For the love of the game: Wayne State Cricket Club raising funds to compete at the American College Cricket National Championship

Of the many self-starters in the College of Engineering, the Wayne State Cricket Club stands out for its dedication, love of the sport and pride in the school it represents. The club is currently raising funds to compete in the American College Cricket (ACC) National Championship in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, March 11-15.

"It is always a privilege to represent Wayne State as a Warrior. Once in a while, you get a chance to represent something you care about at a national level like the ACC. The competition is considered the highest level of cricket in America," says Avinash Chettipalli, the club's president. At the ACC tournament, Wayne State's club will face teams representing such schools as Rutgers University, Carnegie Mellon University, Harvard University, Princeton University and Yale University.

The club is completely self-supported; members estimate that the total trip will cost $6,000. Each member has agreed to pay half of that amount out of pocket and the club has started a gofundme campaign to raise the remaining $3,000 to cover travel, registration and lodging.

Engineering student Rohan Uttarwar founded the WSU Cricket Club three years ago. This is the first year that Chettipalli has taken the helm as president, and he has high hopes for this year's tournament.

"I feel that this year we are particularly strong. We have managed to recruit several members that played for their state teams back in their respective countries," he says.

The club has represented the university for the past two years. Last year, the members won two out of three games and were ranked 16th out of the 40 schools competing.

Although the team is open to all Wayne State students, this year's team members are all from the College of Engineering. Chettipalli is currently in his last semester of completing his master's in computer science. In addition to his involvement with the team, he has maintained a full-time internship with the Ford Motor Company, and has accepted a position with Ford upon graduation. Like Chettipalli, club members' schedules are so busy that the only time they could find to practice at a local indoor sports arena is Thursday night, from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m.

"We have to practice hard. We saw how tough the competition was last year, and many of those schools are from the south, where the weather allows them to practice anywhere, anytime," explains Chettipalli.

Cricket is the second most popular sport in the world, behind soccer. In Asia, it is the most popular sport. It started in England and then spread to the Indian subcontinent as well as countries like Australia, South Africa and the West Indies. For students like Chettipalli, who came to the United States for school, seeing a staple of their homeland is very important.

"I was very excited to know there is an option to play cricket here at Wayne State," he says. " Going to a new country can be a very unnerving experience, but being able to play cricket makes me feel like I have a little bit of home right here in Detroit."

To learn more about how to support Wayne State's Cricket Club, visit http://www.gofundme.com/juvz4s.