Vee empowers women through cricket
SANDOWN – Showing other women that cricket is a sport for all has always been Naidoo's drive and of course having fun
It’s not very often that you hear someone making an impact in their community through the game of cricket.
Verosha Naidoo, better known as Vee at the Sandton Action Sports arena, has never shied away from being a beacon to those in need of a push when playing cricket for the first time.
Showing other women that cricket is a sport for all, has always been Naidoo’s drive, and of course having fun.
At the age of six, Naidoo and her brothers had shared a connection through cricket. “We [brothers and friends] would mark our streets and use bins as stumps. Whenever cars used to pass during our street games, we would move everything to make way for the motorists and put everything back once we saw that it was safe. I was the only girl amongst many of the guys that were playing and I enjoyed every minute of it. Inevitably, I got older and my attention shifted from cricket to academics because of my parents,” she said.
Although it was a hard decision to make, Naidoo took a hiatus from cricket to pursue her studies. Once she had completed her studies, Naidoo relocated from KwaZulu-Natal to Johannesburg. “When I moved to Johannesburg, I started off playing action cricket at the age of 27 after joining a mixed [men and women] team. That was somewhere around 2012.
“Six years ago, Jono Leaf-Wright, who is now the Central Gauteng Lions CEO, came up to me one day and asked if I would be interested in building a division for women in cricket at Sandton Action Sports. We decided if we get a ladies league and start developing them, they would feel less intimidated to play in mixed matches.”
Even outside of cricket, Naidoo has always reserved her time to better the lives of those around her.
“I and a couple of friends recently decided to save up some money every month to sponsor a little kid who attends Midrand High. This is to show her that she can do great in both education and through her extramural activities.”
It seems Naidoo sees herself in every little girl that has a dream of becoming the next great cricket player.
ALSO READ:
https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/281167/meet-the-new-gm-meet-sandton-action-sports-new-general-manager-grant-webster/
https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/281165/action-cricket-returns-in-full-flow-at-sandton-action-sports-full-throttle-action/
