In another move signifying the ICC's intent to speed up the growth of
cricket in the United States of America, ICC head of global development
Tim Anderson announced on Friday that the ICC Americas regional office
will be relocating later this year from Toronto to Colorado Springs,
Colorado.
"The ICC Americas Office has been based in Toronto, Canada for many
years. The historic reasons for this have largely been based around
convenience as opposed to strategy, with previous regional development
managers being from Toronto," Anderson wrote in a letter to US
stakeholders.
The ICC office was shared with Cricket Canada until 2015. When Cricket
Canada moved out of their shared Toronto facility, the ICC office rented
out a temporary space at the Rogers Centre, home of baseball's Toronto
Blue Jays. "These circumstances, together with the strong strategic
desire for the ICC to see cricket develop more rapidly in the USA,
resulted in the ICC Executive Committee and Board agreeing in October
2015 that the ICC Americas office should be moved to the USA," Anderson
said.
"Excluding the big American professional sports (i.e. NFL, NBA, MLB,
NHL, MLS), Colorado Springs is the centre of sports administration in
the USA, hosting close to 30 governing bodies, as well as the United
States Olympic Committee. The Colorado Springs Sports Corp has
demonstrated a strong desire to host the ICC Americas office and, as
part of their support package, we are in discussions about the
possibility of developing a new cricket facility in Colorado Springs."
Currently there is one artificial-wicket cricket facility at the city's
Memorial Park athletic complex, just four blocks from the USOC training
complex. It is unclear if the proposed new facility referred to by
Anderson would include plans to redevelop the ground at Memorial Park
into a turf wicket or if it would mean adding a new ground elsewhere in
the city.
According to multiple sources, several other cities were also considered
for the new home of the ICC Americas office, with Indianapolis a
particularly strong contender. ICC Americas officials held multiple
events in Indianapolis in 2015, including the ICC Americas Division One
T20 championship and inaugural ICC Americas Combine at the newly opened turf ground at Indianapolis World Sports Park.
While Indianapolis is also home to the headquarters for the NCAA, USA
Track & Field, USA Diving and USA Gymnastics, there are many more
national sports governing body offices located in Colorado Springs.
These include the USOC, USA Hockey, USA Basketball, USA Boxing, USA
Swimming, USA Cycling and USA Wrestling.
It is for these reasons that Colorado Springs turned into an
increasingly appealing strategic option in late 2015. USOC chief
external affairs officer Patrick Sandusky was named to the seven-man local advisory group
appointed by the ICC to oversee US cricket's regrowth strategy
following USACA's suspension in June. It is also worth noting that
Colorado Springs hosted an ICC youth cricket development seminar in February.
Colorado Springs is the second largest city in the state of Colorado
with an approximate population of 500,000 people. It is located 70 miles
south of the state capital and largest city Denver. Although it is a
relatively remote outpost in the US cricket scene, it is equidistant
from several major cricket hubs, sitting approximately 1000 miles, or a
two and a half hour flight away, from Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Los
Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco
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