Sask. women's cricket team receives international sponsorship

The buzz around Saskatchewan's first women's cricket team is growing rapidly now that the word is out.

Titans Sports and Social Club creator Salman Khan said the Titans Divas team has grown from 21 to 37 players in the 10 days since a story about it was first published by CBC.

For the last Divas practice, the team prepared for 25 participants and instead, 35 women showed up. Khan said it was "almost too much to handle."

"We're coming up with a better structure to help run this growth that we're seeing," he said. "I was looking at our numbers today and thought, 'this is getting bigger than the men's.'"

The team is seeing unprecedented growth. After over a year in operation, the men's program has 45 participants.

Just days after the story came out, Khan was also approached by an Australian cricket club called the Sydney Thunder, which has committed to come onboard as a sponsor for the Divas.

Like the Titans, the Thunder also have a men's team, a youth team and a women's team, but feature many high caliber players that are well known in the cricket world.

The club will be donating much needed equipment to the team, which Khan said is often unaffordable.

"It's a huge thing for us. Many teams around the globe try to get their attention and for them to just kind of pick us...speaks volumes for the coverage we got from CBC," he said.

Another sponsor came forward to buy the team uniforms and multiple team members received invitations to a CanAm United Women's Cricket Association camp in Vancouver.

Khan said the number of visitors on their website has tripled, increasing from about 150 a day, to about 500 a day.

"There is a lot of interest now. I'm getting more and more people talking about it, asking us questions about it," Khan said.

Another first in the province will be the Divas tournament on Aug. 19 at Douglas Park.

Khan said he expects about 40 women, who he will divide into four teams to face off.