Tony Arora, a Juhu-Versova Link Road resident is teaching cricket to children from nearby slums, giving them something to look forward to
Tony Arora, a Juhu-Versova Link Road resident, is a businessman by profession and a cricketer by heart, and has been moulding the lives of slum kids through cricket. For more than a year now, Arora has been training and coaching 15 kids from the slums between the age group of 12–15 years at Juhu Beach and Juhu Gymkhana. These children used to play on the streets just outside the society where Arora resides and that’s where he first spotted them.
Rough start
Arora shares, “Cricket saved me during the difficult times of my life; when things were not very good with me. This sport saved me and acted as a channel to relax and enjoy for a while. Since I have been giving honorary cricket coaching lessons at various colleges and clubs for the longest time, I thought it would be a good idea to coach these kids too.” However, when he tried to play cricket with them inside the society compound, several members of the society resisted and ultimately they were asked to take the game outside the society compound. This, however, did not deter the children and they eventually were trained by Arora at the beach and gymkhana.
Positive change
The journey of the kids with Arora has been a great one, as it has led to a transition in the kids in a huge way. Since Arora has been coaching all these years, he got a few of his students and ex-students to help around with the kids, who had initially been rowdy and would verbally abuse each other and get into spats with each other while playing. However, with regular coaching from Arora, these children gradually changed and developed habits that even they themselves had never imagined. Arora expounds, “They have now started wishing each other and me ‘good morning’ when we all meet up to practise.” Apart from this, the kids have mellowed down a bit and lessened the abusive rantings.
Planning the future
What the children need now is a ground where they can get proper net practice and where they can play matches more confidently. So far, Arora has been practising with them and he wants them to be coached on an advanced level. He adds, “The children need cricket equipment and a good place where they can be trained further so that they can play matches against other teams.” Arora hopes that at least through cricket, they can get jobs somewhere based on the merit of the sport, which will prove that they are sincere and hardworking.”
A journey with ups and downs
- Arora has provided the kids with white uniforms, which they wear while playing cricket. This has given them a sense of belonging to the team.
- Some benevolent people have given the children sports shoes and this has motivated them further to perform better.
- The team needs assistant coaches who will ensure coaching and training of these kids on a daily basis. This is currently being done only on weekends.
- Cricket has improved the physique of these children and that has increased their level of confidence.
- Arora now plans to coach them in a way that they can play matches against other teams, which would expose them to the nuances of how professional matches work.
- Initially, there was a lot of resistance from the parents of the slum kids as they think that the kids earning money at this stage is a more logical choice than playing cricket.
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 "Tony Arora with the slum kids at a practise session at Juhu Beach")
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