Sancta Maria students enjoy a day with cricket legend Kirsten

Hyderabad: Former South African cricketer and the World Cup winning coach of the Indian cricket team, Gary Kirsten visited Sancta Maria School along with his Gary Kristen Cricket Academy team here on Saturday.

"Players perform their best when they are free to express their talent without the fear of its result" says Kirsten as he addressed the parents at Sancta Maria International School, Hyderabad.

The Saint Mary's Educational Society extended a warm welcome to International cricket legend and his academy team, as they visited Sancta Maria to address the prospective parents for the group's newest and most ambitious venture – Schola Maria. The multi-sport academy with an integrated international school, spread across 35 acres of land, brings together an unbeatable combination of world-class academics and unmatched sports training.

Gary Kirsten Cricket India is the school's esteemed partner to provide professional cricket coaching to aspiring cricketers. Gary, known for his unique batting style, said: "what I like about this education system is that it gives equal focus to education and sports." He also highlighted the immense pressure that parents tend to put onto their children and the need to stop this.

Recalled the joy he first felt holding the bat as a 4-year-old, Gary looks back at his relationship with the sport of over 40-years and advices aspiring cricketers of India to "Love it. Enjoy it. Work hard. And know that you can actually continue to do it for a long time."

As for the parents who nodded in agreement, he said: "Let your kids develop in a holistic way and don't put too much pressure on their performance. Encourage them to work hard. Encourage them to compete as best as they can."

The joy of our young players of the Sancta Maria cricket team knew no bounds as they bowled for the batting legend while spending some time with him in the nets. Gary left them with a priceless piece of advice on how they can "show respect" to the bowler in the field and also take care of their bat.

"The key aspect lies in developing the child and giving him a positive experience while he is at school and seeing that he has an incredible journey through sport," he added.

Centrally located between the buzzing metro cities – Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai with Cambridge curriculum and world-renowned sports institutions as partners, Schola Maria will be offering professional cricket, football, badminton, tennis and swimming coaching to choose from, in its first year starting from August 2019.