue their development into a world class competitive and exhibition cricket team and sporting club
Club
A club is an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal. A service club, for example, exists for voluntary or charitable activities; there are clubs devoted to hobbies and sports, social activities clubs, political and religious clubs, and so forth.- History...
, while the publicity generated by the tour will be used to highlight other Australian non-profit organizations that deal with similar issues in their own communities. Touring Australia also aims to raise awareness of the CCC with key stakeholders to improve cricket opportunities between the USA and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
The proposed tour and background to the Compton Cricket Club has recently (May 2007 - February 2010) received considerable attention in mainstream Australian and international media including CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Sky News
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...
, Channel 7
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
, Sydney Morning Herald, ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
Radio National, Alpha magazine, Courier Mail, NT News, Ninemsn
NineMSN
ninemsn is an Australian 50/50 joint venture between Microsoft and Nine Entertainment Co.. It effectively acts as the website for both the Nine Network and MSN, and is one of Australia's most popular websites...
.com, ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
.com, Dailynews.com, Dumbo Feather Pass it on magazine, Centralian advocate & the Big Issue magazine. They have also been publicized on KPFK (Radio) and KABC-TV
KABC-TV
KABC-TV, channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, licensed to Los Angeles, California. KABC-TV's studios are located in Glendale, California...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
USA. Music publicity includes articles in Faster Louder (online) and 3D
Stereoscopy
Stereoscopy refers to a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. Both of these 2-D offset images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3-D depth...
music magazine as well as Sky News UK, and SBS World News
SBS World News
World News Australia is the news service of the Special Broadcasting Service. Its flagship nightly bulletin is broadcast at on SBS One with additional weeknight 'late' bulletins at on SBS One...
(Sam Ikin, Jan 3rd 2008).
The CCC will utilise its high exposure to benefit other organizations in Australia attempting to deal with similar issues in their own community including:
- Credo Cricket, who provide recreational opportunities for disadvantaged
- Father Chris Rileys Youth off the Streets Program,
- Queensland premiers disaster relief fund, raising much needed support for victims of the devasting QLD floods in 2010.
Project Manager for their Australian Tour, Mr Hugh Snelgrove presented the team's story as well as what he has planned for their historic tour at The Pecha Kucha (Sydney Chapter) fundraising night for Haiti at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney at the beginning of 2010.
Cricket Rap outta compton: "Bullets" (3:51)
The club has recently released two tracks from raps 'Shots' and 'Bullets' that aim to document their transition from ex-gangsters to global stardom. Their cricket raps have recently (November 2007) aired on FBI 94.5FM & Koori 93.7FM radio programs respectively across Australia.A music video along with a press release about the Compton Cricket Club produced by current members plans to be presented to the public by the end of 2008.
In March 2009, SKY News released an article about the teams endeavors producing and publicising their inaugural Music TV video clip on their website.
The movie can be downloaded at: http://www.vibe-n-vision.com/video.html
On March 13 Bullets was played at Los Angeles City Hall to Cricket fans, diplomats, and members of local cricket organizations of Southern California a part of a solidarity rally, to protest the recent terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan national cricket team in Lahore, Pakistan.
In March, MTV (UK) played 'Bullets' on their website a part of their 'show us what your made of' itdoesnthavetohappen.co.uk anti knife crime campaign on their website.
In April, The Guardian Newspaper (UK) voted 'Bullets' the best song about cricket ever.
This was soon followed with another article in major Australian newspaper, The Age affirming 'Bullets' global appeal and critical acclaim.
In May, Channel V - Australias premier music TV station chose Bullets to be played on its interactive music TV Show 'U Channel'.. On April 27,28 & 29 'Bullets' was voted #1 unsigned artist by Channel V's TV and web audience.
On May 9 Cloth & the Compton CC performed at the Hollywood Ashes celebrity Cricket tournament.
First Sydney fundraiser pre tour promo
In September 4 members of the CCC flew to Sydney to attend a fundraiser in their honor to raise much needed funds for their Australian tour. The fundraiser held on September 25 raised over $30,000 in cash & tour sponsorship. Cricket Australia, Nudie Juice, Cricket NSW, The Hughenden Hotel, Santavittoria, Otway estate wines, Curwoods lawyers, Kewarra resort Cairns & The Royals.The club members airfares & Fundraiser was paid for & organised by Mr Hugh Snelgrove who is also the project manager of the Australian tour.
During their 10 days in Sydney they appeared on The TODAY Show, 2GB/Christian/koori Radio, The Age, Daily Telegraph & Thepunch.com.au.
Other highlights included:
- meeting with youth from Father Chris Rileys youth off the streets charity in Merrylands, Sydney
- A chance encounter with Brett Lee at the Sydney Cricket Ground during a private tour from Cricket NSW. He was training mentee Elise Perry (The only Australian sportswoman to play 2 codes of sport professionally for Australia).
- A beach cricket match against aboriginal charity A.I.M.E (Australian indigenous Mentoring Experience)
-A mural 'Cricket outta Compton' being painted on the famous Bondi grafitti promenade (By famous Australian street artists Mr Perso & Detch) which commemorated two club members who have since passed away (1 from a drive by the other from a motorcycle accident).
- Playing laneway cricket against Credo Cricket & Cricket Victoria staff at the famous Hosier lane
-A tour of the Melbourne Cricket Ground organised by Cricket Australia
-An indoor cricket match against Reclink (well known for their highly successful "Choir of Hard knocks' reality TV program) in Melbourne
-Being invited to Urthboys concert at The Factory in Sydney where we presented him during one of his sets with a 'Cricket outta Compton' T shirt
-A documentary night with the homies at Australia square hosted by the Australian tours honoary solicitors Curwoods lawyers of Sydney.
-Releasing their 3rd single 'Shots' with the catchy 'front foot, back foot, square cut or a hook' dance number
-A limited first run of 'Cricket outta Compton' Tshirts were released to the public.
-Australian tour website www.cricketouttacompton.com.au is launched.
Historic Australia Tour Jan 29-Feb 12, 2011
Between Jan 29th -Feb 12th 2011 the Compton Cricket Club became the first all american born cricket club to tour to Australia.Highlights from the tour included:
Money raised:
-Raising $1,500 for the QLD premiers flood relief appeal at ' A night with All the homies' catered by Australian celebrity Chef Bill Grangers, 'Bills'
Tour highlights:
- launching their Australian tour with a press conference in the Long bar at the Sydney Cricket Ground
- 1st match played on Australian soil was against the University of Sydney
-The 1st Aboriginal side played was the Redfern All blacks
- Meeting national minister for Sport Mark Arbib at his chambers in Sydney City
- Meeting the deputy mayor of Sydney at Sydney Townhall for morning Tea
- Hosted by Father Chris Rileys Youth off the Streets in Brighton for a gala lunch with over 60 teenagers
-Being personally invited to the National English Cricket teams private training session at the SCG
-Playing direct relatives of the 1st Australian cricket team to tour overseas' the all aboriginal 1868 touring side to the UK, in Harrow, victoria
- Performing their first public performance of their world famous hip hop cricket rap ' Bullets' & 'Shots' at World Bar in Kings Cross Sydney
- One of the club members, Isaac Hayes having 'From gats to bats' with the image of a cricket bat over an AK47 assault rifle tattooed on his right shoulder by renowned street artist Emit from Sydney
- Mr Perso painting 'cricket outta compton' mural in Camperdown
-Appearing on all major National TV stations: ABC, Ch7, CH9, Ch10 & HD1
-Playing Urbanseed's homeless cricket club, Australian cricket society, Johnny Mullugh XI, Redfern All Blacks, Sydney University
-Speaking & performing their hip hop cricket rap to high school students of Alexandria Park high school & Newington College
-A reunion with Barry Firebrace in Melbourne who was a team member from an all indigenous side that toured the UK and played against the CCC in 2001 is also being planned. The Indigenous Australian's tour in 2001 was commemorating the 1868 tour to the UK by a roving XI of Aboriginal players - the first Australian cricket team to tour to England (See Ashley Mallett
Ashley Mallett
Ashley Alexander Mallett is a former Australian cricketer who played in 38 Tests and 9 One Day Internationals between 1968 and 1980...
s 'The Black Lords of Summer: The Story of the 1868 Aboriginal Tour of England and Beyond', University of Queensland Press, 2002).
AWARDS:
-News feature on Compton Cricket Club Australia tour voted #1 story on ABC TV's Stateline segment
-Kate Healy's photograph of a one-off match between Johnny Mullagh XI and American team Compton Homies and Popz at Harrow voted most outstanding single photograph or series of photographs relating to cricket in Victoria at the Cricket Victoria 2011 Media Awards on Monday
External links
- www.comptoncricketclub.org/ Compton Cricket Club website
- www.cricketouttacompton.com.au/ Compton Cricket Club Australia tour website
- DomeVillage.org The Dome Village website
- CricketWithoutBoundaries.com The charity Cricket Without Boundaries website
TV
- http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/index.php?cl=3207804
- http://video.news.sky.com/skynews/video/World+News/1298899v_Gangs_To_Googlies_Cricket_In_LA?lpos=Latest+Video_8&lid=VIDEO_1298899_Gangs+To+Googlies%3A+Cricket+In+LA&videoCategory=Latest+Video
- http://news.sbs.com.au/worldnewsaustralia/# (Look under transcripts January 3, 2008 'Cricket catching on in USA')
Radio
- NEW! Light FM interview: http://www.lightfm.com.au/new/Your-Morning/Your-Morning-Blog-Nov-27th.html
- http://www.abc.net.au/rn/sportsfactor/stories/2007/1946014.htm
- http://www.fbi.org.au/program_closeup.php?programtimeid=86
Web
- http://www.comptoncricketclub.org/index.php?PID=cricketrap
- http://www.domevillage.org/Cricket.html
- http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21903622-5012506,00.html
- http://content-www.cricinfo.com/usa/content/story/305779.html
- http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=shah/070719
- http://www.alphamagazine.com.au
Newspaper
- http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/from-a-gang-to-a-googly/2007/06/03/1180809343419.html
- http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/how-the-googly-turned-youths-from-las-gangs/2007/06/03/1180809343419.html
- http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/its-just-not-cricket/2008/01/11/1199988589345.html
Music publicity
- http://www.threedworld.com.au/content/view/4795/58/
- http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/allabout/artist/22189/Compton-Cricket-Club.htm
YouTube
- http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/index.php?cl=3207804
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKa2mp5ePes