Haasini Kollu

I co-founded Girls Cricket Foundation in 2025 to empower girls through sports, with a primary focus on cricket since that was my main sport at the time. When I started playing cricket, we didn't know about many tournaments, which limited our ability to play competitively and get ourselves out there. I know how important playing those few tournaments with national players from Canada and the USA, and even just kids at my own skill level, was for my development. I really wanted to help out other girls, even if they were younger, to get that experience early on and help fuel their desire to play at the national team or a higher level. Last year, we raised $11,100 for the girls' golf program at my school because they didn't have enough funds to pay for the junior varsity team. I was on the JV team during my freshman year of high school, and I know how important that experience was, so I tried to do anything I could so those kids could have the experience to play. We've organized various women's cricket tournaments, and this year we hosted the largest cricket tournament for women in North America, bringing together 150 girls from across the USA and Canada. Over the past two years, we've donated around $40,000 total for women's tournaments around the world. We support teams and cover tournament fees so players don't have to pay to play - they only take care of their hotel and flight. We work with event organizers when tournaments are coming up, and we're currently supporting tournaments like the San Diego Open in February, and upcoming Houston and St. Louis Opens.