SALMA WINS ANOTHER AWARD!

BELIEVE in MAD (Making a Difference) founder Salma Bi has received another award for her services to cricket.
Salma was invited to the Bill Jones Memorial Volunteer of the Year Awards at New Road, Worcestershire, for the NatWest OSCA presentations and received the Building Partnerships accolade for her work in promoting the game.
The tribute to Salma said: "Salma has been pro-active in getting women and girls into playing cricket.
"In particular, she has worked very hard with the Asian Community. She has arranged coaching sessions, tournaments etc for women and girls and encouraged them to be involved.
"In doing this, she has been working hard and successfully to persuade local press, radio and TV to report on the girls' cricketing activities."
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR HERO ONCE AGAIN!
TO RECEIVE AN AWARD TAKES JUST A SECOND, BUT ALL THE HARD WORK THAT GOES INTO WINNING AN AWARD TAKES HOURS UPON HOURS OF PATIENCE, PERSISTENCE AND DEDICATION.

GREAT INTERVIEW WITH SALMA

THERE is an interview with Salma Bi in the latest issue of Fifteen21 magazine.

In the interview of guiding light talks about her cricket career, her professional life and her background in sport.

As always, a great read. And there is also a feature on the great Amir Khan (pictured above with Salma).

Access Salma's interview on PAGE 32 by clicking on the link below

 www.fifteen21.com

QUEEN OF SPEEN STARS FOR THE PARK

WHAT a wonderful night it was on Monday, July 10, when Salma guested for North Wales club Hawarden Park in their women's T20 match against Oakmere of Cheshire.
Who else would drive down from Birmingham after a long hospital shift to North Wales to guest in a cricket match! No-one can beat the Queen of Speen for passion or dedication.
The game was due to be played at the Castle Ground in Hawarden, but the rain had started to fall heavily and there was no chance of any action.
However, at Oakmere the weather was better and although time was of the essence, Hawarden agreed to travel to mid-Cheshire to play the fixture.
It turned out to be a really good game at a beautiful ground.
Oakmere batted first and made 88 off their 15 overs. Salma bowled beautifully. Her first ball turned a county and beat everything, almost the perfect start!
Salma's first over was a maiden, her second over produced a wicket - bowled and so did her third over - bowled again. Her final figures were 3-1-9-2 - brilliant.
The rest of the team produced some good deliveries, Becky Moss, Naela Ahmad and 12-year-old Sammi Short was really impressive, showing some fine control and taking a lovely caught and bowled. Sammi is one for the future.
It must be said all the Oakmere players batted well too, especially their opener who retired after making 25. They found the gaps and played intelligent cricket.
Hawarden's batting never got going and a lot of that was down to the accurate, sensible bowling of Oakmere.
Salma made six, hitting one four, but she was dropped twice before being caught the third time she skied the ball.
There was some good hitting from Naela and the final team total was 40.
Well played Oakmere, a really good all-round side and a lovely welcoming club.
It was a great night. All the Hawarden team really appreciated Salma's presence and while she was there she managed to give some coaching to a beautiful little girl, Aahilya Ahmad, daughter of Naela, who shows a real interest in spinning the ball. Hopefully she will keep playing and improving and will not forget the day she met the Queen of Speen.
Mention too for Naela's wonderful sister Shamila, a lovely person who is developing a career in nursing and also loves her sport.
Salma can now put an appearance for a North Wales team on her cricketing CV!
This weekend she will hopefully get in two games for Worcestershire who are top of Division Two of the County Championship. Worcs are currently top of the table with Salma taking seven wickets in three matches, including a county best 4-25.

SALMA IS BOWLING THEM OVER!

SHE has all sorts of sporting ventures planned for the rest of this year but SALMA BI is having a wonderful season playing her favourite sport - CRICKET

We know all about Salma's achievements off the field, her awards, her coaching, her ventures in getting more people involved in sport, so let's firstly look at the sport at which she excels most - CRICKET! 

Here is a rundown on her 2012 season so far...

The Summer 2012 cricket season is well underway, and as always it's a busy schedule for Salma who takes time out from the professional career of nursing, using up annual leave to play sports.

It all kicked off with the county season and Salma became a very useful player for WORCESTERSHIRE, helping them into top position in the WOMEN'S COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION TWO by taking a number of useful wickets.

Salma is getting closer to yet again being the leading wicket-taker in her league. Used as a full-time off-spin bowler, Salma will use her spells wisely to bag big wickets - including England wickets.

Here is a look at WORCESTERSHIRE great form so far this season....

May 6 v Durham: Worcestershire won by 187 runs. Salma took 1-19

May 7 v Wales: Abandoned (not a ball bowled)

May 27 v Cheshire: Worcestershire won by seven wickets. Salma's figures 10-1-25-4 (Best ever figures for county!)

June 3 v Warwickshire: Abandoned (not a ball bowled)

June 4 v Netherlands: Worcestershire won by seven wickets. Salma took 2-28.

Salma's full county figures so far in 2012: seven wickets in three games for 72 runs (average 10.28)

Apart from playing high-level competitive cricket Salma has turned up for all club games for the women's and men's teams at Five Ways Old Edwardians. 

Being a useful player always is an advantage assisting a new Development side.

Salma made an appearance for a T20 side and hit a best 34 not out in 5 overs with non-stop fours and sixes.

Salma has also been approached by a team in Wales, who are struggling for a win, to get them started. Sometimes all it takes is to get a little boost and the whole team will gain confidence.

Salma still is playing for MCC representatives who combine together as a team to play against other counties, clubs, schools, universities and academies. All games are pay to play, so you can imagine how much it costs to buy kit, travels and teas. Perhaps it all comes down to commitment and passion. 

When Salma isn't at the firing line she has supported Anisha her younger sister, aged 16, who represents Warwickshire Under 17's.

Salma still fits in her coaching and umpiring every week where possible.

Salma's other younger sister Aisha, aged 17, was recently selected for West Bromwich Albion Football Club's Scholarship Programme.

These are exciting and hectic times but nothing is stopping these girls from doing what they love!

The three sisters also compete alongside each other for The Great White Sharks Futsal Team - the only Asian Women's Futsal Team in the Birmingham League ever in history and now in their third season. 

What's next on the cards? 

Salma, founder of cricket coaching venture Believe in M.A.D Making A Difference has now gone into partnership with Gemma Smith, founder of Sporting Pathways.

Gemma, the Women's Futsal League manager, has previously worked closely with Salma on past projects i.e Women's Futsal Marathon 10-Hours Record & Women's Indoor Cricket T10 World Cup 2012.

Gemma was previously selected for the England Women's Football Team Under 17s squad (more on Gemma in a separate article on the Great White Sharks blog).

Gemma believes in creating opportunities for others in sport by making them realise the dreams her and Salma once had.

Two strong personalities Salma and Gemma (Jess & Jules) look forward to host their next big event - the Women's Futsal 20 Hours Marathon 2012 scheduled for Saturday 25th August 2012.

They are signing up girls right now for a Futsal match which runs from 4am to midnight. They are not only raising money for Cerebal Palsy, but also looking to set another women's futsal record - never attempted before but not yet beaten either. 

Since winning the Asian Women of Achievement Sport Award in May, Salma feels even more confident about setting more records and will reveal what other sports they look forward to promoting for girls.

Straight after the Futsal event Sporting Pathways are going to host 'World Dodgeball'. Recruits showing interest are nationally based making their way from London, Leeds, Wales, Liverpool & Manchester!

MAD/Sporting Pathways also aim to also back a project based in the USA called GET HER IN THE GAME.

This project will try to prove girls aged 14+ are not dropping out of sports, but in fact are taking them up. The aim will be to find 100 girls in the UK with a sporting career they will aim to raise the profiles of.

NEW VENTURE FOR M.A.D

FOLLOWING a meeting on June 12 we can now announce M.A.D Productions will work alongside a new organisation called SPORTING PATHWAYS.
Sporting Pathways is a Community Interest Company (CIC), an organisation created purely for giving opportunities to young people, volunteers and coaches.
As a CIC, all the work Sporting Pathways delivers is for the benefit of the community.
It is run Women's Futsal League co-ordinator Gemma Smith. http://sportingpathways.org/
Believe In M.A.D (Making A Difference) is a coaching academy that promotes women's/girls and disability sports/events which encourages participants oft all abilities within the community to take part in sporting activity opportunities provided for them, run by cricketer/coach Salma Bi.
Also part of the new partnership is Coast Collective, a small North Wales-based charity fundraising organisation, which also specialises in promoting women's sports.
This is done through the professional services of Dave Jones, PA to Salma Bi and also sports writer for the Daily Post, sports editor of three weekly newspapers in North Wales and the award-winning Wales judge for the Uefa Best Footballer in Europe award in Monaco.

Putting all three organisations together the aim of the 'Sporting Pathways' project will aim to encourage:
Create opportunities and bring all abilities together
Provide Community Interest Activities
Diminish Crime + Anti-social Behaviour
Make young people more confident in what they do
Encourage and teach life skills and in the workforce
Educate health and well-being
Encourage drive, passion and motivation 
Focus on BME Groups
Develop a sustainable environment
Social acceptance and understanding

The Project will Include four events and 'The M.A.D Challenge' - all in a timescale of two years.
SUPPORTING THE WOMEN'S SPORTS FOUNDATION
We would like to promote the Women's Sports Foundation's 'Keep her in the Game' Project which is a study taken place in USA on girls aged 14+.http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/
We know that by the age of 14, girls are dropping out of sports at twice the rate of boys. 
The WSF have singled out six contributing factors that influence their opportunities and how you can keep more girls in the game.
Taking interest in this study we in the United Kingdom not only want to donate but to challenge the study in our project. 
We as a company are confident we can take on a challenge, being known for setting world records and hosting events without being backed by any big funding organisation, we believe we can create a Pathways By Making A Difference!


Consider what we've achieved so far...
March 10th 2012 - We hosted 'The First Ever Women's Futsal 10 Hour Marathon Record 2012'  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uftyEWnrpYQ
April 21st 2012- We hosted 'The Women's Indoor Cricket T10 World Cup 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puUlt7uQuk8&feature=relmfu

Both were challenges nobody has yet set or achieved. We funded these events ourselves and gained national exposure.
We not only hosted the event nationally,  we also raised money for the National Autistic Society and Mencap Disability.


Here is one of the things we propose to do....
'THE M.A.D CHALLENGE'
Find 100 girls aged 12-22 who are either looking to participate in sports or already are doing sports as a career.
Target - Secondary Schools in United Kingdom.
Encourage them to take up sports by running a sports sessions either of Futsal or Cricket and get feedback.
Create a register which will monitor the participants sporting activity over 3 years.
Real-life case-studies which will not only create a profile but inspire more women/girls to take up sports.

THE CHALLENGE:
To find these girls/women over a two-month period by finding statistics and evaluation of progress. June 20th to Aug 20th 2012.
Case Study Examples...... 
COACH: Gemma Smith  
PARTICIPANT Aisha Bi, aged 17, A level College Student, Plays for the Great White Sharks Futsal Team and offered Scholarship Program with West Bromwich Albion Football Club.
COACH: Salma Bi 
PARTICIPANT: Anisha Bi, aged 16, final year secondary student. Plays For Warwickshire County Cricket Club Under 17's team and enrolled to do Level 1 Coaching Course.

All 100 participants will be part of a study which promotes women's sports, educates health and well-being and will offer future sporting career opportunities.
Each participant will given the opportunity to raise money for charities and given exclusivity to all Sporting Pathways + MAD Productions Events.

BIG MAGAZINE DEBUT FOR SALMA!

BELIEVE in MAD (Making A Difference) co-ordinator Salma Bi has had widespread coverage on TV, radio and newspapers in recent months - but now she has made the breakthrough into magazines!
And Salma has kicked off with a pretty big name - the national cricket magazine All-Out Cricket!
The June issue, which includes in-depth interviews with Jonathan Trott and Alastair Cook, also features a half-page special on Salma on her sporting background, cricket career and community work, including a mention of her Asian Women of Achievement Sport Award which she received in May.
The magazine is in all good shops now at £4.25. It contains over 100 pages and some fascinating features on the beautiful game of cricket.

www.alloutcricket.com

SALMA'S IN THE NEWS AGAIN!

OUR guiding light Salma Bi is featured in both the Birmingham Mail and The Asian Today this week.
The newspapers have published the story of Salma's success in becoming the first ever winner of the Sport category at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards in London.
The glittering ceremony took place on May 16 at the plush Hilton Hotel in Park Lane and featured a star-studded guest list which included awards patron Cherie Blair QC, Eastenders actress Preeya Kalidas, newsreader Mary Nightingale and rising star, pop singer Avina Shah.

The 13th AWA awards included a Sport section for the very first time and Salma was named the inaugural winner ahead of former British No1 tennis player Anne Keothavong, England hockey talent Ashpal Kaur Bhogai, Urvasi Naidoo, CEO of the International Federation of Netball Associations, and amateur boxer and coach Saira Tabasum.

See below for the links to these articles....

http://www.theasiantoday.com/online-edition/issue-163/the-asian-today.html

http://www.birminghammail.net/news/birmingham-news/2012/06/07/muslim-female-cricket-coach-gets-award-97319-31128843/