Town Hall meetings get mixed reviews

The USA Cricket Association's series of Town Hall meetings for its eight member regions concluded earlier this month and while the concept behind the meetings was met with praise, the subject matter - specifically how USACA should spend any potential revenue from its stake in Cricket Holdings America - received a mixed response.

"It's a good thing to meet and talk to leagues. This is the first time something like that has happened," Ganesh Sanap, who is the president of the Northern California Cricket Association and took part in the Town Hall conference call for the Northwest region, said. "I'm glad it is happening. The leagues are able to hear from the president and the treasurer. But USACA didn't need to have only a Cricket Holdings America Town Hall. It could have happened way before when the AGM is held or before the AGM. At least once or twice a year, these people need to get together and at least let people hear your voice."

The meetings featured a slideshow outlining a plan for distributing USACA funding in 2012 and 2013. Even though the communication was appreciated, Southwest region women's coordinator Sandra Ibarra was skeptical of how it will all pan out.

"It was basically a Powerpoint presentation that was introducing to all the regions what Cricket Holdings America is all about," Ibarra, a former USA women's national team player, said. "I guess it was a way of trying to say, 'We're working on something', but it still doesn't specify what they're working on and how it will help cricket in America. How [the money] is going to be distributed, how they're going to go about reviewing these proposals for money and who is going to be approving and denying them, that's where I think we're going around in circles and some people will feel disappointed."

USACA Treasurer John Thickett was the driving force behind organising the meetings and said having an open dialogue for this topic is a positive step forward for USACA. He also said this will not just be a one-off and that as Sanap hoped, more meetings will be planned for later in the year.

"I'm very excited that we're having these Town Hall meetings. We're planning some different themes for later in the year," Thickett said. "To get the opportunity to reach out to the top 100 stakeholders, league presidents and boards is important."

But Krish Prasad, the New York regional representative on the USACA board, is having a hard time agreeing with one of the messages put forth in the meetings by Thickett. The treasurer has advocated that 20% of the $2 million in annual funds that USACA is due to receive from CHA should be given directly to individual leagues rather than to the entire region to manage, something Prasad says will encourage corruption.

"I don't think money should be given to the leagues period," Prasad said. "There are a lot of concerns about that because it's election time and money is being given to leagues. It makes it look like USACA are trying to buy votes."

Sanap believes the strategy to give money to leagues is only a political tactic and that there's a good chance the money will never come through.

"I don't think that anybody is going to see that money," Sanap said. "It's election-time talk. USACA has never given any money to anyone so why would it give it now? What exactly is USACA's interest in all these leagues other than votes? I'm calling it as I'm seeing it."

Another concern that others have is that if leagues are given money directly, it could encourage "kitchen-table" leagues to pop up. Paperwork would be filed in order to receive money but no games would actually be played. Thickett concedes that there may have been some dishonesty in the past regarding proper documentation from around the country, but says that anyone who receives money from USACA will be held accountable to demonstrate how the money has been used.

"They're legitimate concerns and I encourage people to raise them. I don't think people are paranoid for raising them," Thickett said. "I have a theory that virtually all of the leagues do not fully comply with the constitution. I don't think there are many leagues that have a women's or youth cricket mandate. It fascinates me how many leagues have exactly eight teams." The USACA Constitution states that a league must have a minimum of eight teams in order to become a member.

"Part of the presentation talks about compliance. We're going to start asking regions for budgets, reviews. We're a non-profit organization. If people have taken money to install a turf wicket and don't do it, they can go to jail. It's a pretty serious offense to take money from a charity and not do what they say."

Rather than try to suspend leagues that are not compliant, Thickett hopes that administrators will help them take the correct steps to fall into line.

"It's clearly a rampant part of USACA culture to accuse a league of not existing. Let's say a league is not compliant. It's not a good idea to throw them out. It's better to encourage them to become compliant. Is it worth throwing them out? No."

Despite the objections and concerns raised by some people, Thickett says it is just part of the process and that the initial proposal for how to use the funds is by no means final. He says he will wait for regions to submit formal feedback on the content of the meetings before planning the next step in how to budget the money USACA gets from CHA.

"The whole reason to have these meetings is to say this is up for discussion," Thickett said.