(FORT BEND ISD) – Dulles High School student Pooja Shah didn’t start playing competitive cricket until 2020, and when she joined the Sugar Land Youth Cricket Club, she was the only girl on the team. Now she counts herself as a member of the nation’s first under-19 women’s team, who played in the first-ever international U19 women’s tournament in South Africa earlier this year.
For Shah, watching or playing cricket was always part of her life. While no one in the Shah family has played the game at the professional level, the family has followed it closely like many Indian and Indian American families. She also played with her brother and friends in the neighborhood.
As an experienced athlete – Pooja plays both cricket and basketball at Dulles – she knows that winning and success can only be seen when she plays with others.
“Teamwork is key,” Shah said. “You establish it outside of the field and demonstrate it during the game.”
Like most student athletes, she’s busy, serving as president of the school’s Hindu Student Association, being a member of the National Honor Society and volunteering at Houston Methodist, among her other commitments. She also plays in local, national and international tournaments, and hopes to one day earn a spot on the senior women’s team.
Her father, Akshay, said handling both academics and sports is a delicate balancing act, but she always makes school her priority.
Shah hopes to pursue a career in healthcare and medicine, with plans to become an orthopedic surgeon or a specialist in sports medicine.
USA Cricket is the governing body for cricket in the United States, and is comprised of senior men’s and women’s teams, and U19 men’s and women’s teams. Visit www.usacricket.org to learn more.
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