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It is past mid-afternoon on a weekend eve and young adult Sinelethu Yaso enters her happy place. Her clean cricket uniform stand out against the artificial green pitch, while lively tunes of South African music drift on the wind as she walks in to pitch.

Beyond the playing area, in the township area of Khayelitsha, washing flutters on a fence and the September sun reflects off a tin lean-to.

An impressive young woman has been told to be gentle on her rivals – an youth boys’ team – but Yaso’s perfect accuracy are sufficient to cause three successive failed attempts.

On the fourth ball, the batter eventually hits it. All he can do is to loft it up to Yaso, who easily takes the ball.

Watching the game from his plastic chair on the sidelines is a retired professional player and mentor. “There is some outstanding skill in the townships,” he comments. “The missing piece is access.”

These youth on the pitch are all members of a not-for-profit organisation started in 2014. Creating a charitable foundation after retiring the sport is not unusual – but the method certainly is.

In place of trying to identify skilled players in the townships and then offer them scholarships to affluent schools or colleges in privileged areas, the trust is all about bringing top-tier resources inside the communities.

Yaso was originally introduced to cricket in 2015. “A mentor was also a cricket trainer,” she explains. “At one point I noticed the nets, and he asked me if I was interested to pitch.”

Yaso – who has always been a more prominent than her friends – proved to be a gifted player. Under the tutelage of a experienced women’s programme leader, Yaso has risen swiftly through the ranks, playing for a number of junior teams before being chosen to join the top-level team in 2021.

“Initially I felt nerves,” she says. “With experience I got accustomed. I understand how the wicket moves … it matches my style in fact.”

Yaso comes to the venue almost every day, whether or not she has a training: “It’s hard to picture my life absent cricket.”

“It hadn’t been a youthful goal,” she adds, “however now with the team around me, it is beyond cricket – it has become I’ve made a support system.”

I had good fortune in that this game offered me all. This is my opportunity to return the favor

This effort launched in 2014, when the former player partnered with a educator to tour several schools in this community.

“Having recently completed a mentoring role, and found myself with some free time,” explains the former athlete. “I thought there was an chance to understand how the game was working in the townships near my home.”

He became disheartened to discover that none of the schools he visited cultivated cricket – or other activities for that matter. After meeting with the schools’ administrators and employing his connections to arrange resources, he got cricket nets constructed at multiple schools in the area and several coaches hired.

As time passed, the facilities have been improved – with an modern pitch added in 2020 and a multi-lane cricket space a year later – and the initiative developed to include teachers who help the participants with their studies and ongoing programs on topics such as mental health, awareness, and money management. Today, multiple coaches and over 400 players aged six to 19 make use of the centre multiple days a week during the year.

According to the women’s program leader: “Many of those youth will not make a living from cricket, but they are all benefiting from cricket. This place is like a ideal … it has become a safe space for all of us.”

Among the opportunities that cricket provided was the chance to travel overseas and experience different cultures. While private schools in South Africa often take cricket teams on trips overseas, township cricketers are lucky if they ever explore outside their own area.

A few years ago, during a global tournament, the founder took a youth squad to the UK. “It was one of the most memorable experiences of my sports career,” says the mentor.

Soon, to align with the Women’s T20 World Cup, the organizer will be bringing a girls’ team to the home of cricket. “I’ve always wanted to go to England, to Lord’s,” says Yaso, who is aspiring to be selected. “It’s a dream I have been anticipating … it signifies the world.”

The coach is also excited. “It’s going to be a valuable learning experience,” she notes. “We cannot wait – it is the best experience for the kids.”

She expresses grateful. “Being a mentor, it’s special to have someone like the founder to look up to,” she says. “The fact that the center were built locally means the so much to us. It means that there is respect for a local youth and the community they come from.”