Jatin Patel, an Indian American multi-sports coach, has been honored with the Cricket Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award becoming the eighth individual to receive this prestigious recognition since 1981.
Patel received the award at the 43rd annual Cricket Hall of Fame Induction ceremony which took place on Oct 7 at the Marriott in downtown Hartford, Connecticut.
Also honored were four other Indian Americans. Ashok Patel for outstanding academy tours and as an administrator; Jayesh Patel for outstanding contribution to the development of the game internationally and developer & as an administrator; Ashok Adikoppula for outstanding contribution as an administrator and instructor and Ashit Patel for outstanding contribution as an administrator (Canada GT20).
Cricket Hall of Fame launches American Cricket Education Council (March 3, 2023)
Patel, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions as an administrator, instructor, coach and community service to cricket in the United States, wants American youth picking up cricket to keep the sport alive.
American youth have the talent to perform on the world stage, he told CT Insider. “We are giving this one game to our next generation,” Patel said. “If we quit, the next generation will never know what this cricket is all about.”
Cricket is set to return to the Olympics after 128 years when the worldwide games come to Los Angeles in 2028.
The United States has never participated in the Cricket World Cup, Patel said, but its Under-19 team just qualified for the 2024 Under-19 Cricket World Cup that runs from January to February in Sri Lanka.
Michael Chambers, the executive director of the Cricket Hall of Fame, told CT Insider Indians, Pakistanis, Afghans and Sri Lankans are directly responsible for the continued growth of cricket in the United States because they can afford to finance the sport for their youth to play it.
Nearly 5.4 million South Asians live in the United States, up from the 3.5 million counted in the 2010 census.
“From First International Live PPV cricket event in USA, Cricket Video Tape exchange program in the late 80s also Contributor and supporter for Cricinfo Initial Project, (before WWW Internet Invention) Jatin Patel is no stranger to the sport of cricket, having played since the age of nine in his native India and here in the USA,” according to crickethof.org.
He is actively involved in coaching and educating others to promote sport with many first initiatives in India and the USA. The former medium-pace bowling all-rounder and multi-sport athlete from Gujarat, India, is a multi-sports administrator, and coach in cricket, soccer, baseball and volleyball, it noted.
He holds more than 200 credentials (certificates of completion/participation) in sports (Olympic, ICC, college and high school sports levels in the US), with a passion for cricket as his primary sport.
The Americas Cricket Foundation (ACF) Cricket Coaching Certification & Accreditation Program is the brainchild of Patel. Since 2014 and as of March 31, 2022, he trained 378 Level 2 coaches, 727 Level 1 coaches (excludes 3,000 plus school PE teachers and future coaches at 8 Colleges and Universities and 17 countries outside the US).
Patel gained expertise in coaching while working with many international cricket legends. Patel is a founder of the USA Center for Excellence in Cricket (USACEC – since 2008) with a vision to “Educate America for Cricket”. It provides free coaching and training programs to schools in the US.
Patel is a pioneer for the scholastic and education programs with coach education for undergraduate students at universities. Recently he joined hands with two leading Indian companies with 5 million plus active memberships with 50 years in business to launch global Webinars and virtual sports Cricket, Soccer coaching and officiating programs.
Patel has won several awards, including the 2010 Indiana Governor’s Public Service Achievement Award, the 2013 First Volunteer Award for American Cricket Federation (ACF), the 2017 Sports Authority of India honor for cricket development, the 2017 August Pride of Academy Inauguration function, the 2017 August Pride of Gujarat (Lifetime achievement award in sports from Gujarat State); and the 2020 Global Grassroots Sports Hall of Legends (The Big G Sports, Australia).
Patel is an IT Professional with 34 years in State Government Administration and Management (IT SAAP), and more than 37 years in the Information Technology sector, An engineering, technology and computer science professional with more than 9 years of college education.