Over 500 people celebrate Vaisakhi at Wembley; FA's Dal Darroch: "We want to make sure we are connecting with all communities - one way to connect with people is their faith"; ECB marks festival by taking cricket into Sikh community at Vaisakhi Mela festival Gravesend Gurdwara
Thursday 20 April 2023 13:01, UK
The Football Association and the England and Wales Cricket Board have celebrated the Sikh festival of Vaisakhi like never before.
Vaisakhi - which is one of the most important events in the Sikh calendar - marks the formation of the Khalsa, a community of initiated Sikhs who follow the principles laid down in April 1699 by Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh Guru.
The FA celebrated the festivity for the first time at the iconic Wembley stadium on Monday.
Over 500 guests from various Sikh organisations took part in Kirtan and an Ardaas (Sikh prayers) which echoed in the home of English football and the famous arch was lit up in orange, representing the colour of the Khalsa.
England manager Gareth Southgate sent in a surprise video in which he shared his best wishes congratulated the Sikh community on all it has achieved.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, Dal Darroch, Head of Diversity & Inclusion Strategic Programmes at FA said: "One way to connect with people is through their faith, and so by having people here that are seeing the connection between faith and football is one way in which we can demonstrate the game is for them."
The event included interactive panels which featured some of the leading Sikhs across the game such as former referee Jarnail Singh, first team sports scientist at Aston Villa Aman Shergill, and role model in the female game, Kira Rai of Derby County.
Speaking at the event, Rai said: "I think it's really special just to see a room full of Sikhs and South Asians all coming together to celebrate not only Vaisakhi but football as well."
She added: "It would have been easy if I had a female South Asian role model to look up to, but in a way, I guess it was added motivation for me to make sure I get there so that younger girls today have someone to look up to."
Over the weekend, the ECB celebrated Vaisakhi for the first time by attending a mela (festival celebration) at Gravesend Gurdwara in Kent, which has a high-density Sikh population.
An ECB spokesperson told Sky Sports News: "Making cricket more equitable is a shared responsibility for everyone in the game and celebrations such as this help to deepen understanding of different faiths at all levels of the game.
"As part of our Vaisakhi celebrations we have distributed a guide to Sikh inclusion to clubs and players across the country, to help them learn more about the faith and create an environment in which cricket can come together."
Former England international Ravi Bopara, who is Sikh, says "we've come a long way" with South Asian representation in cricket.
Speaking at the Vaisakhi celebration in Gravesend, he said: "What we want to do is just introduce the game to all faiths, and this is a great opportunity I think just to bring it to the Sikh community.
"I love the game because I was bought up in a family that loved the game and that's where I learnt all my cricket."
Kent CCC and the ECB have provided a financial package - specifically for the Sikh community and in celebration of Vaisakhi - with the potential to help up to 50 kids from across the Gravesham area to access cricket.
The activity is quite timely as Kent have announced India bowler and proud Sikh Arshdeep Singh will join as an overseas player for five County Championship games later this summer.
Kent CEO Simon Storey, who also attended the celebration, said: "We have to acknowledge that in the past the game hasn't perhaps been as open as it should've been.
"I think part of moving on is to really kind of grasp that, acknowledge it, move forward and this is just a terrific opportunity, and obviously when Arshdeep comes in, that will be our next step."
